The purpose of a business doesn’t ‘magically’ reveal itself. In business, the owners of the business – whether sole owner, partners or shareholders – must simply decide whether the overarching purpose of the business is to grow it, or to sell it, as running a business to achieve sustained profitable growth is quite different from running a business to secure the highest possible sales price.

If the owners of a business decide that they want to grow the business, then they have to make sure that every decision in the business allows it to take a step towards that purpose, not away from it.

Maintaining a business might appear to be a third option, but even a so-called ‘lifestyle business’ needs to achieve sustained profitable growth to prevent its inevitable end caused by rising inflation, rapid changes to market conditions, unforeseen losses and so on.

Organisations operating for a social cause rather than for profit generation are also not exempt from being clear on their purpose. Most of these businesses will never have the overarching purpose of being sold, so they have to then make decisions on the three aspects of a sustainable business: financial, social, and brand impact.

While the social purpose might be obvious in a non-profit organisation, the focus on financial growth – and the effect of brand impact on that growth – needed to achieve that purpose is often lacking.

The question every owner of every business – irrespective of size or sector – should ask themselves is: If I don’t know where this business is going, how will I know if it is veering off course?