I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
On a Mission
Have you heard about The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders?
No, this is not the latest show streaming on Netflix. It's not an Isabel Allende novel or a short story from Neil Gaiman or an episode of the new Twilight Zone.
It's a real thing.
Actually, it's a series of pop-up eating experiences in and around Tokyo Japan conceived and produced by Shiro Oguni.
The restaurant is staffed entirely by people with dementia and, yes, orders are mixed up all the time.
But, the wonderful thing is that people arrive understanding this is probably going to happen and so they don't mind when the wrong dishes appear on their table.
Shiro Oguni says, "We want to change society to become more caring and easy-going so dementia or no dementia, we can live together in harmony.”
His unique concept has garnered global press and awards, gone viral on social media, and, hopefully, inspired others to think out-of-the-box when combating the serious questions of how to break down barriers and combat the social isolation of communities of people.
But, there's another lesson here.
While there are endless examples of entitlement and people behaving badly all over social media these day, when positioned correctly, we humans are capable of boundless understanding, courtesy, and caring.
And, there's nothing more motivating than an earnest and worthy mission!
Honestly, it doesn't take much to set expectations, which Shiro Oguni does beautifully.
What's harder is figuring out how to engage your audience in helping you fulfill your deeper mission and purpose so that what they get out of the experience is well beyond what they put in or are asked to pay.
That's why it's so important to craft a mission that isn't just focused on the outcomes of your work on an individual client or customer-level.
To do this, ask yourself:
- What's the big goal or dream my audience can get on board with (even if they don't know it yet)?
- What's my audience's role in helping me achieve this vision and turn it into a reality?
Many small businesses think small when it comes to the impact they can have and so their missions are tidy and neat, but not audaciously bold.
When you put a bold vision out into the world, it doesn't just change how others view you, it also changes how you view yourself.
Suddenly, you've given yourself and your audience license to literally change the world.
Who doesn't want to join that kind of movement?!
If you had told me a month ago that I'd be dying to eat at a restaurant where my order was practically guaranteed to be wrong, I'd have thought you were crazy. Now, I'm just hoping this crazy concept finds its way to my neck of the woods!
How about you?
What's your 'dream big' mission? If you need help putting it into words that inspire and motivate, schedule some time with me.
Until next week,
PS - If you missed it, last week was Simply the Best.
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Easily Said & Done
I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
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