New Business? Key Steps to Discover Your Startup’s Purpose

Finding your startup’s purpose is more crucial than ever for building trust and linking your business with meaningful action. Here are the key takeaways from this guide:

• A brand purpose is the meaningful ‘why’ behind your work, distinct from a mission or vision, linking profit to helping others.
• Discovering your purpose is essential as public trust in businesses is declining, and customers choose companies they trust to do what is right.
• Businesses must be proactive on societal issues, such as climate change and affordability, to earn and build public trust.
• To discover your purpose, first, ask yourself ‘Why’ and reflect on your business’s story and how you genuinely help customers, setting financials aside.
• Identify the issues you want to change in the world, as your purpose doesn’t need to be directly linked to your product or service.
• Combine your passions with what your customers care about and ensure you get staff buy-in to cement authenticity and improve decision-making clarity.

Read the full article below for a detailed guide on each step and deeper insights into building a purpose-driven business.

By Tracey Hughes

Tracey Hughes, Durham Startups Solutions Advisor East Durham from the North East Business & Innovation Centre, helping entrepreneurs in County Durham launch and grow their businesses.

All posts by Tracey

A brand purpose is an important part of determining your company’s identity. It explains the meaning behind the type of work you do, and how it benefits your customers and beyond.

It’s not to be confused with your mission statement – which focuses on your objectives – or your goal-driven vision.

Rather, your purpose works in parallel and describes the meaningful reason/s behind what you do, aligning both your profit and decision-making towards helping others.

Do I Need a Purpose for My Business?

You might think it’s not necessary to have a purpose.

But the answer is fast becoming YES, it is. Respondents in Edelman’s 2025 trust barometer special report report a decline in trust in businesses.

Previous reports indicate that customers need to trust a business to do what is right when deciding whether to purchase from them, which shows we need to earn that trust.

The latest report highlights the lack of trust consumers have in governments, the media and the wealthy, believing that they are misleading the public and putting their own interests first.

There is some good news for business owners though – businesses are the most trusted and seen as competent and ethical. However, the public want companies to be more proactive on societal issues such as climate change and affordability.

62% of respondents said that businesses aren’t doing enough on climate change, with this being a ‘high grievance.’ Transparency and action will be how you can build trust.

So, where do you start?

No one else can tell you your own ‘Why’, but by following these steps, you’ll find your own way of discovering it yourself.

Ask Yourself Why

For the purpose of this activity, push the thought of your financials out of your mind. Every business needs to make money in order to survive, but it does not define your purpose.

Consider what brought you to decide to do what your business does. If you’ve already done stage one of the roadmap, go back to your notes or revisit the tasks here.

What is your story, how did the idea come to you and how do you help your customers?

Jot down any points you think of, whether they immediately jump out as a purpose or not. And be authentic, as it will also help to build the trust that your customer base has in your business.

What do you Want to Change?

How do you want to make a meaningful impact on the world? Are there any issues or concerns that you often think about, whether they fit with your business product or not?

For example, Coffee Coal, who joined our second incubator cohort, create environmentally-friendly fuel from coffee waste, and were formed on the back of wanting to maintain the beauty of the world for their family’s future generations.

As you can see, the issues you want to change don’t need to be directly linked to your business product or service. Make a list of your passions to help with the next steps.

What do Other People Want to Change?

Your purpose should demonstrate that you understand what it is that your ideal customers (avatars) care about and want to change.

Conduct research into what the top concerns of your customer personas are and also what your competition is doing. Don’t just copy your competitors, because that’s not authentic. However, aligning to an established, existing initiative would work.

Combine Your Findings

Once you have all of this information, it’s time to put it together. Are there any similarities or conflicts?

Because your purpose will feed through your entire business, getting buy-in from your staff and co-workers is essential. They need to be committed to the purpose too, which will cement its authenticity. We recommend involving them in the discovery process.

Once your team understands your purpose, and their contribution, they will feel empowered to make decisions aligned to it. “There is a link between purpose and autonomy because if you know where you are going, it’s much easier to be able to be autonomous. I think purpose creates some real clarity and therefore some real agility,” advises John Rosling, CEO, Contexis in this CMI article.

Bring it to life

Now you have your purpose, the last part is to design your marketing to attract and engage with your target market in the most effective way. Avoid boasting, and let the compassion shine through your messaging.

If you’re just starting out and want to build a business with clear purpose, Durham Startups can help. With free support, guidance and six months of practical help, our incubator programme is designed to help you get up and running. Apply now to find out more.