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Building (And Maintaining) Purpose-Driven Businesses: The How-To One of the most important aspects is building a great team in which you need an equally great culture to match. If you begin your journey with purpose and passion, nothing can hold you back.

By Christine Assouad Edited by Aby Sam Thomas

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

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The key to a successful business is doing something you love- no matter what that passion is, you can find a place for it in business.

It's not easy though- it's demanding and time-consuming but in the end, it's worth it. Whether starting your own business, or taking on a new leadership position, it requires determination, consistency, and a positive attitude to ensure that you don't fall short in your tracks, especially when dealing with legal and other physically draining processes.

As such, when you think about purpose-driven business, there are so many aspects that are important when building one, and it begins from the top down. One of the most important aspects is building a great team in which you need an equally great culture to match. If you begin your journey with purpose and passion, nothing can hold you back. Your attitude trickles down, so it's important to ensure that you love what you do, and that you convey that.

Remember that the small things matter, and that they can go a long way. It makes all the difference in the world when you remember someone's name, how involved you are on a daily basis and on an operational level, as well as being onsite as often as possible. It is your responsibility to ensure that your team knows you are as involved as can be, and that is one of the key factors in allowing them to trust you and your vision.

Related: Breaking The Mold: Five Lessons From Launching (And Sustaining) An Unconventional Business

An important consideration to keep in check and to always ensure that your business is going in the direction you want is to actively ask for feedback, and then implement the changes you know team members would appreciate for making their work environment better. Oftentimes, you ask for feedback through anonymous polls or questionnaires, or you have to wait for a certain time in a year to send out a feedback form, but a poll or questionnaire through Instagram for example is a great space to be able to instantly get micro-feedback from team members, so that you can try and implement those changes, as quickly as possible.

If you wake up happy every day with what you are doing, you will do everything in your power to ensure that the people around you enjoy their jobs as much as you do. You aim to bring out the best in them, and that is when you can trust them to run the daily operations while you shift your focus to the long term strategy of the company. Long-term success can be measured in different ways. Whether it's employee turnover, revenue, or expansion, all of it contributes to long-term success.

But if you want your business to succeed, measure success by your purpose. Think about how customers feel when they come to your company, how team members feel waking up every morning for work, and if they feel fulfilled, you will always have a purpose and be successful. Again, this is not easy, and it requires determination, patience, resilience, and resourcefulness, but if you can start a business, and work to ensure that you don't lose your vision, your business will always be purposeful- and, in most cases, successful too.

Related: To Transform The Way You Work, Focus On These Five Life Skills

Christine Assouad

CEO, Dunkin Donuts Lebanon, Semsom, and The Catalyst of Growth, and member, Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO)

Christine Assouad is the CEO of Dunkin Donuts Lebanon, Semsom, and The Catalyst of Growth, and a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), the global leadership community of more than 30,000 chief executives in 142 countries who are connected by the shared belief that the world needs better leaders.  

 

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