This isn’t some artsy/fartsy, airy/fairy rhetorical question. It is critical. If I can’t answer it, then, to be frank, Baraka doesn’t have a reason to exist.
Some may say that Baraka and other companies exist to make a profit. It isn’t so simple. Profit is critical, without it you have no fuel to let you fulfill your purpose – but if profit is your only purpose you have a barren and dark company, you will not enjoy your work in it, and it likely won’t last long (thankfully).
So, Why Does Baraka Exist?
Baraka Exists to Serve! Yes. To Serve. Before you start going, ‘Yeah, right and calling BS’ let me clarify that this includes serving its owners and workers. But it is much more than that. And, Baraka’s owners and workers are best served when all the other interests are served as well.
So, Why Does Baraka Exist?
• To serve Baraka’s suppliers (the hard-working women in Ghana who grow, harvest, pick and process Baraka Products)
• To serve Baraka’s customers (including helping them to better serve their customers)
• To serve Baraka’s employees
• To serve Baraka’s founders and owners
• To serve society by doing all of this while treading lightly on our planet and its ecosystems
And Profit? Well, neither Baraka nor any other company can sustainably serve if it isn’t profitable. Without profit, service and impact are simply not sustainable.
So, How Does Baraka Serve?
Baraka serves its suppliers by providing a market for what they produce, paying them a fair price, treating them with respect and dignity, and, where possible, providing additional direct support to them and their families for education and other priorities.
Baraka serves its customers by providing them with high quality, well-priced products; quickly shipping their orders; responding rapidly and fairly to concerns and issues, and by providing them with ingredients they can be proud to use, and images, stories, video and other content so they can communicate to their customers about the care they take in sourcing ingredients for the products they produce.
Baraka serves its employees by paying them fairly, treating them with respect and dignity and doing its best to make their work environment fun, challenging, fulfilling and enjoyable.
Baraka serves its owners and founders by giving them enjoyable, challenging and fulfilling work and generating income that supports them and their families
I believe that if we fulfill our mission to serve, we will not only be profitable, we will have a lot of fun and enjoyment in the process. Profit comes from fulfilling our mission and serving our purpose. If we get that wrong, we not only put profit at risk, we take the joy and fulfillment out of all of it.
So, Why Does Baraka Exist? To Serve!
What I think is really neat and what I am proud of in the Baraka Serve model is that the better we do at serving our customers, the better we do at serving our suppliers and the better we do at serving workers, shareholders and owners. And vice-versa, the better we do at serving our suppliers the better we do at serving the others.
Thank you for reading this and, more importantly, thank you for being part of this model of serving. We couldn’t do any of it without you.
You might also be interested in:
Baraka: The Bridge that Connects – how our supply chain has an impact.