How to write the core values of your business
This blog is part of the Brand Foundation Series. Where the first post in the series talked about your vision and mission and the second about how you can define your why we are now going to look into Values & Beliefs.
You’ll learn:
What values and beliefs are
How you can determine your values and believes
Examples of values and believes from other businesses
What are values and beliefs and why do you need them?
What do you stand for?
In your personal life, you probably have some very strong core values or beliefs. Maybe family is your number one driver in life, maybe it’s an adventure or live every day like it’s your last.
No matter what your values are, they guide your decisions, behaviour and you have to build a life around these values. Maybe you started your business to be able to work from home and spend more time with the family. Or that you earn more so that you can take 2 weeks off every 3 months to travel.
So why not have this for your business?
Just like in your personal life, the values and beliefs within your business will guide you on HOW you are going to show up as a business to the outside world. From the services that you offer to how you treat your clients to how you speak to them on social media. And this will help you ‘prove’ your why. As everything that you do is an opportunity to prove that you really stand behind your why.
But to be able to do this, and do this consistently, your values and believes need to become ingrained in your business so that it can drive your behaviour.
And like with your why, you can use your values and believes to build a connection with your audience. When your purpose (your why), your values or your beliefs are similar to your audience the connection you can build with them is so much stronger. And the stronger it is, the more impact you will be able to have. And not only that, but your audience will know what they can expect from you. Or imagine what working with you can be like.
Can you imagine how having a clear purpose in your business and combining this with your unique values and beliefs can help you set apart for your competitors?
Especially when you know that your brand is what others say about it. So how you present yourself to the world (ie; your audience) will impact this view. And if you consistently show up in a way that is driven by your values and beliefs that will have a positive impact on how your brand is perceived.
How do you determine your values and beliefs?
For the most part, your values and beliefs already exist, you just need to get them on paper for them to be a compass to drive your behaviour.
One way to get clear on this comes from the book Traction* from Gino Wickman. You need to pick 3 people within your business that inspires you. But this can be a tough one when it’s just you. So, what you can do instead is take 3 people that inspire you in general like mentors, coaches or industry gurus.
You need to list the qualities and characteristics that you love about them. Once you have done this, you need to pick the ones that stand out to you the most. It’s not a bad thing when you only end up with a handful of values.
Simon Middleton in Build a brand in 30 days* has questions you can use to qualify your values. This way you make sure you are only left with these values that really make sense for your business. The questions you can ask are:
Is this value genuine? Do you actually believe in this?
Is this value liveable? Can you live by this value?
Is this value compelling internally? Does it help to motivate your team?
Will this value mean anything to your customer? Will this value make your customers more likely to work with you
Is this value relevant to your brand? Does it make sense for the type of business you have?
Does this value contribute to you being distinctive as a brand? Does it set you apart from your competitors?
Does this value have longevity? Does it still make sense next year and the year after?
Can you communicate this value to people? It is easy for your clients to understand?
Can this value be brought to life in behaviour? Can this drive your behaviour in your services, how you work with your clients, how you talk to them?
Would you fight to preserve this value? Is it something that is fundamental to why you started your business?
Phew, that are a lot of questions to ask yourself right? But this will make sure you don’t have values that are too broad or don’t really mean anything. The example Simon gives in his book is having fairness as a value. Ask yourself the question: ‘ as opposed to what?’. If you would not have this value would you then actively try to overcharge for your services and under deliver?
To take your values one step further (and make sure they really start to impact your behaviour) they need to be turned to verbs instead of nouns. So take the values that you listed and write out how these values will be practised within your business.
One of my values is ‘We explore’
For me, one of the reasons I started my business is to be able to plan my time the way I want to. With the goal to travel as much as I can. So, exploring is something that is dear to my heart in the form of travel. But I am also someone who loves to learn new tools or programs or to read books to expand my knowledge. And I use this to be able to serve my clients better.
I also strongly believe that we should not hold ourselves back to reach our goals. Even if these goals look different from most other peoples goals.
And I think it is important to enjoy the journey towards our goals. Celebrate the milestones on the way.
So one of my values looks like this:
We explore (new experiences)
Improve ourselves constantly
Learn new tools, programs to grow business and to be able to offer more value
We don't let boundaries hold us back
We strive for a better world
We love the journey
Before we go on to the next step, be sure to make these values and beliefs a part of your business. Don’t just make them, save them on your laptop and never look at them again, you need to bring them to live. You can print them and put them somewhere where you will constantly see them till they are so ingrained in what you do that you don’t need to be reminded again.
Up next
Next up in this Brand Foundation series is uncovering what makes you stand out. This will not relate to why you do what you do but to what you bring to the table. How can you combine your skills, talents and experience into a business and services that are unique?
How do you feel about your current values? Do they really drive your decisions and behaviours?
Are you not sure about your answers and do you feel you are overwhelmed and need focus and direction? Then let's chat.
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
If you thought this post you might also like:
LOOKING FOR ANYTHING?
Popular items in the shop
FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM
FAVOURITE RESOURCES
*Below links are affiliate links and I get a small kickback if you use these links to sign up.
