How Your Personal Values Can Drive Your Business Too
Entrepreneurs often look to create businesses driven by values rather than profit and you may well ask what this has to do with business. Surely, as a business owner, the success of the business you have devoted so much time and energy to is based on money, analysing profit and loss accounts, and working out how to increase turnover and revenue?
This is the common perception; however, the reality is that you need to take time to look at who you are and what you stand for.
All businesses need to make money to survive in the long term, and incorporating your personal values into your business can help you to do this. In a world in which there is growing mistrust in many companies, consumers are more likely to switch to smaller unknown companies that they identify with because their values are better aligned.
As a business owner, you can start to think differently about how you operate. This will not only attract new customers but can also help you to reap the rewards of all the hard work and effort you have put in.
How to get started
Ask yourself why you do what you do. Jot down your core values, what you want out of life, and how you want to be remembered. You can embrace this somewhat unconventional but highly-effective approach to business development by following these steps:
– Find somewhere quiet away from the office where you can truly focus.
– Be honest with yourself. This includes being as honest about what you don’t want in your life as what you do.
– Go outside your comfort zone by thinking about things you may have put to one side previously.
What do you want in your life?
Remember that once you acknowledge what you want in your life, such as more time to spend with family, you can look at what you can change in your business to achieve this.
What don’t you want in your life?
Important: you need to identify what bothers you – what is a source of frustration, unhappiness, stress or irritation – before you can come up with solutions.
Consider all sources, however irrelevant you may believe them to be, as what frustrates you about your business affects other aspects of your life and vice versa.
Discovering what you do and do not want enables you to see the bigger picture and you can then start to take steps to incorporate this insight to create a values-led business that serves and reflects you. It can take time to implement some of the required solutions, such as hiring more employees, but knowing why you have been feeling overwhelmed and what you can do about it provides an instantaneous sense of hope and relief.
Did you know that identifying your vision, purpose and core values will make you feel empowered, as you are taking control of your life and, in turn, your business?
How to promote your core values
Wear your values on your sleeve and reflect them in your business. Show how you are different to your competitors by not tolerating certain behaviours or actions. This builds trust and confidence in your brand and creates an affinity with your product, leading to customer loyalty.