Success factor #4 – Establish steadfast values for your business
In business, we often bend some rules to accommodate a special order or our favorite (and most profitable) customer. Besides sales or vendor negotiations, we may need to follow instincts that conflict with a standard operating procedure. Financial constraints may alter hiring decisions, even when additional resources are needed. We learn to adapt, adjust, and compromise in all sorts of situations.
There can be, however, no compromise regarding the value or principle upon which you have established your business. What’s your core business value? A common response to that question is, “We have great customer service” or “we pride ourselves on the quality of our product.” It certainly could be about service or quality, but those responses are what’s known as “a good start.” You need to dig a bit deeper.
The litmus test is whether you’ve established a firm core principle and communicated that to employees, clients, prospects …everyone. What I’m referring to are core beliefs, synonymous with the values and principles we hold unto throughout life: rooted in our upbringing, our early years of nurturing by parents, relatives, and siblings. Those core values typically involve standards of service, honesty, respect for others, work ethic, etc. As we grow and learn from educators, friends, books, and of course, the internet, we form additional beliefs and modify others. Seldom, however, do we compromise our core values.
Check out books on starting and owning your own business. You’ll find in most of them some reference to values, the underlying reason for being in (or wanting) a particular business. It’s not only about the circumstances that may have caused you to start a business, such as a market opportunity, you believed you could create a better product or service, or you took over a family business. No, it’s about a different “why.” It’s about the essence of you and what you stand for.
Michael Gerber, in The E-Myth Revisited, uses words like vision and moral principle:
“The greatest businesspeople I’ve met are determined to get it right no matter what the cost. And by getting it right, I’m not just talking about the business. I mean that there is something uplifting, some vision, some higher end in sight that “getting it right” would serve. An ethical certainty, a moral principle, a universal truth.” (Michael Gerber, The E-Myth, 1986 and The E-Myth Revisited, Harper Collins, October 14, 2004).
Simon Sinek, in his book, Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, wrote:
“As humans – we crave a sense of belonging; we want to feel that our beliefs and values are shared. A successful leader and organization will communicate and clearly display their beliefs and values, in-turn, earning the trust of consumers who share these beliefs and values.” (Simon Sinek, Start With Why, Penguin Group, 2009).
Where are you when it comes to your “why?” A quick look at the two possible answers: you’ve defined your core value or you’re still working on it.
Still working on it
The first step in defining your core business value is to examine your own core beliefs. What are your values and principles, as they would apply to your business? To answer that question, look at each of the core values mentioned above (honesty, respect for others, work ethic, etc.) and equate the one value that best fits your business. Once you’ve defined your core value and developed some policies to carry out that value, now comes the difficult part . . .
You’ve defined your core value
In order for your value(s) to be rock solid, you must do two things. First, the message must be a part of everything you do and say – marketing, customer interactions, employee handbooks, training curriculum… everything! The second absolute is not as easy to implement and maintain. That is, to empower employees – not just with the authority to act, but also with unquestioning support.
In future blogs, I’ll get into this topic in more detail, including what happens when your values are tested? Oh yes, they will be tested. How you react and how you handle these challenges will have a significant impact – positive or negative – on your business. Stay tuned for ideas on how to tip things toward the positive.
Next blog is an introduction to Entrepreneur Success Factor #5 (hint: If you think you can or can’t, you’re right). Check it out. See you next time.
Send me your questions or comments; especially want to hear your “why!”
Larry Brummond, The Write Touch Inc.