Your Core Business Values Make The Difference Between a Job and a Calling
If you’ve strayed from them, here’s how to get back on track
Let me give you a scenario:
You’ve started your business, and it’s booming! You have clients coming through the door. You’re teaching a fabulous course (or two!) on an on-brand topic. You’re selling Things and Stuff all day long.
But something’s not right. Your heart’s not in it. You feel… hollow.
You’re here and you’re successful, but it doesn’t feel right. It feels empty.
What’s missing from this dream business scenario?
Your values.
Your values should be tied to your business from the beginning.
Now, I’m not talking about values like “don’t steal” and “don’t lie.” Values are very individual. They’re tied to what we consider more or less important.
For instance, think of Starbucks vs. Peet’s Coffee. Both are coffee chains.
But Peet’s Coffee is much more dedicated to the quality of the coffee itself, with a lot of their energy going toward distributing their coffee to stores. They even have a “slow bar” coffee shop where people can get very gourmet coffee if they have the time!
By comparison, Starbucks doesn’t have as strong of a value toward good quality coffee (though it does have its fanbase). This coffee chain is all about fun coffee drinks and a fun coffee shop experience. I’m betting that Peet’s Coffee wouldn’t make Zombie Frappuccinos or Unicorn-themed drinks. But it makes sense for Starbucks.
In fact, it would feel strange and even wrong for Peet’s Coffee to start mimicking Starbucks just because those crazy drinks were popular. It would feel like they’d lost their way somehow. It doesn’t speak to their values.
Your values fuel your business, not the other way around.
Let’s get real: Do you feel you’re working for a greater good besides just making money?
Not that there’s anything wrong with liking money. One of my copywriting colleagues, Tarzan Kay, is very open about liking earning money. She’s very upfront about liking money, and honoring the role of money in your life. We should all be as open as Tarzan!
But money can’t be the only thing motivating you. And it isn’t.
How do I know that? If money were the only thing motivating you, you’d probably be working as an electrician. But you’re probably not
Take time to think: Why did I choose this work? What called out to me about it?
Chances are it was something deeper than money.
Determine what your business values are — it’s never too late!
BTW, I mean that second part with all my heart. If you feel like you’re caught up in a bad hamster wheel of working only for money, all is not lost.
So let’s start at the beginning: What made you want to start a business in the first place?
One of my favorite stories of values informing businesses comes from a rather “boring” industry: Hanratty & Associates (also called USI Minnesota). They’re an employee benefits brokerage firm.
Justin Hanratty, the guy who took over the company in 2012, realized that the business was all about money. They were only focused on money.
But he was someone who wanted to make it values centered, because he had a story. When he was a kid, Hanratty’s brother needed back surgery. The story goes, his mom couldn’t stop raving about the doctors treating his brother. They were so willing to go the extra mile that they had even given her clean socks every day she was there.
Hanratty didn’t forget that little bit of kindness, and how much it had affected his mother. So he set to revamp the culture of the stodgy, money-centered firm he inherited. He wanted to bring that attitude of kindness and consideration to the workplace and to their clients. The place has since won “Best Place To Work” awards multiple times!
Adjust to get back on track with your values.
Once you know what your values are (control, kindness, going the extra mile, empowerment, etc.), it becomes easier to brainstorm ways to incorporate them.
- Do you need to talk with your clients about your values?
Proclaiming your values doesn’t have to take the form of political tweets or coming up with opinion-based products. Though they can be very fun to make!
Publicly acknowledging your values can be as easy as a sponsorship or shoutout. Bob’s Red Mill, a natural food company that is decidedly unfussy, makes this point perfectly.
In the last decade, Bob’s Red Mill donated $6 million dollars to two different institutions to help study childhood obesity. They also sponsor local classical music stations. They may sell dry goods, but they clearly have big society-wide values working underneath!
- Do you need to take on different work?
If you started your business to have the option of staying home with your child, the value at hand there may be flexibility. It’s a good value!
But if the clients paying your bills don’t have maternity care or insist that clients work long hours, that may be a client you need to drop for the sake of being consistent with your business. Is it worth a potential future clash?
Alternatively, you may also reconsider the shape your work takes or your own role within it. If you can’t handle all the hours from your No Maternity Care client, how about hiring that new mom down the street who wants to work while seeing her baby? Or the person working a part time job but wants more flexible hours?
- Do you need to give side projects/business aspects more breathing room?
This is the most fun option in my mind. What’s life without fun side projects?
For real, though: I didn’t know it wasn’t “unprofessional” to have side projects until I met Tarzan Kay. I thought everything had to match up with exactly what you marketed yourself as doing for money. But the values are what matter most!
Last year, Tarzan made something that came out of left field: A training for Canadian entrepreneurs on how to get paid in US dollars.
Um, whaaaat?
But the more I read, the more I realized that this was in line with one of Tarzan’s values: transparency. She’d made mistakes with Canadian currency before in her business. Because she was afraid that other people also struggled with this problem, she sought to make a resource to help them.
One of my biggest values as a business is access to knowledge. It drives me up the wall when people hold knowledge behind a paywall. So I created a guide in the Medium partner program for one of the biggest rising industries in the United States: Cannabis.
Pretty risky for that controversial industry! But as I was doing more work for cannabis companies, it became clear to me that customers’ knowledge was highly variable. They knew either a lot or a little.I wanted to address that gap. It also caused people to ask me more about my experience writing cannabis-themed copy!
Values are so key to businesses that work well. In our money-centered world, we often get so caught up in results that we forget what actually fuels our efforts. Take some time regularly and think about what you want your business values to be. Your business (and heart) will thank you for it!
