KEY VALUES

There are many ways to build a solid foundation on which to grow your business. In the BizQuack Vision Based Business Plan we list the eight ingredients (Your Vision, Your Why, Your story, Your product/service, Your target market identification and validation, Your value proposition, Your promise and Your delivery of the promise)needed for a solid foundation upon which the rest of the plan is built.

I now want to backtrack a little and insert a pre-foundation building step and that is identifying your key values. Each of us has some inherent key values. Some of your values may have originated with your family and how you grew up. Other values may be with you as a result of your spiritual journey. Your everyday experiences also have helped form your value system.

It’s important to know what your values are. These are factors that should never change as your business grows. They become the basis for how you hire staff, treat your customers and prospects and how you deal with your business obstacles and success.

A good place to start is for you to write down all the things that you value; consider your personal as well as your business life. There are no right or wrong answers; your answers are unique as you are.

Start working on your list. This is not a five minute process; really give it a lot of thought and keep adding to your list until you are satisfied.

Now label this list My Key Values, and place it as the front sheet of your action based business plan. It should be shared with your customers and prospects as well as your future staff as you grow.

Don’t let the simplicity of this exercise cause you to neglect creating the list. As your business grows you will look back on this list and you will be able to point to your successes and match them back to your Key Value list.