Brad, owner and design director at Liquis helping build a home with nonprofit client, 1Mission.
Core values are usually an afterthought stemming from a mission statement or vision statement.
Truth is, you should set your core values before anything else because they are meant to shape every single little detail about your business.
Mission statements and vision statements are long winded, too inclusive, and boring. How many employees, managers or even owners can recite their own mission or vision statement on the spot?
It’s rare! This is why core values are such an important asset. They are hard to misinterpret and set the standard for both business operations and team member responsibilities.
Examples of core values.
At Liquis our core value is helping. For Amazon, it’s customer obsession. For Zappos, it’s delivering wow.
When you know your core value, doing the right thing for your business is a no-brainer. If you’re ever unsure of a decision or new idea, check to determine if it truly aligns with your values – and there’s your answer.
Whether or not your make your core value a public platform is up to you, but no doubt it will shine though if you stick to it.
How to determine your business’s core value.
First, decide what specific need you are filling for your customer. Not your product or service, but your product or service can improve their life.
Then, determine your differentiator. What makes you better than anyone else to improve your customer’s life?
Finally, brainstorm some verbs and adjectives that correlate with both. Your truest core value(s) will evolve from there!
