Creating A Values Based Business

I didn't expect to own a business.

Previous to receiving an MA in mental health counseling, I was an advocate for survivors of domestic violence and a project coordinator at a program for homeless youth. I studied political science and alternative education through my undergrad and spent time as an activist, organizing for social change.

When I arrived in the world of business, I treated it like my previous employment. I wanted a clear plan, a solid organizational structure and a set of guiding values.

These principles allowed my partner and I to maintain our ethics and stay in touch with our true selves as we navigated the sometimes-impersonal world of making money.

We set up a system that let us follow the projects coming through the door. This system also had built in mechanisms for accountability (to our work, to our clients and to each other). Accountability was part of our set of internal values.

In addition, we created a set of principles, the external values that guide our work. They are:

• Creativity: From the way we run our business to our relationship with clients to our approach to your project, we apply critical thinking, flexibility, pragmatism and imagination to ensure that our work meets the needs of a vibrant world in flux.
  
  
• Quality: You work hard for your money, and so do we. You deserve quality service that honors your creative wisdom.
  
  
• Fun! We like it. And anyway, business doesn't have to be boring.
  
  
• Accessibility: We're committed to making our products and services accessible to as many people as possible. For example, our websites are designed with text readers and color accessibility in mind. And we offer special discounted rates and pro-bono services to low-income and non-profit clients.
  
  
• Community: We're building community along the way. We’re not just interested in taking our clients money and moving on to the next project. What we are interested in is finding people, organizations and businesses that we can build positive, sustainable and successful relationships with -- whether that comes in the form of a smile you get every time you watch the wedding video that we created for you, or the confidence you have when calling us for the 10th project we're about to embark on together.
  
  
• Uniqueness: We're interesting, unique people and we let that come across in the work that we do. Not only that, but we're interested in the unique personalities and situations of our varied clients. Don’t feel like you have to fit a mold to work with us!
  
  
• Sustainability: We work with an eye on the long haul: for ourselves, for you and for the earth.

How did we come up with these principles? Why did we choose these over others?

As part of a prevention program, the anti-violence agency that I worked for taught a series of relationship skills building classes. While developing curriculum, I built a simple tool for connecting with one's core values and creating a personal values statement. Since then, I've adapted that exercise for use in business.

1. Take 5 minutes to make a bulleted list of everything that really irks you in the business world. Do not cut the time short. If you feel stumped, contemplate large and small business environments and the complaints you've had about them. Two of the things on our list were "uncaring about people and the environment" and "boring businesses."

2. Create a positive adjective for each bullet-point. The idea being that complaining is often easier than affirming. In addition, each complaint holds our desire for change. Once we learn the themes of our complaints, we can understand the values we hold.

For us, "Boring businesses" translates into a value of fun. "Uncaring businesses" translates into a value of sustainability. Convert every item. Know that it's okay if two or more of the items translate into the same adjective.

3. Rank each value. Write "1" for core principles that you can't function without and "2” for important but unnecessary values.

4. Free write for 2 minutes on each core value. Ask yourself: Why is this important to me?

5. Refine your list. Have you missed anything? Do the values feel all encompassing? If necessary, add or subtract values. Write descriptors for the values you've settled on. Feel free to publish this list or keep it private.

That's it.

We created our principles during our first business retreat and come back to it often, making sure we're on the right path. Our clients use it as well. They learn more about us when requesting bids. They keep it in mind while our work proceeds. They refer to it frequently after jobs complete.