Conscious business ownership is a buzzword in entrepreneurial circles. What does it mean? It means that the business takes up causes and that the way they operate the business, treat their employees and customers and the environment support their mission and vision. Is your business promoting your values? Maybe it isn’t even something you’ve ever thought about. Chances are you haven’t. I didn’t, until recently. Once I did take time to think about my mission and vision for my business, though, I did realize I run my business the way I run my life — I follow specific missions in my life and they carry over to my business dealings.
Is Your Business Promoting Your Values?
Whether you’re a solopreneur or if you’re looking for a business partner, you need to know your mission and visions and to make certain they mesh or you will be butting heads. You may or may not pronounce to your clients and your employees that you are running a conscious business, or you may just be living your mission and vision without the pronouncement.
I’ll bet you are living your mission and your vision and that it is carrying over into your business interactions, but if you’re not clear about the concept, here are values to consider:
- Be authentic. Be true to yourself every day in every business and personal relationships
- Be ethical. Just as you wouldn’t work with someone whose ethics you questioned, you don’t want your potential business partner to question your ethics.
- Be trustworthy. If you’re trustworthy, you will more quickly build trust with prospective clients. It’s been said that new clients want to work with a business owner they “know, like and trust” and you want to be the person they have those feelings for.
If you work with a team, do they understand your core values? If not, why not? Have you articulated the mission and values to them? More importantly, have you shared with them HOW they can carry those values into their interactions with clients on a daily basis.