Whenever you hear the word core business values, you might think “eek”, since it has such a corporate feel, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

You don’t have to choose the same, typical core values that other companies like Microsoft and Apple have, you can come up with your own ones.

In reality, as solopreneurs, we get to create an environment where our business model and personal core values are in alignment. It is essential to have clarity with both your business goals and where you see yourself in the future. Your core values should reflect the cultural atmosphere or “feel” of your business and should align with your higher purpose and aspirations.

So before I share my core values and give you some tips on how to create your own, I want to go over what core values are in the first place and why it is sooooo crucial to have them.

Related Reads:

• Digital Entrepreneur: How to Become More Present at Work
• How to Start Freelance Jobs From Home in 2022: The Complete Guide
• Small Business Tips: My Monthly Reset Routine
• 10 Lists To Make To Organize Your Business
• Losing Motivation? 7 Bullet-Proof Ways To Regain Your Passion And Stay Motivated In Your Business

How To Align Your Business With Your Personal and Business Core Values

What Are Core Values?

Be it personal or business, core values are the principles that guide you and your business towards achieving your goals, purpose, and well-being.

They are an essential tool to help distinguish as a brand, form an identity, and attitude toward others.

Likewise, you can essentially build your business around values that make your entrepreneurship journey exciting and more effortless.

So live in accordance with values that seem right, and you will enter a flow state of abundance. You will push through no matter the setbacks that may come to you and your business.

Why Is Alignment Of Values Important In Business?

Deciding and choosing your core values is absolutely essential, because of a couple of reasons:

Reason #1

Establishing core values help you to make aligned decisions in your business. They allow you to distinguish the suitable options for your business on the one hand and while, on the other, your vision.

Reason #2

They help you hire like-minded team/contractors that genuinely fit into the culture of the company since they resonate deeply with the same values. For example, if you believe in treating your customers with the best service, you will also treat the needs of your employees, and they will do the same for you.

Reason #3

They help customers and clients understand what you and your company stand for (brand identity) and let them see that your company isn’t just about making money.

You believe in providing value, and a consequence of this is that it makes it easier to filter clients that don’t resonate with your message. You don’t fall into the vicious cycle of signing bad clients regardless of pay. So by establishing and sharing your core values, you are also attracting your dream clients.

Reason #4

If your purpose is the WHAT, then your business’ core values are the WHY. Successful entrepreneurs don’t worry on how to go about things. They focus on why they have complete faith in their goals and mission.

Aligning your values help you to make your purpose more tangible. These core values make it easier to actually put them into action and inject them into the way your business operates.

Reason #5

You and your company stand out as unique and authentic. It’s ok to take inspiration from others but not at the expense of your own core values.

Define Your Business Core Values

Before I teach you how to define your business values, I’ll share mine:

• True mastery implicates constant learning & growing.
• Balance and spaciousness will always be more important than any amount of money.
• Over-delivering is our go-to standard.
• Success and achievements don’t define us as humans; we are worthy and whole just for existing on this planet.
• Being grateful for where we are today while feeling excited and abundant for an even better tomorrow

So as you can see, your values don’t have to be boring, and they don’t have to be only words, they can be whole sentences.

The most important thing is they resonate with you very deeply and can be represented in bullet points like mine above.

So let’s get you started with creating your own

Ideally, you should have between 3-6 values

Here are ten questions to ask yourself to figure out your core values as an entrepreneur:

1. How do you want your community to see you?
2. What motivates you to chase your dreams and business goals?
3. Whom would you consider as your dream clients?
4. How do you personally manage your business?
5. How would you describe the soul of your company?
6. What mantra or sayings deeply resonate with you?
7. What part of your business do you find that’s most important?
8. What is something that you feel is unique and different about your business?
9. What are your decisions based upon?
10. What is something you do in your business to make a more significant impact?

How To Bring Your Business Value Into Action

Once you have defined your core values, it doesn’t stop there! The next crucial step is to define how you will implement these core values into your business and how it operates daily.

• How will these values impact your business processes?
• How will these values influence your hiring process?
• How will these values affect the message you get out to the world?
• How can you align all your content/product with these new values?
• How will these values impact the selection of clients if you are a service provider?

Create a well-defined action plan for how your business will embody these values.

In my case, for example:

• True mastery implicates endless learning & growing

→ Blocking out some hours every week to learn (listening to podcasts, watching YouTube videos, following a course)

• Balance and spaciousness will always be more important than any amount of money

→ Setting clear boundaries with my freelance clients and setting office hours. (I have a blog post on this: check it out HERE)

• Over-delivering is our go-to standard

→ Going the extra mile with my services/courses and delivering an insane ROI. Answering every email I receive from students or blog readers.

• Success and achievements don’t define us as humans; we are worthy and whole just for existing on this planet.

→ No longer putting myself down and feeling extremely guilty when I haven’t accomplished all to-do’s of the day, but instead being my best friend and having more compassion for myself.

• Being grateful for where we are today while feeling excited and abundant for an even better tomorrow

→ Gratitude journaling, making vision boards, meditating, self-reflection….

You get the drill… The more specific actions you can develop to bring your business values into action, the better!

How To Be Committed To Your Values In The Long Term

When you have to make important decisions, take a look into your core values, and let these guide you to make the right choice.

When you notice a weird, funny intuition about something, ask yourself if there’s a certain value you aren’t actively embodying in your business.

If you feel burned-out and have lost your sense of joy in your business, reflect on ways to pivot your business so it aligns better with your core values.

Now you have everything you need to know about creating your own business values.

Related Reads:

• Digital Entrepreneur: How to Become More Present at Work
• How to Start Freelance Jobs From Home in 2022: The Complete Guide
• Small Business Tips: My Monthly Reset Routine
• 10 Lists To Make To Organize Your Business
• Losing Motivation? 7 Bullet-Proof Ways To Regain Your Passion And Stay Motivated In Your Business

Which business values did you come up with? Let me know in the comments down below. I’m super curious!