GUEST POST BY ASHLEY SHACKOW

When I started my business in August of 2016, I had a name, social media accounts, an idea of what I wanted my business to be like. I knew that I wanted to build websites and make money off of it so I could leave my 9-5. However, I struggled with ultimately understanding my business and from there knowing why my business really existed.

why your values are the heart of your business

Six months into my business, I read Carrie Green’s book, She Means Business. While this book would later impact my business on a whole other level, it opened my eyes to what I was missing. You see, I had the base and I was extremely passionate about what I wanted to do in my business.

However, I was missing one key item: the heart.

The heart of your business is what pumps the energy into the veins of your projects. It gives you a central core of the focus and drive of your business. Overall, the heart of your business is the most important aspect and should be reviewed from time to time. Making sure you are aligned with the heart of your business will guarantee your success.

NO HEART = NO PURPOSE = LACK OF CLARITY

I am going to be completely honest with you. This was me the first six months of my business. I was just going through the motions and trying to figure out where I fit in at. In the sea of other website designers, I had no idea what made my business different or why I was even in business.

Reading Carrie’s book opened my eyes to seeing what I was missing in my business. I am incredibly excited to share with you my ultimate girl boss game plan. Under this game plan, there are three key components that we will be covering.

Ready? Let’s hop on in!

purpose /

Nailing down your purpose is what I believe to be the most important aspect of your game plan.

Without a purpose to guide you, there will be a lot of rough waters ahead as you try to navigate through the seas of people.

The purpose of your business is simply a statement that summarizes what your business stands for.

Why does your business exist?

This may require a bit of thought. It took me a good day of pondering to really discover within my own heart what I wanted to share with my business. It is a learning process that may change over time as you develop! For an example the purpose of my business is to impact the online community in a positive way. You can be as broad or specific as you would like at this point.

What is yours?

mission /

This is where you take your purpose and develop a statement for the public.

Often times, your mission statement will include who you are, what you provide, and what you do for your customer.

While this may be the easiest to figure out, a lot of thought needs to go into this portion.

You need to make sure you put in the right words and phrases to appeal to your ideal client. Mine for an example is “to empower female millennial entrepreneurs by creating a web design and foolproof strategy”. I talk about what I do and who I do it for. There is freedom within your mission statement to fit your company.

values /

The third and final component to our game plan is linked with figuring out how we want others to describe our business.

This is directly linked with the values you want to fit into your business model. This will help guide you in all your projects to make sure they align with your business.

I started off by writing words that I wanted my ideal customer to feel when working with me. I wrote them down, developed them, and decided which words I wanted to be my business values. I decided on serve, support, motivate, and guidance as the four pillars of my business. Everything I do within my business will hit one, if not all of these values.

Congratulations, you have figured out the heart and core of your business!

Once you have nailed the purpose of your business and formed it into a mission statement, you are well on your way to really discovering your business for the gem it truly is! From there, you can determine your values in which will be the pillars of your business efforts. By focusing on your mission statement and values, you will then have a strong platform to work off of.

You can proceed with confidence knowing that everything you do aligns with your purpose and values of your business.

Ashley is a digital marketing and web strategist who empowers female millennial entrepreneurs by creating a web design and foolproof strategy in 30 days. She enjoys eating cheese and playing with her two basset hound puppies when she is not glued to her laptop. You can find her at blankslatemediaconsulting.com

Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest