Module 2
Becoming Date C
Think about this…
Assuming you have a good product, the choice becomes:
Do you want to be a:
Since you’re here, I’m going to go ahead and assume you want to be a good business with a good product. So, let’s dive in.
To become Date C, you build a brand strategy from the roots up. But first we should talk about the difference between Brand Strategy and Brand Identity.
This is an example of Brand Identity (this is a Canva template):
Within business, storms happen. Some big, some small, but there are lots of them. If you haven’t spend time on the ROOTS of your tree, and you’ve only focused on making the leaves pretty, your tree is going to struggle to stay upright. Most businesses don’t spend enough, or any, time on the roots of their tree, but it’s the most critical part.
I talk about building businesses as designing legacies. I don’t consult on quick fixes, or fastest way to get to thousands of dollars. I assume my clients don’t want to be in business just for a hot minute. I assume they want to be in it for the long haul, have it be part of their lives for a long time so they can do what they love for as long as they want to. What if we looked at our business as a legacy. In the end, how we treat people, how we treat the planet in our business IS our legacy good or bad, no matter what. So let’s take some time to slow down and really lean into our legacy.
So where do we start? There are several steps to developing a brand strategy (muchless a business strategy), but in the short time we have together we are going to focus on the most critical step. If, after this you want to discuss the rest of the steps of creating a Legacy Blueprint you’ll have the opportunity to chat with me after this program. There’s just not enough time to cover it all.
A moral compass is said to guide you in making decisions based on your morals. This internal compass is the same. It’s really understanding your beliefs, commitments, and behaviors both within yourself as the business owner and within your business. This compass will help you make decisions in your business that stay in alignment and “on brand”.
This is typically a step that is skipped when developing a business. What happens, is that a business realizes later (maybe too late) that they skipped this step, they try to implement it and more often than not it doesn’t work. It comes across as an afterthought, which doesn’t bode well for the business.
Over the past couple years, trends in consumerism have changed and consumers are expecting businesses to be more than just a business that sells something.
This stat where impact-driven companies grow 3 times faster vs competitors is HUGE. This proves that there is a thirst in the market for businesses doing better. Not making it up, not saying whatever they need to say to make more sales, not saying they will do one thing while doing another. But actual businesses making an impact on humans and the planet.
There is a misconception that if you move your business (or build your business) to more sustainable or impact-driven practices it will cost more and it will price you out of the marketplace. But that isn’t the case. You can see here that consumers are looking for better. There is a huge market & times are changing.
Businesses need to either step up to this new world of conscious consumerism where planet, people AND prosperity have equal weight, or get out of the way.
That being said, it HAS to be built into your root system. You have to live and breathe this Internal Compass and lean on it to make your decisions from the very beginning.
So what is this Internal Compass?
Today we will start with Values.
You don’t have to look hard to find examples of this. Even in large companies, an owner’s values can still be called out to the forefront and make an impact on the business, such as Elon Musk and Tesla. Business owners, no matter how big or small the business, cannot keep their values separate from the business. As you can see from the stats listed earlier in this module, consumers are looking for businesses who are making an impact and aligning their values with their businesses/products. This is an opportunity!
HOMEWORK: This one is in three parts and it is extremely important that you really focus your attention on the second part in particular!
Part 1:
Below is a list of values (you don’t have to stick to this list if you think of something that isn’t on it.) Pick UP TO 5. Please do not pick more than 5. As a company, it is very difficult to continually steer your ship under multiple values (you will understand better after Part 2 of this exercise), and to have a list of, say, 10 will make it even more difficult. Keep it streamlined and focused. These should be values that you hold personally and you would like to hold in your business as well (Remember, we don’t want to show up as two different people in business and in our personal lives).
Part 2:
Once you’ve chosen your values, you have to clarify (really get clear) on exactly what that value means in your business.
If you chose Family as a value, how does that show up in your business? Does that mean that family always comes before business so you may not have set work hours and may not work over summer breaks, or holidays, and your employees/contractors will likely have the same schedule? Maybe unlimited sick days so they can be home with sick children? Paternity and Maternity leave? What about taking care of an ailing family member and you need months away from your business? What about kids’ baseball games or saving to send their kids to college? Do you give to non-profits that give food to families in need, or help them find housing when needed, for example.
Think about the words you chose and what that means for your business. And think into the future where you may have 1,2,5,10 employees. How does it affect your business and your personal life? How are you willing to stand up for that value? Make it mean something to you, your stakeholders and your customers, not just a word on a piece of paper.
Part 3:
POST your values and their meanings to our community page.