Summary: Today’s episode will give you the rundown on why having core values and a vision can enhance your life and business as an entrepreneur. Alana Winters and Stephen Halasnik will talk about how having values have changed their views about running a business.

We always hear the terms “values” and “vision” but what do these actually look like when applied to a business? Incorporating vision and values into your life and business may just be able to enhance your impact while allowing your work to be fulfilling and enjoyable. Allowing yourself to make connections between vision and values will enable you to seize more opportunities than ever before.

Today’s topic: Why Vision and Values Are So Important For Small Businesses

1. Identifying Core Values and Their Impact on a Business

2. Having a Vision That Allows You to Achieve Your Purpose

Company Values Are the Roadmap to Success

What are values? They are the true underlying core of who you are. As an entrepreneur having created a business, you get to essentially make whatever you want in the world. Whenever you create something, it is a reflection and a stamp of who you are and what you believe in. Knowing the core of yourself will allow you to have a clear vision and apply those values to your business plan.

However, discovering your personal values to apply to your business can require some work. In order to start, look at yourself and think about the difference between your true core values, and aspirational core values. This can require a hard assessment of yourself. Drop all judgments and open yourself to just curiosity and ask yourself, “are these really my core values?” Assess whether or not those values that you currently believe to be true are really what you believe, or if they are just the things you think sound good. Society can instill so much pressure on us that we may lose sight of our true selves and values. Sometimes the “values” that we think are our true identity, aren’t the true us. Try to target any external factors that could be affecting your ability to find your true values such as your surroundings. Values are not short-term and should be able to connect back to your core no matter what facet of life it pertains to.

You may be wondering how much your values can actually impact you or your business. Your values should serve as a filter that you put all activities and ideas through to guide you in decision-making. Ask yourself if what you are putting your time and effort into hits on your core values. If so, does it magnify and amplify those values? If what your business does is not hitting on your personal values, you are limiting the amount of fulfillment and success you have within it. If you find yourself coming to a creative standstill with your business, see if what you are currently doing aligns with the values you have.

If you can take the time to reflect and then fix the areas that need improvement, you may put yourself at a competitive advantage. Most bigger businesses end up losing sight of their values after a period of time, but small businesses tend to maintain operations on values much more so. Customers love feeling connected to a business through shared values, so taking the time to reflect and make changes can end up being more profitable for you in the end.

Importance of Vision as a Business Owner

A company’s vision is all about having clarity and intention. Some people may claim that having a vision isn’t spontaneous enough for them. However, this is far from the truth. Businesses that use a vision statement as a baseline allow for thinking outside the box, and seeing beyond the day-to-day tasks. A vision can be large or small and isn’t meant to dictate the fate of your company, but instead, allow you simply set intentions to help guide you.

For example, a smaller part of a larger vision could include working with a set of people who fit your company’s culture. In order to achieve your company’s purpose will want to work with people who allow for a potential ripple effect and help guide co-workers or employees to live a more self-aware life. When employees become more self-aware, they become more compassionate towards others, ultimately helping the business and the world simultaneously. The benefits of a company that is composed of like-minded individuals in terms of vision, can allow business goals to be met and even have a better everyday life.

When trying to formulate a new or change a current existing vision statement, you need to think of what the future state of your company looks like. Take into account the business needs and needs of your employees too. A key here for long-term success is to never forget company values as mentioned above. Getting caught up in chasing what is most profitable is so easy, but can eventually lead to a lack of motivation and poor decision-making. A company’s mission and vision can even get lost when it becomes so easy to do what will make the most money. However, this only leads to burnout whether it be ten or fifteen years down the road.

Over the years of owning a business, so much “debris” per-say builds up and is piled on us with all different messages in social media. Alana Winters suggests that having someone help you dig deep can allow you to sift through all that “debris” to get to the core again. Even sitting down in a Starbucks or somewhere that allows for deep thinking and reflection can get ideas flowing again. You can then reformulate your mission statement if need be, and what that new vision looks like to you.

Being intentional in what you’re doing leads to more productive predictability, happiness, and satisfaction. Having a vision is different from strategic business planning, and will still allow for things to happen naturally. Vision is a key aspect needed for success and having a higher purpose. Having a higher purpose will not only allow you personally to connect to your business, but your customers will see that too. At the end of the day, customers have a choice of where they go, and they want to relate to brands and companies that have a purpose in the world. Especially if you are a new business/startup, or small business owner, having a purpose and vision set from the get-go will allow for better hiring decisions and less turnover.

About the Guest Alana Winter, Serial Entrepreneur, Business Coach

Alana Winter is a serial entrepreneur, creative thinker, and guide on the path to improved leadership. Alana now runs retreats, and workshops, and does one-on-one training & coaching to help transform the lives of business leaders and their teams. Alana’s programs have been featured on NPR, The Today Show, E!, CBS Morning News, ABC, the Wall Street Journal, Psychology Today, NY Daily News, Men’s Fitness, Tyra, and many other major news and media outlets internationally. Ms. Winter has built and operated several entrepreneurial businesses, including a fashion accessories company and three successful video distribution companies. Alana, Welcome to today’s Entrepreneur MBA Podcast

About The Host Stephen Halasnik, Financing Solutions

Stephen Halasnik is the host of the popular Entrepreneur MBA Podcast. The Entrepreneur MBA podcast’s purpose is to help small businesses get over the $10 million per year in revenue mark. Mr. Halasnik is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Financing Solutions. Financing Solutions is a leading provider of Lines of Credit to small businesses and nonprofits

Mr. Halasnik is a graduate of Rutgers University and has an Executive Masters from the MIT Birthing of Giants Entrepreneurship program. Mr. Halasnik has started and built 6 companies over 25+ years with 2 of those businesses making the Inc 500/5000 fastest-growing list. Mr. Halasnik is a best-selling Amazon author on business and regularly tweets about his ideas about growing a business. You can also find Mr. Halasnik on youtube talking about Entrepreneurship.

Mr. Halasnik loves small businesses. He lives in New Jersey with his best friend, and his wife Gina. Mr. Halasnik’s number one purpose is raising his two boys, Michael and Maxwell, to be good men.

About Financing Solutions

Financing Solutions provides an easy-to-setup unsecured business line of credit to small businesses. The small business financing product is a great cash backup plan that costs nothing to set up, nothing until used, and is inexpensive when needed. Financing Solutions is rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and 5 stars by the BBB/Google Reviews.

Unlike a traditional business bank loan, our business credit line requires no collateral or personal guarantee (except in cases of fraud) making it an excellent alternative business financing option. Small businesses often used their line of credit for short-term expenses, working capital, to make payroll, or for a business investment especially when business cash flow is temporarily down.

Get a free, no-obligation business line of credit quote by filling out our simple 2- minute business line of credit application here.

Remember: The time to set up a credit line is when you don’t need it.

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Note: Financing Solutions donates 10% of its profits to various nonprofit charities