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Is Your Small Business A Success?
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Article 4: Translate Your Personal Values Into Business Goals
Entrepreneurs have a variety of reasons for starting their businesses. Why did you start your own business – or what is your motivation for starting a new one?
The motivations for starting a business find their roots in personal values. Seldom do these values revolve exclusively around money. Consider these examples of values that commonly spark a business:
To maintain independence. Some people want to avoid the hassles of the corporate world. They want to do their own thing. To enhance one’s lifestyle. Scheduling your own hours means you can be flexible. You can spend time golfing, playing with your children, or just taking longer lunch hours without a boss watching the clock. To do good for the community. Some people start a business to help their town. Establishing a child care facility is a good example. To serve a higher force. Many faith-based businesses, often set up as nonprofit corporations, are started to serve God. To exercise your imagination in a productive way. Running your own shop means you can spend more time in creative pursuits rather than sitting in a bunch of boring corporate meetings. To create an entity to hand down to the next generation. Creating a functioning business can be a great gift for those children who are natural business people. To make lots of profit. Many people make the mistake of seeing the bottom line as their only goal in business. It must be said, though, that in a few cases this goal really does motivate in a deep way. “Donald Trump really does love money,” quips Ed Brodow, author of “Beating The Success Trap” (Harper Collins, 2004).
Do any of those sound like your own motivation for starting the business you now run, or for starting a new one? In every case, these goals are tied to inner values.
Once you’re in tune with your values you’ll have a firmer grip on your motivations for starting a business. And once you understand your motivations you’ll be better able to see when you’ve reached your personal goals, and thus have become successful.
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