What are your core values?
Core values are the DNA of what runs through any company, they have an impact on branding, marketing messages, leadership style and the people you recruit into the business. 
If you’ve not given thought to what your core values are, or have not taken the time to define them, consider this:
As the owner of a small business the core values will reflect your personal values, things you believe are important, the foundation upon which you started and grew the business. They are embedded in the culture, the way people see, think and feel about your organisation and in addition to those you want to buy from you, it will be recognised by those you may hope to recruit.
If you are starting a new business it is important to establish your core values before looking into branding and logo design as the outcome will influence the decisions you make about colour and style. A logo is the visual representation of your brand identity.
How do you establish core values?
Depending upon the size and structure of the business a good starting point is hold a team meeting, a brainstorming session and ask each of the team to write down five things that reflect what they consider best describes the company. It’s useful to have a list on hand to encourage the flow of thoughts although this can sometimes limit their thoughts.
Alternatively, you can e-mail the list out to a larger group with a quick turnaround deadline to get more people involved.
Somewhere amongst the feedback are your core values, to find them you need to look the words that come through repeatedly and discard the others. The aim is to find the top five that have been repeated several times and these should represent your core values.
The results should be a reminder and confirmation of how and why you set the business up, there should be no surprises only key words to use.
If you are new to business and working independently you will write your own list of values and get those who know you well to comment on it.
When the core values have been recognised and agreed they should be incorporated into every area of the company. They should be referred to when leading a team meeting, a regular reminder of the values to be upheld. They should be included in the story when recruiting new people to join your team giving you both the opportunity to see if they are a good fit as employees.
By surrounding yourself with a team who buy into your values you can prepare for growth. They are the brand values at the centre of your marketing messages, your vison statement, on your website, social media and your personal introduction or pitch.
