Business Core Values of Entrepreneurship

All companies out there have a mission statement and a core value structure that they hold to. Take a look at any of the Fortune 500 companies and you will see that they have a vision to get them where they are. If you are self-employed, you should do the same. But how many of us actually put pen to paper and accomplish this task?

This is the cornerstone of where you want your business to be, and who you are willing to become in the process. You must dig deep and ask yourself some serious and poignant questions. A lot of people will make emotional decisions around January 1st because it represents a new year. I want you to understand that everyday is a start of a new year. Don't wait, make today count.

Ask yourself some basic questions:

• What do I want to accomplish with my business?
• Where do I see my business in 5 years?
• 10 years?
• What or who am I willing to become to achieve these goals?
• What or who am I not willing to become to achieve these goals?

This is a process that you must go through. Don't expect it to be perfect, it will always be a work in progress as you and your company grows and develops. It just needs to be a few sentences that empower you, and allows you to hold strong to your vision. Go ahead and take some time and write out your own vision and mission statement for what you want to accomplish. Once you do this, you will be taking ownership of your own business.

The last two questions in the previous section were asking yourself who or what you are either willing or not willing to become to achieve your goal. I believe that these are powerful questions. They really hit home, and you can see your true grit. When I think about core values, I can't help but remember the training and experiences that I had in the Air Force. The values that resonate the most with myself are:

• Integrity
• Service above self
• Tenacity
• Persistence
• Be disciplined

Let me explain why.

I understand integrity as doing the right thing even when no one is looking or will find out. Its more of an internal barometer of ethics. Related to business, remember the golden rule? Treat others as you would like to be treated. Its important to have this attitude in business. No one wants to do any kind of business with anyone that just takes, takes, takes. Learn to give first, give of yourself, take that leap of faith, and trust that those that will receive your message or service will be accepting of the heart that you put into it.

Service before self comes into play with your daily priorities. You'll reap what you sow, so sow good seed. Good seed is paying attention to your vision and mission statement, understanding where you want to go and what you want to achieve, and making that a priority.

Understand that this value is still self serving. Your ultimate goal may be to have more time with your loved ones by building your business into where it is a complete asset. That's awesome, but today, before your business actually is an asset, providing what you want it to provide, you must give it the time and energy that it requires. If that means staying up late, so be it. Missing a family function for a seminar where you know that you are going to grow and be able to grow your business, so be it. It will take sacrifices to get where you want to be. If you weren't tested, then you wouldn't be able to have a testimony!

Persistence and tenacity go hand in hand. You must have tenacity, some call it thick skin. The ability to keep going through all resistance, no matter what. That is where persistence comes in.

Persistence is such an important value that Napoleon Hill devoted an entire chapter to the subject in his classic novel Think and Grow Rich. Here is one of my favorite quotes from that book.

"...persistence,.... the quality is to the character of man what carbon is to steel."

Wow! That's huge. Make persistence part of your essence. Even if you feel like giving up, you feel that nothing is working out for you, keep going. You feel that, dang it, that person is succeeding and I'm not, keep going. I've done everything that I can, I've called everyone that I can call...keep going! Sometimes, its just that one extra step that makes all of the difference.

Think about this, water and 212°.

If you don't know, at 211°, water is just water....but at 212°, it boils, and wtih boiling water comes steam, and steam can power a locomotive! You see, it was just that one extra degree.

Majority of successes happened just after the most difficulty. This is where the personal development comes in. Remember, just keep going!

Discipline. You must be disciplined on everyday action steps that will allow you to accomplish your vision and mission. I heard a great quote today,

"The Miracle of the result is in the discipline, not in the talent."

Go ahead and read that again, let it sink in. Whenever you are feeling that you don't have what it takes or someone is better than you. Stop, and realize that before someone was really great at something, they really sucked at it. Just know that you are truly blessed, and through discipline, you can create a miracle too.

Understand that the 80/20 rule follows us whereever we go. 20% of the people do 80% of the work. Through developing these or your own core values you can become the 20% that you want to be.

Another important question to ask yourself. You may have to ask yourself this question more than once throughout your business career. I learned from a mentor that two things will determine who you become five years from now, the books you have read, and the people that you associate with. Once you know what your own core values are, you can start to attract individuals of the same mold, making your business connections that much deeper.

These values are what I'm all about. If this resonates with you, feel free to visit me at RitchieInman.com Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you make today count.

To Continued Success,

Ritchie