For business owners a brand is everything. How people perceive our company attitudes, our service quality and our values determine our success. We spend years of our life focusing on our organizations and how we can influence more people.
But with our entrepreneurial success at the highest priority, we sometimes forget the power in applying these universal principles. Everything we do is a business! Not in the sense of profiteering and transacting, but in the sense of planning, investing, and growing our personal business.
What if you gave to yourself the same planning you gave to your business?
Your marriage?
Your education?
Your finances?
Here are four principles you can apply to be a better owner of all your life’s business:
1. Focus on your brand voice: The words you use are like the advertisements for your personal business. What language do you allow yourself to be associated with? How do you greet the people in your life? Do the most important people get your best service? These are the qualities of your personal brand.
2. Focus on your value proposition: We adore companies that bring us the most value. Likewise, we admire those who give value to our lives. When is the last time you focused on your own value propositions? Who do you want to serve? What unique thing can you give them? These are the qualities of your personal value proposition.
3. Financial stability: Businesses that focus on their financial security are the ones that thrive. How often are you running your finances like a business? Do you have staying power in a down economy? Do you have the wherewithal to invest in your own growth? Like every good business, you should have a plan that allows you to achieve your goals. You can choose to be your own CFO.
4. Strategically Plan: You’re probably familiar with the SWOT analysis concept for business. But when is the last time you wrote down, and got input, on your own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats? Are you using your personal strengths to the fullest? Are you aware and comfortable admitting your weaknesses? What opportunities do you have to be a better person? What threats are you allowing to your physical, emotional, and financial well-being?
No matter who you are or what you do, having a plan for your personal business is more important than any other business you could focus on. Study the behaviors of success, model your personal brand after them for a more fulfilling and successful life.
Brandon Welch is the Founder and President of Frank & Maven: Partners in Communication. He eats, breathes, and sleeps thinking about ways to help people and businesses communicate better.
