Define Your Company Culture
There is something really interesting that I’ve watched happen over the last couple years of Sage Wedding Pros. When business owners clearly define their company culture, they start to get more business and better business.
What is company culture?
Company culture is a mix of your mission statement, your company values, your core philosophies, your niche, and the identification of your target client. Your culture, in other words, is the SOUL of your business.
- Who is your target client?
- What do you value? What do they value?
- What is your specialty? Your niche?
All of these factors are what breed culture and life into your business. Knowing these well are what make you confident in building your company culture.
Culture Evolves and is Rarely Planned
It is pretty rare that a start-up is able to define and plan company culture. This is something that usually grows over time. You get to know your clients better which leads to you serving them better which leads to better consistency which increases your confidence. And VOILA(!) culture is born.
While you can’t necessarily strategically plan for the culture, you can reflect on these things (values, core philosophies, target customer, and niche) and work to mold it.
How Culture Works
Laurel McConnell is a photographer who is doing this. She had an epiphany this summer at our workshop and realized, “Hey, I do photography for really fun people.” Anyone can say this… but is it really the culture of anyone’s business? Not if they aren’t truly living it.
I know Laurel – and I this is VERY MUCH the culture of her business. Everything she does is fun. The way she talks is fun. The ways she takes photos is fun. The girl EXUDES fun. This is the culture of her business. And on account of this epiphany (identifying exactly what is the soul of her business) Laurel McConnell Photography is going gangbusters.
Everything is in harmony: she knows what she does best (confidence) + she knows her clients are fun people (target market) + she has something that no one else does quite the same (niche) + she has zeroed in on a philosophy of fun silliness & artistry (values).
What other companies have this strong culture? How do they live and breathe this culture?