www.fnb.co.za (and then click on “For My Business” on the top line menu bar). For a more comprehensive list of such opportunities, see www.kiva.org; this is a Silicon Valley–based nonprofit organization that connects worthy small-business entrepreneurs with lending resources both domestically and internationally.
Chapter 3
Setting Off in the Right Direction
IN THIS CHAPTER
You may ask yourself why on earth you’re reading a chapter on vision and values in a book on business planning. But if you are wondering, perhaps it’s only a reflection of the era in which you were born. Why is this? Because today we must acknowledge that the business firm is an entity that needs to be acutely aware of its societal surroundings if it wants to attract both loyal customers and skilled employees. As such, how an organization positions itself in its larger social domain is critical to not only the bottom line but also to its very survival. People the world over are realizing the need to hold firms accountable if we are to improve both the physical and human condition, and they are taking action to do just that — especially younger people who, let’s admit it, have a stronger stake in the future than some of us old fogeys. Lesson learned for the business planner: Today, social values count as much as an economic valuation of the enterprise.
Now, don’t get us wrong here — we have no quarrel either with profit or the economic system that encourages its accumulation. We devoutly believe in a consensual relationship with both, engaged with eyes wide open, of course, and we hope that you, too, dear reader, will earn your fair share of greenback gratification over time. But short-term profits aren’t the measure of business success. Truth be told, even the oldest tomes on business planning have noted that long-term profit is the best success metric of the capitalist firm.
Yet while all of this is true, we’ve also come to another realization as our complex new century unspools before us: The blind pursuit of profit only for its own sake is a death wish. It results not only in the depletion of the planet’s scarce resources but has also shown an unfortunate tendency to deepen the chasm between the haves and have nots (to say nothing of the haves and have yachts). This is not good, indeed it’s bad, and though it might take another book to explain why, suffice it to say that even a casual look around should prompt all of us to re-examine the role of the business firm in contemporary society.
In this chapter, we point out why values are so important in the first place. We help you identify your company’s values by evaluating the beliefs and business principles that you already hold. We show you how to put together a values statement along with a set of rules to work by. Finally, we encourage you to create a vision statement for your company that will inspire everyone who encounters it. (And by the way, we haven’t forgotten that “mission statement” we mention in Chapter 1; we get to it in detail in Chapter 4.)
Understanding Why Values Matter
Your company faces all sorts of options, alternatives, and decisions every day. There’s an old saying that perhaps you’ve heard: “If you don’t stand for anything, you’ll probably fall for everything.” If you take the time to define your company’s values, your principles and beliefs can guide your managers, employees, or just you (if you’re in business for yourself) as your company wades through complicated issues that sometimes don’t have easy answers. When the unexpected happens, you can react quickly, consistently, and decisively, based on a clear sense of what’s important. Even when your company is in smooth waters and sailing along just fine, a strong sense of value helps motivate you and your employees.
Facing tough choices
There is growing evidence that financial investors favor the good guys over the ethically challenged. Government regulators around the world are beginning to impose ESG (environmental, social, and governance) mandates on publicly traded firms in their jurisdiction, with appropriate penalties for violators of social norms. Investment funds, which constitute the majority of stock holding in public firms, are also jumping on the bandwagon and restricting purchases of shares in firms that cross the line. In short, doing good is increasingly a route to doing well financially.
