Many businesses routinely stock the shelves, faithfully open the front doors on time, and work to sell goods and services. The business model is the basic work, sell and earn model — and with only that focus. What’s missing? These establishments never establish core company values or a mission statement, so they lack ethical guidance, values-centered motivation and other key guiding principles often recognized as key contributors to long-term business successes. Having those guiding priorities and principles in place offers many business benefits. Does your company have values?

Most business values begin with the core basics: Honesty, fairness, accountability and a promise to their customers and to their employees. Every company’s values and mission statements are different because the communities served, the customer bases, and employees working there are never exactly the same. Once you have some company values and a mission statement (purpose for being in business) established, put it in writing and on the wall for employees — and customers — to see. Those guiding words and values relay important information about how you do business and who you are.

That group of words also helps set the standard in day-to-day operations and lets your faithful hunting customers, along with your employees, know you are serious about business and have guidelines on why and how you conduct business.

Basic Core Values

While many business take many routes from idea and startup to finally ringing the cash register and serving customers in the hunting market on opening day and beyond, there are key points that help a business thrive while guiding in day-to-day activities. These core values — synonymous with culture — guide the leaders and the employees in their interaction with each other as well as with customers on the sales floor and at the checkout counter. The top core values are the reason you get up each morning, go the business, turn on the lights and open the front doors to your employees and the public. Core values are important motivators and communicators.

Core values can cover the basics like honesty with each other in the work place, fairness for all, and being a part of the teamwork that makes a business stay profitable. Values in the hunting retail workplace also make employees feel their job is important and that they are part of a team. Engaged and connected employees usually interact better with customers, come to work on time and perform better at their jobs. This overall improved outlook translates to more sales and profits and increases the bottom line because customers are better served. Open communication and making employees feel like a valued part of the team goes a long way in ensuring overall company health — and better results in many areas of the business.

With a focus on customers, values often ensure integrity to provide quality products and backed-by-action promises to your customers. Mom-and-pop shops and small businesses have thrived because they set ethical standards and established core values that the corporate mega giants have often failed to create and implement.

Get It in Writing

Once you start looking at the key principles and standards that drive you and your company, you can start to recognize some core values and guiding principles. Many of these points or concepts could be the top reasons why you started or joined a hunting retail company. You are the leader; you set the standards that your employees and customers value hearing and reading. Your standards should be clear about what drives you and what you value. Customers like shopping at places where they understand why the company opens its doors and what the business brings to the market — and how your business works to serve their needs. 

You can begin to develop a core value, and ultimately a mission statement, by reflecting on why you are in business, what you value the most in daily interactions with customers and employees, and what you also value in your business dealings with the community where you are based and with other companies, vendors and suppliers you engage with while conducting business. Much of these core business basics center around respect. Take notes, review and adjust, and start to recognize the pattern of words, beliefs, business practices and thoughts that motivate you and make work meaningful, enjoyable and rewarding. Those guiding principles are often far more than dollars earned. 

Your company, its recognized brand, and what customers say about shopping and interacting with you — such as that you have a great product mix or you’re a fun place to visit because of the many taxidermy mounts — can also provide ideas and words as you work to develop a core value list and ultimately a mission statement. Your employees also are more productive and connected when they know what your company stands for and seeks to contribute to customers and your community. You can also ask your employees what they believe your company—and they — provide to the local market served. Ask what they have possibly heard customers mention as a reason they enjoy shopping with your business. Remember to keep the words and ideas from customers and employees oriented on business basics and the positive points as you take notes and start working on the master list of values and ultimately crafting a guiding mission statement.   

When developing and writing a mission statement, keep it simple and to the point, and strive to include specific goals and values but in wording that is easy to understand. Take the effort to make these points unique to your business and your personal guiding principles. For example, one successful businessman included serving customers to the highest possible standards, making quality products with a purpose, and interacting fairly and honestly with suppliers, customers and his employees in his company’s mission statement — then he added having fun while doing those. That wording set the stage for a very successful and profitable company, and one where employees did have fun and frequently smiled.

Those points were often discussed with employees during meetings and sometimes were reviewed when new products were being added to shelves or new services were being considered.

Spreading the News and Views

Once you begin to see key words that reappear in your lists, or are
repeated by customers and employees, a big picture should begin to
emerge. As you strive to capture the essence in words, you can
incorporate unique words or statements by adjusting and clarifying.
Using a thesaurus, dictionary, or online English word program can aid
with this effort. Again, be specific enough in the words that the
combined sentence or sentences mean something to all engaged parties.
Strive to keep the ideas and words simple but impactful, but make sure
they can be understood by all.

Once you have the Mission Statement and Guiding Principles defined and
refined, it’s time to put these in print. Most businesses have the
statements professionally printed and framed, then hung near the
customer service areas, near the checkout counters, and on the
employee bulletin board or in break areas. Choose locations where the
words and displays will be read and understood. If you choose, you can
post the ideas on your website.

Note that as markets change, your product mix expands, new employees
come on board, or if you relocate or offer additional services, the
Mission Statement and Company Values wording might need to change.
Keeping your original notes for reference and as a starting point, you
should routinely look at the guiding principles as often as you revise
your business plan and inventory reviews. Be certain to also add the
mission statement and guiding principles or values to your business
plan, and review those along with your annual plan review. This can
help investors, banks or customers better understand your business and
you.

Mission statements are more than a cluster of words. Those words can
help you and your employees make rewarding decisions in many parts of
day-to-day business operations. Having a clear and guiding statement
helps keep things on course and builds a connection with you, your
employees, your customers and your vendors.

In the end, it’s mission (statement) accomplished!