When they opened their cafe, Shannon and Mo couldn’t afford $400 dining chairs, and besides, they wanted the food to do the talking. So, they bought second-hand chairs, then stayed up until midnight colouring in all the scratches on them with permanent markers. They served the food on IKEA boards with the logo scrubbed off, because they decided from day one to invest more in ingredients—the thing that was most important to them.

What we prioritise is an indication of what we care about, and conversely what we care about should be what we prioritise. Our values can be the foundation of a winning strategy because what we believe determines what we do.

Values are the beginnings of the signals we send and the stories we tell to the world. What we choose to do or not to do is a sign of what matters to us and in turn, helps people to decide if they want to align with our brands or ideas.

Sharing your values, and better, demonstrating them to your customers is a smart strategy. How are you doing that in your business?

Image by Roman Kraft