Thoughts on Excellence Free E-Newsletter Series
Volume 20, Issue No. 16a
September 1, 2022
By Dan Coughlin
When you own your own business you are different than an employee.
Your employees represent you, but they are not you. Employees can be hired and fired, but they are not you. You are the business, and that comes with responsibilities. You are responsible to make sure the bills get paid and that money comes in to pay those bills. When something goes wrong, you are the one who is responsible for it.
And one of your biggest responsibilities is to remember that you represent your organization’s brand every day and in every situation.
To me, a brand is the value people think they get when they buy from an organization. However, it’s more than that. A brand is also about the values that people think exist inside of that organization. A brand is about the quality of the product or service that you sell. A brand is also about the experience that the customer goes through in buying, receiving, and using your product or service. A brand is what the customer sees and hears when they interact with your organization.
And a brand is what customers and potential customers see and hear from you, the owner of the business, in EVERY situation you are in.
This includes what you do and say at work, in your community, and in your “off” time. It includes what you say and share on social media and with your neighbors. In other words, you, as the business owner, ALWAYS represent your organization’s brand. If you are kind to your neighbors and helpful in your community, then people associate those behaviors with your organization. If you are belligerent to people, tell nasty jokes, and use non-stop foul language, then that is the way people think about your organization.
As an entrepreneur you are seen as synonymous with your organization’s brand. It doesn’t matter how small or how big your organization has become, you represent the value and the values of your organization.
Think, really think, before you send out an email, text, Instagram, or make a statement to anyone at any time. Is what you are about to say a good representation of the brand you want for your organization?
It’s amazing how fast a business owner can ruin years of hard work by lots and lots of people. What went wrong? The person forgot that he or she REPRESENTS the brand in the minds of other people. To these other people, the owner is the business.
Being an entrepreneur is a wonderful experience in so many ways. I love being an entrepreneur. However, choosing to own your own business also includes choosing the responsibility of representing that business every minute of every day.
Republishing Articles
My newsletters, Thoughts on Excellence, have been republished in approximately 40 trade magazines, on-line publications, and internal publications for businesses, universities, and not-for-profit organizations over the past 20+ years. If you would like to republish all or part of my monthly articles, please send me an e-mail at dan@thecoughlincompany.com with the name of the article you want in the subject heading. I will send you the article in a word document.