Business Plans For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Chapter 3

Setting Off in the Right Direction

IN THIS CHAPTER

Discovering the importance of values

Identifying your company’s current beliefs and core principles

Declaring your company’s vision

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 ...