What do small business owners want?

• Agency – to make their own ‘me-shaped’ dent in the universe.
• Mastery – to learn and master new skills.
• Autonomy – to be free to choose how they make their dent.
• Purpose – to do this for something bigger than themselves, that has meaning beyond the sale.
• Community – to do all this with ‘people like us’.
• Status – to know (and for others to know) where we stand in our communities.

What do small business clients want?

• Agency – to make their own ‘me-shaped’ dent in the universe.
• Mastery – to learn and master new skills.
• Autonomy – to be free to choose how they make their dent.
• Purpose – to do this for something bigger than themselves, that has meaning beyond the sale.
• Community – to do all this with ‘people like us’.
• Status – to know (and for others to know) where we stand in our communities.

What do small business employees want?

• Agency – to make their own ‘me-shaped’ dent in the universe.
• Mastery – to learn and master new skills.
• Autonomy – to be free to choose how they make their dent.
• Purpose – to do this for something bigger than themselves, that has meaning beyond the sale.
• Community – to do all this with ‘people like us’.
• Status – to know (and for others to know) where we stand in our communities.

We all want the same things, but the weight we give them and how we look to achieve them may vary according to the role we’re playing.

As a small business owner, you’ve probably decided that agency, autonomy and purpose are more likely to be achieved by setting up on your own, and that these things are more important to you than a regular income.   Your employees may feel that mastery matters more to them, while autonomy and agency are only possible outside work, with a steady income.   Your clients may gain status by spending on the things they can buy from you, or by supporting their local business community, or through the discernment they display to their peers by choosing you.

A successful business knows exactly what it delivers to all its stakeholders, and ensures that it does so consistently.

Success starts with awareness that while we all want the same things, they’re not necessarily in the same order.