Does your business have a written manifesto? If you’re self employed or a small business owner, this is at the heart and soul of why your business exists and what you believe in as a brand.
Don’t have one written yet? No worries because we’re giving you a simplified guide to help you create your business manifesto today!
Contents
What is a manifesto for your business?
It’s simply a declaration of your business’s values and beliefs, and how these shape the way you work.
Now I’m not talking about vague buzzwords that sound kinda impressive, but don’t really mean anything. Your manifesto has to be specific to you and authentic, otherwise you might as well not bother.
Why does your business need a manifesto?
It makes you a better business owner
Writing a business manifesto makes you clarify your purpose. Why did you set up your business? It gives you a chance to focus on what’s really important which helps you make decisions in all areas of your business. And sometimes we just need to go back to the big picture and remind ourselves why we love what we do. It brings a huge boost of motivation and confidence!
It will improve your marketing and make you stand apart from your competitors.
Your manifesto should be at the core of everything you do and should definitely feed into any marketing content you create. Customers and clients aren’t interested in cold, generic companies that sound the same as a million others.
A strong manifesto shows who you are and is a beacon for like-minded people and businesses. It should inspire people to want to know more, to hire you or to collaborate with you.
How to write a business manifesto
- Set aside time where you can focus without being interrupted or distracted. This isn’t a 10-minute rush job.
- Get angry. Brainstorm all the things that annoy you about your industry. What do you wish was different? Why? What do other businesses in your sector do that you hate? What’s wrong with it? If you could snap your fingers and make a change, what would that look like? This can expand to the wider world beyond your industry if you feel it’s relevant.
- Get inspired and do another brainstorm. What do you love about the way you do business? How do you work in a way that goes against those things that make you angry?
- Sift through your thoughts. Find the common themes and write down the values that come from them. Avoid being wishy washy. Get specific and don’t be afraid of “impressive” sounding words. Whether your business is as big as Apple or as small as one person working from home on a side hustle, you have to show passion!
- Make it about your customers and clients. How do your values and the way you work impact and help them?
- Get concise. Choose the most important values and turn them into around 5-10 points. Add short supporting statements to explain them and how they factor in your business. You want to keep your manifesto to under one A4 side of paper.
- Test it. How do you know if a value or point in your manifesto is important? Could you write a whole blog post on it? Could you rant about it? Do a presentation on it? It has to be important and mean something to you. Does it inspire and motivate you when you look at it?
To succeed in business you need purpose and passion. Those aren’t things we can copy/paste, or avoid. Without a manifesto, we make life harder for ourselves as business owners. So invest in your business and set some time aside this week to write your business manifesto.
Resources we recommend:
- BOOK: Start With Why by Simon Sinek
- BLOG: 17 inspiring brand manifestos – have a look at some examples but don’t copy! It’s all about being authentic to you.
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