Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about words. Some people say that I’m pretty good with them. I certainly have a greater affinity to words than I do to images. But how you use words is crucial in business. Content is king – we all know that – whether that be on social media, your website, or indeed what you say in an elevator pitch! But before all that come other words that all business owners need to think about. The words that describe your business.
These words are the words that form the core of your brand. How people feel when they engage with you. They contribute to your values as a business and to the beginnings of your messaging. They start to lay the groundwork for what people can expect from you as an organisation and as business owners.
So why not pause for a minute today, and think about the words that describe your business. Here are ours – they’re in no particular order, but all are very important to us!
Approachable
I’m glad to say that we hear this a lot. Being friendly and approachable is a really important part of the image and brand that we wanted to create. From the beginning, we have welcomed anyone and everyone, male or female, business owner or not, at our events and workshops, and on our courses. And we pride ourselves on how friendly and approachable we are! We love to laugh a lot too!
Our approach to our events is also very relaxed and informal. There isn’t any sort of dress code – just whatever makes you comfortable. It doesn’t even matter if you drop in for a while, or join us from the start to the finish of an event. Just whatever and whenever works for you.
Supportive
This is a really important part of what we do, too. From the outset, we didn’t want anyone to feel nervous or apprehensive about engaging with us and our community. So if you do feel like that, and it’s preventing you from getting involved and finding out more about us, just let us know. We’re ready to support you in taking those first steps.
Likewise, our community itself is designed to be a source of support. Members can gain support from our co-founders, our team of resident Experts and from each other. Dependent on how people choose to work with us, you can post questions in our exclusive Facebook group, arrange 1-to-1s with our coaches and mentors, request referrals to our Experts and even get more immediate support on WhatsApp!
Responsive
The small business owners that we work with are at the heart of everything we do, so being responsive is crucial. We want to ensure that the service we provide is exactly what small business owners are looking for. And that it’s delivered in a format that works for them. To achieve this, we encourage people to come to us with suggestions and ideas, and also with constructive feedback. We also like to check in with people a lot and get to know them as much as we can. By knowing what’s happening in people’s lives and businesses, we are able to provide as much support as people need.
Holistic
Again, the word ‘holistic’ is a fundamental part of the Tabono approach. A lot of organisations support small business owners from either a business or a wellbeing perspective. There are few who do both – and we fall squarely in the latter category. We believe that without looking after themselves first, it’s impossible for a small business owner to truly and properly look after their business.
Consequently, our 12 month programme covers both wellbeing- and business-related subjects, and our team of resident experts are drawn from both areas aswell.
Passion
When it comes to choosing words to describe your business, the final one for us has to be ‘passion’. Chloe and I are driven by a real love for what we do. By a real passion for making a difference to the people with whom we work. And that passion is poured into everything we do, whether it be choosing our speakers for our networking events, developing and delivering our courses or in 1-to-1 coaching and mentoring sessions.
But what about you? What words would you choose to describe your business? Let us know in the comments.