Principle – 3

Value is one of those words that means what you think it means, depending on your point of view. In business, value is anything you provide that someone wants.
If you provide it and they don’t want it, it’s valueless.
If they want it and don’t get it, it’s valueless.
If they want it and get all of it, that’s full spectrum value.
To the owner, value is wealth, profits, satisfaction, making a contribution, status … and much more.
To customers, value is a good price for the products and services they buy, a good experience of the product and the provider they get it from, status, emotional satisfaction … and much more.
To an employee, value is a paycheck, job satisfaction, a good working environment, respectful treatment … and much more.
To the community, value is a business that pays its taxes, provides jobs for its citizens, contributes to the positive energy and the economics of the community … and much more.
There’s a basic mistake many business people make about value.
They think mainly in economic terms – value means money or anything that can be measured by money. That’s wrong. Well, it’s not really wrong – it’s just narrow and short sighted. Economic value is extremely important – essential, actually – yet there’s much more to it.
Think of value this way: There’s economic value – measured by money – and there’s “full spectrum” value, which means anything that satisfies needs, including money.
For instance, people buy cars for transportation, status, a fun experience, self-image, emotional impulses, and, yes, also for economic reasons.
People buy chocolates for flavor, to ease hunger, for emotional comfort, or maybe for other reasons.
A full spectrum business provides a full spectrum of value to its customers. And value is in the eye of the beholder.
Value is what they say it is, not what you say it is.
You may think you offer the best products and services since sliced bread, but if nobody is buying, those great products and services are worthless.
The bottom line is this:
Value is whatever satisfies the needs of anyone having anything to do with the business.