Controlling Your Business’s Narrative

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14 Feb. 2020. The most successful businesses in the world all have their own stories, from the esoteric (do you know how Coca-Cola first came into the public realm?) to the standard. What they all have in common, though, is that these stories are by now a matter of public record, for better or worse. When you are starting your business, you may not be thinking about much more than whether you can avoid being one of those companies that fails in its first year – don’t worry, the stat of 50% has been conclusively debunked – but you’re writing your story whether or not you realize it.

A story can be a powerful thing to have as a business, especially as numbers suggest that consumers are now more likely than ever to gravitate to businesses with a positive ethos. And while you are likely to spend the early days just trying to get your business off the ground, it’s important that you think about how you write that story. You want to control your narrative, because when people hear your story, you want them to take a positive message from it.

What difference does a positive story make?

In the present generation, an increasing number of consumers have strong ideas about which kind of business they want to give their custom to. This tends to be exemplified by being prepared to pay extra for sustainably-sourced products, or businesses that pay a living wage. If you can point to a back story of being an ethical business – showing “receipts” both metaphorically and in some cases literally – then you can appeal to a growing audience.

How do you make your story positive?

Your story isn’t just about your company’s origins and the people who work for it. It also has to do with how you conduct yourself as a business, and how you interact with clients. If you do business with resellers, then protecting the honest ones from being undercut by unfair competition is part of how you control your narrative. In this way, MAP compliance software is as powerful a tool as any content you may put on your website. Your loyal clients will be a testament to your fairness.

How do you tell a story?

Increasingly, social media is becoming an effective way for businesses to get their stories out there. Sometimes, you might hand the company Twitter account over to different members of staff, or even give a camera to a new employee who can vlog about a typical day on the job for them. The authenticity of this approach doesn’t just offer a fun selling point in the now – it also can build into a handy “back story” that will document the development of your company from the acorn of an idea to the great oak it will one day become.

Customers will always be happier to give their loyalty to a company that takes a positive approach, and you can attract that customer base by being open and telling your story as a company. Among other benefits, this allows you to protect your legacy by being the person who tells the real story.

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