Yes, YOUR little business can make an impact in the business world. And after 27 years of doing so, we asked ourselves why and how companies—especially insurance companies (simply because of the field we’re in)—operate differently with us than with other brokers, and how and why have we influenced other brokerages positively?

The answer is simple.

Our core. That’s all it is. The way a company operates is strongly determined by its core, and I’m not talking about what you do. I’m talking about your essence, your purpose, your values.

“The way a company operates is strongly determined by its core…”

Too many businesses make the mistake of having money their essence and reason when, in fact, profit is a result of a healthy brand doing business well. And when money is at your core that’s all you will see when dealing with clients and other businesses, and that’s all they will see when they deal with you.

Strip your company of everything; its products and services, marketing tools, employees, forget about its clients. What is left? If the only thing that’s left is a dream to make huge profits, well, then it’s time to question yourself.

Here are three questions to ask yourself that will shift your position in the community to make a greater impact on the lives of those around you.

What is your essence, the seed of your business?

Your essence will essentially become the flavour of your business. It is the seed your company carries and reproduces.

The essence of our insurance brokerage is relationship. We are fully aware that without the relationships we have, we couldn’t achieve our purpose, and it is these meaningful relations that connect us to our ambitions.

A good essence always connects a company to its purpose.

What is your purpose?

It is a corporate’s purpose that gives it greater meaning and adds value to the company and the community. A healthy business practices its services as a result of its purpose and can demonstrate its cause through many different services, products and/or brands. The problem with making a service/product your purpose is that it makes it extremely difficult to extend your brand and its products and services. A purpose is not a purpose if it’s purely money driven. That’s called a sad motivation. A purpose is only a purpose if it’s based on uplifting the community.

“A purpose is not a purpose if it’s purely money driven. That’s called a sad motivation. A purpose is only a purpose if it’s based on uplifting the community.”

The goal of Jerome Schofield cc Insurance Brokers (JSib) is to humanise before we monetise. In other words, to bring impartiality, honesty and integrity back to the business world. A purpose like this opens us to a world of opportunities, and the service we provide as insurance brokers is just one of the avenues we’ve taken in order to achieve our purpose. Just like our purpose encourages respectable and healthy relationships and ties in with our essence, a noble and worthy purpose will encourage the seed of your company to grow too.

“…the service we provide as insurance brokers is just one of the avenues we’ve taken in order to achieve our purpose.”

What are your values?

Your values are your roots. Your values will keep you rooted regardless of the circumstances.

As brokers at Jerome Schofield cc Insurance Brokers, we recognise that our values cannot be something we do, achieve or even live by. They have to be who we are.

When your values are something you do it becomes easy to neglect them depending on how you’re feeling, but when you realise that your values are internal; the roots of your company, everything you do—from the way your business communicates to the way it deals with corruption—is unchanging, and your business will have no other option but to act and react according to these values.

We have a succession of values. Each of them carry weight. To JSib, some more than others:

Honesty       Ethic       Trust

Respect       Integrity      Quality

Solace        Relationship

Meaningful relationships connect us to a community that’s ever growing and it is in this community that we find ourselves working towards our purpose and exceeding our own expectations. These relationships and solace compel us to help and make the right situations we have the authority to influence. This is where being a firm of honesty is essential as it allows us to act justly and accordingly.

If your essence and purpose is unhealthy, it’s impossible to be established in a healthy set of values. Once your company is firmly founded on worthy values, you will find your small business changing the business world.