Building a Business That Reflects Your Values, Not Just Profit Goals

I know we’re all here to make money. (Yes, profit matters!) But today, I’m inviting you to think deeper about how your values show up—or don’t—in your business.

In this episode, I share how aligning with your values can transform not just what you offer, but how you show up, lead, and serve. These aren’t just lofty ideals; they’re the practical foundation for decisions, systems, client relationships, and your sanity.

Here’s what I dig into:

• Why values matter just as much as your revenue goals (if not more)
• How your values can shape your offers, pricing, and boundaries
• What it looks like when your backend systems reflect your ethics
• Real examples from my own business—yes, including letting go of clients who weren’t aligned
• Simple reflection questions to help clarify your own core values
• Why your values are a decision-making compass, especially in the messy moments

Your business can be values-aligned and profitable. Actually, I think it should be.

Learn more about BizMagic or the BizMagic Podcast.

Transcript

Welcome back to another episode of the Biz Magic Podcast, your place for all things tech in your online business with solid. So General Biz Chat two. My name is Patty Meyer and I am the CEO and founder of Biz Magic, where my team and I support entrepreneurs who are overwhelmed by the backend tech of their business.

We create, implement, and teach the tweaks that help our clients make a bigger impact with less stress. When most people start a business, I find that they're driven by a mix of practical needs. Things like flexibility, income, or using a particular skillset, and usually a deeper desire to do work that matters to them.

But as our businesses grow, it can be easy to get swept up in the pressure to scale, to optimize, to hit certain numbers. And I think somewhere along the way it can start to feel like we've built something that looks successful on paper, but doesn't always necessarily align with what matters most to us.

So today I wanna talk about. Building a business that reflects your values, not just revenue goals. Because a lot of times in the din of online business talk, we hear revenue, revenue, revenue. We hear all about ways to make all the money, all about being successful and what success looks like, but we don't hear enough.

About how aligning our business to our values can often feel more successful than a high revenue. And it's important to note that yes, we're here to make money. Yes, profit matters. Your revenue matters, but your business also gets to support the life that you want to live, the kind of leader that you wanna be, the impact that you want to have, both with your clients and in your life.

And. Beyond in the world, whatever that might look like to you. So I'd love to dig in to what it actually looks like to build a business around your values and how these values can guide everything from the systems you set up to the people you work with. So first off, at Biz Magic, we're super clear on our values.

We have a page on our website. I structure my business internally to be in alignment with my values. That includes. The people I hire, the way I work with them, the way I connect them with my clients. At Biz Magic, we exist to ease the overwhelm of small business ownership for female and female identified persons who are doing good work in the world.

Our mission, our values, and the way we show up are all connected. I say that because getting clear on our values or my values really, right? Biz magic's values are my values. So I say that because getting clear on our values has shaped how I make decisions in my business, how I work with clients, and how I define success in my business beyond.

A number, and so here is what our values look like. Here at Biz Magic, we focus on equity and humanity, valuing people over platforms, clarity, demystifying tech and systems so that business owners feel empowered, individuality, recognizing that there is no one size fits all path and impact helping business owners do meaningful work.

Sustainably. These values show up not just in what we do, but in how we do it. And if you're listening to this podcast, I imagine you're someone who likely aligns with many of these values, and you probably wanna build something intentional, something that reflects your voice, your ethics, and your priorities.

So what does that actually look like in practice? Let's break it down First, values guide your offers and your boundaries. If you value deep personal connection, maybe that means you offer high touch services or you limit your client load. So that you can show up fully. If you value accessibility, maybe that shows up in the way you price your services or structure your payment plans.

If you value time freedom, that might mean turning down opportunities that would push you past your capacity, even if they're lucrative. And it's not always easy, but letting your values guide your offers helps you create a business You actually want to keep showing up for second value shapes your systems and tools.

This is the piece a lot of people don't think about. If your business values equity and clarity, then your systems should reflect that. That might mean using tools that are intuitive and accessible, not tools that are just flashy. It might mean designing your onboarding so clients feel welcomed and not confused.

It might mean writing your contracts or emails and language that feels clear and not overly legal or robotic. The tools that you choose, the way that you automate the tone of your communications, these all send a message about what matters to you. When your backend aligns with your values, it builds trust.

People feel the difference even if they don't name it directly, and sometimes even if they don't recognize it directly, they still feel it. Third values influence your client experience. How you respond to emails, how you handle mistakes, how you deal with boundaries or feedback. If one of your core values is humanity, maybe that means giving clients the benefit of the doubt when something goes sideways.

If you value impact, maybe that means making extra space to support mission-driven clients, or donating time or resources in a way that feels aligned to you. This isn't about overgiving or stretching yourself thin. It's about showing up in a way that feels in integrity for you, and creating experiences that reflect the business you want to be running.

Fourth values are a compass when you're stuck or overwhelmed. Most of us have been at some point in our business where we hit a fork in the road. Maybe there's a new opportunity or a hard decision or a client you are unsure about your values, help navigate this. Sometimes it's important to ask yourself questions like, does this decision reflect the kind of business I want to build?

Uh, will this choice move me toward or away from the life I want to live? Is this aligned with how I want to treat people or show up in my industry? Even when you answer all of these questions, the answer still might not feel very easy, but your values give you a place to ground yourself, especially when your business can get noisy.

I'm kind of on that note, I wanna say that your values don't have to be flashy or. Polished or performative. This isn't about writing a list of words for your website and never looking at them again. Right. It's, it's about actually using them behind the scenes with your team, with your clients, with yourself.

If you're not sure what your values are yet, or you feel like they've shifted, that's super okay because they evolve. And oftentimes we start our business because our values are inside of us, but we haven't actually. Sat down yet to, to write them, so it might be worth it to take the time and revisit them.

I had to take time to sit down and really think about what are my values, what is the mission, and what are the values of Biz Magic? I want to be intentional with that in how I show up, and so I sat down and thought about that and went through a series of questions to kind of get there. These are some questions you can ask yourself.

What do I care about more than money? What do I want my clients to feel after working with me? What kind of culture do I wanna create, even if it's just me? Within all of these questions is where your values are hiding. And before I kind of wrap up, I wanna talk a little bit more about values and practice because.

Leading by my values and my business has actually been one of the most important things to me. And when I started my business, it wasn't something I had in mind. Like I, I didn't, I didn't start this business, if I'm honest, to have a values aligned approach to things. It was because I wanted to work for myself.

It was because I wanted to do work that I loved, and I naturally found my way to working with people who do good in the world because that's. What I'm drawn to, and I had to sit down and thoughtfully decide what my values were, which again were my values. Biz magic's values were my values. And so once I was really thoughtful about that, here are some ways that I have applied.

My values to my business. I've let go of clients because they have spoken in a condescending manner to a team member of mine. I've let go of clients because I've tried to poach my team members. I've. Given space to clients, and when I was raising my prices, chose not to raise prices on certain people because they weren't in a position to afford that price increase, but I still wanted to support them.

I've provided. Education to my team members because when I say I wanna support women in this world, my team members are a part of that. So I wanted to make sure, even though for most of my team members, I'm a stepping point to the next thing, I wanted to provide something to them and support them as well.

I have chosen not to work with clients who were extremely out of alignment with. My values politically or religiously. And, and I, I wanna be clear when I say that, that I don't mean somebody who doesn't believe in the same thing as me, that I was like, oh, you're not a fit for me. I mean, when I found out somebody I was potentially going to start working with was actively campaigning for someone who would be making laws that hurt human beings.

Without care. That was a problem for me and that was a way that I stood up. I give people benefit of the doubt. If team members make a mistake, I give them multiple chances and coach and teach and hold space. I encourage everybody on my team to show up as they are when they can, however works best for them.

And granted that's a a given because they're contractors, but even if they were full employees, I would do the same. Because that is really important to me. So these are just a couple examples, right? There's, there's tons of ways that your values can show up in your business and that you can put them into play practically.

So just remember that your business doesn't just have to be efficient, profitable, or successful by someone else's standards. It can be something that reflects who you are and what matters to you and how you wanna show up in the world. In fact, I think it should. This is one of the rare times I will, should you, I think it should.

Be something that reflects who you are, what matters to you, and how you wanna show up in the world. Your values are not fluff. They are a framework for how your business runs. They help you make hard decisions. They protect your time and energy, and they help your business feel like something you're proud to lead, and ideally something that is making even the tiniest difference or impact in the world.

So that's all for today. As always, if you like what you hear here and you wanna share it, I would welcome that. And if you have any thoughts or questions on any of this, feel free to reach out to me, patty@bizmagic.co. Or you can just check on my website and what my values are and ways that I can help you@bizmagic.co.

Or on Instagram at BM Magic Co. So here is to you and creating a mission and values aligned business that is successful both in your values and in. Revenue and any other way that you deem success. And that's it. That's all I got for you today. So till next time, thank you for listening to another episode of the Biz Magic Podcast.

Like most small businesses and podcasts, we rely heavily on word of mouth. So if you like what you heard today or in any episode, please share with your friends and colleagues. And rate, subscribe and comment on your favorite podcast platform. Till next time, cheers to your magical biz success.