Creating company values from scratch

When we made the decision to rebrand from Box 2 Media to Inkwell, it was clear from day one that we had a lot of groundwork to do – starting with our values.

Every business reaches the stage where they need to codify what they stand for. Some get there sooner than others. We were three years in, and despite writing numerous articles on the importance of values, we had yet to put pen to paper ourselves.

Is there a “right” time to codify your values?

There’s plenty of debate around when you should codify values. Every business we’ve spoken to had a slightly different response and reason for doing so.

Punk Money, for example, decided on their values straight away. Clear values provide guidance for founder Ewan Dickie when he has to make difficult decisions, like who to hire or which investors to work with.

On the other hand, Extract Coffee codified their values after a decade in business. Extract had used their origin story to stay grounded – it was only when the workforce grew from 15 to 25 staff that they needed a clearer way to communicate.

We can see the benefits of either approach. For us, it felt easier to create values based on our existing behaviour. We could identify what already came naturally to us and then think about why we chose to work that way.

Get personal and specific with your values

From the start, we were keen to avoid a vanity exercise. We’d all worked at companies before with vague values like “innovate” or “inspire” – words that sounded good but ultimately meant nothing.

Forcing ourselves not to get caught up with the perfect phrasing helped. You want your values to resonate with the team, clients, peers and potential employees, but if you go in trying to please everyone, you’ll never get anywhere.

Our first values doc was a disorganised mix of ideas and anecdotes.

There were things we all liked, like celebratory lunches at the end of projects or falling down grammar rabbit holes in the The Penguin Guide to Punctuation. There were processes we were proud of and complicated situations we’d learnt from.

Here are some early ideas which translated into values later on:

• We want to create quality content and make each word count

• We support and root for the small businesses in our community to succeed

• The company is a product for its employees, so should be a pleasure to use

Creating something messy and personal was what got us going with our value set. It’s not pretty, but I can’t recommend it enough if you want to avoid generic buzzwords. 

Take time with your values process

We went back and forth on our values over the course of three months. It’s a good idea to get some basics down in one session and then let them breathe. See if they’re still relevant a few weeks on. 

Our values ultimately informed the visual direction we took with the rebrand. You'll see small businesses we’ve worked with across our website and snippets of content we’re proud of on our social channels. Without the values process, Inkwell would look very different.

We got outside help too. Mentor Lucy-Rose Walker, who built Entrepreneurial Spark, provided feedback at various points in the process. We spoke to clients and contractors. Our designer, Kai Nødland, was instrumental in providing a structure that pushed a set of ideas towards a cohesive brand.

The Inkwell values and “why” statement

We create extraordinary content that shares human stories, so we can build and inspire communities of small businesses.

Our values sum up who we are, how we work and why that matters to us.

We put our audience first

Great content starts with understanding the audience. We take the time to find out who they are and what matters to them.

We champion our community

We care about the people we work with and look for ways to support them.

We obsess over content

Never settle for mediocrity. We’re proud of the content we create and the impact it has.

We give ourselves space to learn

Finding the space to learn new things is why we’re brilliant at what we do.

We care about how we work

Working healthily matters. We enjoy what we do and take time to celebrate success.

We create systems that are a pleasure to use

The company is a product for its employees. We’re building a sustainable company that’s accessible for everyone.