A solid brand builds trust – how's yours doing?

Business is based on trust. That's why you need to know who you are as the founder of a business, because it leaves its mark. Unconsciously or consciously. If you send inconsistent signals, you become unpredictable, which does not create trust. That's why it's important to have a distinct understanding of your personality, because then you can consciously develop and nurture your brand. For example, take this into account when hiring, designing your website, and so on.

Several years ago, a new customer in Brazil wanted to use our CultureProfile. Instead as our PersonProfile, which is obtained by taking our personality test, we have slightly different items (questions) in the two profiles. In a PersonProfile, one item is e.g. I am straightforward, and in a CultureProfile, the “same” item is Straightforwardness. The advantage of this is that it provides comparability, so you can quickly see how someone fits into a culture, for example. Well, it's not quite that simple, of course, because those who work in production should not have the same personality as those who work in marketing and sales. However, it is wise to consider each employee's personality in relation to the culture. Ask yourself the question: Will this person strengthen our brand or not?

When we did CultureProfiles in our assignment in Brazil, we gained an important insight: the culture was almost a copy of the founder's personality. When we thought about that insight, we realized that it was quite obvious, but of course it's not as clear when there are two or more founders.

The company then benefited greatly from arriving at a common CultureProfile. This could then be taken into account when hiring, for example, a new web consultant or similar, when choosing new partners for collaboration, etc.

Imagine that you have hired a new web consultant to develop your website. Can you then describe in three characteristics what style the website should have so that it matches your common CultureProfile? And do those words pass the nonsense test? That test means that you put not in front of the chosen word. Then you ask yourself: Is it a good characteristic – one that is healthy and distinctive? For example, if you have the word honest, it doesn't pass the nonsense test, i.e., what customer wants to hire someone who is dishonest? Sustainable is better. Of course, many want to be sustainable today, but not everyone is consistently committed to it, and then it just becomes a gimmick.

If you only have three words that you know match your customers' perceptions, it will be much easier for the web consultant to deliver their services faster, so you will be satisfied.

NOTE In August, Google released its latest spam update. This means a lot of trouble for AI enthusiasts, as Google has started to systematically delete websites from its search results that are clearly produced by AI and that the algorithm considers “cheap and sloppy.”

This means that when you receive a semi-finished product from AI, if you go through the text and follow your cultural norms, among other things, it will be OK, because then it becomes personal. AI doesn't know your cultural norms, after all ;-) 

Also remember that the truth is easiest to remember, for example, that your three chosen words are really accurate!

We believe that this service is very unique. When someone uses it, it can be a great lever for developing and nurturing the business. There are many areas of application...

Here in Stockholm, there is a restaurant that can serve as a good and educational example. It is called Knut and is located at Regeringsgatan 77. The owner and founder is Martin Sjölander. He started the restaurant in 2013. This was fortunate because it allowed him to establish himself and get the business up and running before the coronavirus pandemic struck. More information about the restaurant and its owner will be provided in the next blog article in a few weeks.

Their focus: 

Knut serves northern Swedish cuisine with one foot in the wilderness and the other in civilization. Both inspiration and ingredients come from their roots in northern Sweden.

If you live in or are visiting Stockholm, be sure to experience the Knut restaurant...