So I felt that I needed a better user manual. I needed to get my story really clear. After all, if it’s not clear to me it won’t be clear to you. And I really, really want it to be clear to you.

So I sat down and I thought it all through, and this is the result. The seven values of my business, plus a few guiding principles under each one to explain why my business exists and the thinking behind it. I hope it helps you to know what I stand for and why I’m here. It’s my business compass.

Here are the Stitch Writer Seven.

VALUE ONE: LEARNING

Never Stop Learning. I will never stop being curious about the world. I will never become someone who has nothing to learn. When I’m 80, I hope I might just be taking my GCSE Spanish.

Find a 3rd way. There are never only two ways of doing something. There’s never only “Either I win or you win.” I will always look for the new way, the untried way, the third way, and then use it to move forwards.

Listen to customers the most. When you’re in business, customers are the most important people there are. I will listen to them, work for them and serve them all that I can and better than the next person. It’s not selling out to gear whatever I do to the good of my customers, to fulfil their needs and wants. It’s just called love. I will listen and learn from my customers with love.

Be accountable to someone. There’s a lot I don’t know, so I will get someone brighter and tougher than me and get them to sit down with me once a month to ask the hard things, the things I don’t always know the answers to. Then I will get them to help me work it out so I can move forwards and fill the gaps in my knowledge.

VALUE TWO: INSPIRATION

Champion small but good. There are lots of big brands out there that are doing ok and everyone has heard of. But they’re not my territory. I care about the smaller ones. The ones who are doing amazing things and giving back, thinking differently, making beauty, doing good. They will always be my priority and I will take time to seek them out, champion and encourage them as far and as widely as I can.

Take time to be inspired. When you don’t feel inspired it’s hard to do good work. So I will go outside, meet new people in person or visit a new place and see that as a legitimate use of time. With inspiration I will write the best for other people.

Be grateful for what’s right in front of you. I won’t always get to be doing exactly what I like, all the time. Sometimes part of this life will be cleaning the bathroom or looking after a poorly child. I will embrace it all with all my soul as a good thing that life has put in front of me to learn from and build my character. I will trust that I’ll get to do the thing I’ve been longing for when the time is right and when it comes, it will be even sweeter.

VALUE THREE: REST

Don’t be a mean boss. Today I’m a company of one. I am my only employee. But on some days if a boss spoke to me the way I speak to myself I wouldn’t dream of working for them. So I will be kind to myself, to this employee of one. And count every small victory.

Rest well. If you don’t rest, you can’t work. Simple. I will understand what rest looks like, how to rest well with my people and I will do it.

VALUE FOUR: FLEXIBILITY

Understand how you’re productive. If you work best on a Friday night at 10pm, do that. If you work best writing 3 hours every morning and cleaning the house all afternoon, do that. Be flexible in where and how and when you work and don’t demand that anyone else you work with has to keep the same schedule to be at their most productive. Go for productivity and quality over hours spent every time.

VALUE FIVE: QUALITY

Superb quality, every time. I will treat every person that comes into contact with my business like royalty and provide the absolute best quality for them every time, in all that I do.

VALUE SIX: DELEGATION

Give away what you can’t do well. Facts are facts. You can’t do everything and you can’t do it all well. I will know my limitations, what I’m good at and poor at. Where I’m poor I will pay the best person I can find to bear the load for me. I will have the humility to surround myself with people who are better at doing some things than I will ever be.

Hire hunger and quality. When I need help I will either pay for the highest quality person I can find, or train the hungriest.

Give generously. If I know something that will help, then I will tell it, for free and share my knowledge. If there are profits, then I will give at least 10% to charity each year, to people who are using creativity to do amazing things in the world and give the small guy a chance.

VALUE SEVEN: INTEGRITY

Always look outwards. I believe that creativity is there to serve other people, not to indulge ourselves. I will look for the bigger picture and challenge others to use their creativity to positive effect in the world.

Trust your gut. I will make decisions based on what I believe in, not what everyone else does. I’ll forget about social channels I don’t like or trust, even if everyone else likes them. I will always ask my gut what’s going on and follow the options it prompts me to follow.

Question every overhead. If I spend more than I make I won’t have a profit. So I will question every spend and be accountable for it. I will also recognise that sometimes the investment is worth it if it protects my wellbeing.

Start with intention, not money. I will set out to serve well, do the best job I can and change things for the better. If I do this well enough, the money will follow.

If you want to find out how I came up with these values and put down some of your own, here’s how I found them. The post written here was inspired by this.

And if you ever find me not holding to any of the things I’ve written here, please do kindly ring me up and give me what for.