Imagine going to a networking meeting …
You enter a room full of serious grey suits politely sipping their wine, bragging about their corporate missions. Rather boringly.
And there you are, in your purple shirt, feeling out of place.
You grab a glass of beer, and tap a fork against the glass to attract attention.
“Listen up,” you say, “let me tell you a story about how I conquered the world.”
“Wanna hear it?”
A business story doesn’t need bravery like that. But a good business story has the same impact: You attract attention. You stand out. You invigorate your audience, and pull them closer to you. They get inspired.
What’s a good business story?
Let’s be honest, the web is full of gobbledygook-filled mission statements, conjured up by committees with the only aim not to offend anybody.
Big corporations can afford to be boring. Because they have tons of money to buy brand awareness.
But for small businesses and freelancers, life is different. We don’t have heaps of money, so we have to fascinate our audience and spark action.
A good business founding story takes readers on your journey, gives them a glimpse of who you are, and helps gain an emotional buy-in. Just reading your story makes people feel better already, so they start imagining how good it would be to work with you.
This is the power of storytelling.
Business stories come in different shapes and sizes
How Jobs and Wozniak built their first computer in a garage. How Ben and Jerry started their first ice cream shop in a renovated gas station (after a $5 correspondence course). How Disney started as a cartoon studio in the 1920s, and now produces entertainment on a global scale.
Some stories sound like fairytales, and you may think your story isn’t fascinating enough.
But that’s untrue.
Every business has a good story. You simply have to dig to find the four key moments in your business history, and craft your story around these four key moments.
Here’s an example business story of BrewDog, a brewer of craft beers:
Martin and I (James) were bored of the industrially brewed lagers and stuffy ales that dominated the UK beer market.
We decided the best way to fix this undesirable predicament was to brew our own. Consequently in April 2007 BrewDog was born.
Both only 24 at the time, we leased a building in Fraserburgh, got some scary bank loans, spent all our money on stainless steel and started making some hardcore craft beers.
We brewed tiny batches, filled bottles by hand and sold our beers at local markets and out of the back of our beat up old van.
Our biggest mission when we set up BrewDog was to make other people as passionate about great craft beer as we are. And that is still our biggest mission today.
Martin and James tell their story around these four key moments:
- They encounter a problem: industrially brewed lagers and stuffy ales are boring.
- They have a spark of insight: What if we can fix this problem?
- They start their own brewery, brewing in tiny batches.
- They are now on a mission to make more people passionate about craft beer.
The story is quite simple, but includes enough details to make it fascinating: how they leased a building in Fraserburgh at only 24, how they brew in tiny batches, fill bottles by hand and sell them at local markets out of the back of their old van.
Moreover, emotional and sensory words make the story vivid: stuffy ales, scary bank loans, hardcore craft beers, a beat up old van.
How to write your own business story
You don’t need a special talent to craft your own business story.
First, define the four key moments of your business story:
- Which problem do you solve?
- Which insight sparked the start (or pivoting) of your business?
- What are you doing now to fix the problem?
- What’s your mission?
When you connect your mission to your founding story, you energize and motivate your audience.
Here’s how Chris Winfield defined the four moments in his story:
- Problem:
For years he struggled with working too much and never really enjoying his life. - Spark of insight:
In March 2013, a company he had co-founded imploded; and it forced him to take a hard look at his life. - How he fixed it:
He learned that you can change your life gradually—small changes can have a big impact on living a happier, more fulfilling, more successful life. - Mission:
Chris wants to make it possible for everyone he works with to work less, accomplish more, and live life on their terms.
See how the story has the same elements as the BrewDog story?
Life is much messier
Life is an undulating road, full of bends, twists, hills, mountains, valleys, dead-end alleys, and even motorway pile-ups.
But your readers don’t need to know all the details. They don’t want a full resume and they’re not interested in a day-by-day journal either.
It’s your task as storyteller to decide what matters:
- Describe the 4 key moments and craft your story around them
- Decide which details help bring your story to life
- Skip everything that’s irrelevant to understanding the plot
Your story helps readers understand what drives you, who you are, and why you are the person to help them.
That’s how you energize, motivate, and inspire.
PS Thank you to Chuck Doublet of Being a Black Belt of Business for inspiring this post.
Further reading on business storytelling:
Storytelling in marketing: a brief guide
7 storytelling techniques for business
How to write a success story, without bragging
I just finished my PhD in psychology. I was struggling to craft a compelling story of what I do as Industrial-Organizational Psychologist. Finally, found a simple trick of telling my story…Now I feel free, unleashed…time to conquer to world, second thought…first let me tell them who I am (blessings)
I’m happy to have helped unleash your creativity. Happy storytelling!
thank you for the post, I was having writers block getting lost in the details of my story, this quick read and the 4 questions has really helped me to get my story written and published in a short and effective format
Great! Thank you for letting me know, Devon. Happy storytelling 🙂
Hi Henneke,
Thank you for your simplicity, I took time to read two of your lessons here including the one on the 3-act story telling and wow I was helped. I was so helped that I wrote a blog article about our company story within 1hr of trying it with your method.
Thank you for taking time to help us by sharing your knowledge with us.
Kind regards
Gilbert
Great! I’m glad to read that my blog posts have helped you write your story. Thank you for sharing.
Another brilliant & inspirational blog you & Brewdog just makes it so clear how it needs to be done have helped me to rease out & focus on the things that matter. Thanks so much keep up the great work
I’m glad this post helps you focus on the things that matter. Thank you for stopping by, Rhiannon. I appreciate it!
Great article Henneke and I like your examples. I agree telling an engaging story doesn’t have to be complicated or long. Well done! Cute graphic too.
Thank you, Jill. I’m glad you enjoyed this article.
Very Awesome and Helpful. Had some idea/writers block for my business story. This will help me as I commence with my 1st Draft.
Giving Thanks!
Great. Happy storytelling!
Since this is my first time commenting on one of your articles… Let me start by saying that I am a huge admirer of yours (particularly your style of communicating concepts & ideas), and quite often refer to your blog for creative inspiration. ALSO… thanks for your article(s) about metaphors. They have made a tremendous difference in my work.
I’m currently working on developing a mission statement for a client, and was wondering if you have any recommendations (articles, books, etc) that I may find useful? I understand there’s generally more of a technical difference in developing a mission statement versus an “About Us,” but should the approach be the same?
Thank you for your lovely comment, Craig. I think the About us page should include the mission statement I recommend writing mission statements by thinking about who you help with what, and why they would care about it. For instance, I help solopreneurs improve their writing skills and find their voice, so they can connect with their audience and grow their business. You can then play with words and possible shorten it.
You may find this article by Pamela Wilson useful: http://www.copyblogger.com/define-brand-grow-business/
Really liked this article, thank you. I’m a copywriter and often write ‘about’ pages for clients. I found you initially on copyhackers, then bought your about us ebook which I refer to often 🙂
Was this post inspired by the hero’s journey? I haven’t studied it but your method in this post sounds similar. Could you suggest any great books/blogs/copywriters/podcasts to help me improve my work? It would be so appreciated coming from a pro like yourself!
Ashley x
That’s lovely to hear, Ashley. Thank you. And yes, this as a simplified version of the hero’s journey.
Books on copywriting in general? It’s hard to know where to start. On storytelling, you may find Nancy Duarte’s book Resonate useful. It’s written for creating presentations, but the same principles apply to writing blog posts. On copywriting introductions, Cashvertising by Drew Eric Whitman and the Adweek Copywriting Handbook by Joseph Sugarman are both good. My favorite book is Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath.
If you’re looking for other or more recommendations, feel free to drop me an email.
A business story is subtle and that’s what makes the curve as compared to boring straight forward business plans.
It’s just like the difference in text statistics and infographics. Great Post!
Yep, that’s a good way to put it. Thank you for stopping by, Karan!
Drop the mike Henneke!
Yes, it has taken me a while to wean myself off the comforting conventional ‘blankie’ of (dry) vision and mission statements.
I agree it all starts with a crafting a great story, telling it (business storytelling) and by the action of telling – inviting others (employees, customers etc) to write the next chapters with you (story-making).
Cheers for the brainpoke and keep them coming!
Ah yes, that’s a nice addition… inviting others to write the next chapters of the story. I like that!
Always good to see you, Nicole! 🙂
Henneke,
Thanks for sharing these steps for business storytelling at just the right time for me. Yay!
I began offering life story workshops this year and occasionally have attendees who can benefit from learning to tell their business stories as well. Your steps are easy to follow so those who think they can ‘t write will be encouraged. I will now be incorporating business storytelling into my offerings.
Your illustrations are the perfect touch to support your writing, and distinguish your work
from all other bloggers. I’d love to learn cartooning to illustrate my writing, but for now dare not add another task/course/project to my overflowing plate.
Life story workshops … that sounds wonderful!
I know what you’re saying about overflowing plates. Isn’t it hard to make choices about what we spend our time on? I find it tricky.
Happy storytelling, Flora. And thank you for stopping by.
Brilliant post Henneke! I’ve read a lot about business storytelling, but I think your practical steps really nail down the key points to write a great story. When I think of inspirational business stories, they all really do incorporate these elements.
What a lovely compliment. Thank you so much, Laura. Thank you for stopping by!
How awesome to have found this website. I’m struggling to write copy for my products and website. Reading this gives me a very practical how-to. I have a feeling the struggle is over. How did you do that? This from a girl who has read everything on copy. Thank you Henneke. I’ve bought your two books on kindle as I can’t believe my luck! x
“I have a feeling the struggle is over.”
That’s so lovely to hear. Happy writing, Ekwy! And thank you for buying my books 🙂
When others write, they are merely tips. A lot of jargons that don’t make sense to a layman.
When Henneke writes, they are nothing but simple actionable tips. Thanks for this post 🙂
Cheers,
Aman
What a lovely comment. Thank you, Aman. I do try my best to provide easy-to-implement tips 🙂
I don’t know, Henneke. I don’t have a business story – and I don’t want one. And when I think of what yours would be – I get stuck, too.
For me, the most interesting stories are not in my business at all. For you, the development of your business has gone pretty smoothly too 😉 It is not the most interesting thing about you. Am I misinterpreting your post?
I don’t want to suggest that writing a business story is obligatory, but I’ve found that many people want to tell their story, but don’t know how. And a story can add interest to an About page.
The simple version of my business story would probably cover these four points:
1. I didn’t think I had any writing talent, and I certainly didn’t consider myself a writer. But in the age of content marketing, I thought I had to learn how to write.
2. I found out that writing isn’t magic, and that most of us can learn how to write good business content (even me!)
3. I enjoyed writing and started to share what I learned about writing in guest posts and on my blog here.
4. I’m now on a mission to help others find their voice, become confident writers, and attract the right audience to their business.
Things always look smoother from the outside than from the inside 🙂
I see. I see. I see.
Hi Henneke,
You make everything appear to be so simple! Love the way you deconstructed these messages and showed us how to do the same.
Thanks for a simple tutorial and the delightful hand-drawn infographic.
– David
Happy storytelling, David!
Thank you for your lovely comment. I appreciate it 🙂
I forgot to mention how much I adore your drawings Henneke, and now the lettering, just fabulous! Clever, clever lady!
Once again, Henneke, you have inspired me into action. I was compelled to leave the post to begin writing my new story and was quite surprised and pleased with what I wrote. Sadly it is too long. It did , however give me insights and a realization, so thank you.
I love it when you feel inspired to implement my tips! Once you have the draft written, leave it for a day, and then try to see how you can shorten it. It’s usually possible to cut about 25%, sometimes more.
And thank you for your lovely compliment on my drawing and lettering 🙂
Hi Henneke,
This post totally makes me want to ignore all the other things I had planned for today and start writing a clever business story. Your 4-step method will make it so much easier and fun to craft.
By the way, if you ever decide to offer custom drawings for purchase I know you’d have plenty of customers from your email list. Like the others mentioned, they are simply adorable.
I’m sorry to have messed up your plans for today, Carole 🙂 Happy storytelling!
Thank you for your lovely compliment on my drawings. My sister has also been telling me to do more with them!
Thank ewe again for another thought-provoking, and blissfully short and easy to read, article.
Our business idea came about by accident, since an opportunity for a youth charity was presented to my partner (the shepherd) and his off the cuff remark sowed the seed.
Roll on a few years, local business people trialled it, liked it and our business was then born.
Does this genesis count do you feel?
Yes, sure. Everything counts. Go for it!
Thank you for your lovely comment, Caroline. I appreciate it 🙂
Thank you, Henneke, for this post! It’s practical, and it offers simple but powerful framework for telling your story. I love it how you make things simple and just so easy to comprehend 🙂 and the drawing is so much fun as usual!
Thank you for your lovely comment, Antoniya. I appreciate it! 🙂
Insightful, as usual. I am going to use the technique to write business story for my husband’s restaurant business.
Thanks and keep such posts coming!!
That sounds great, Shweta. Happy storytelling!
Perfect timing for this article, Henneke. I am working on this today as part of your copywriting course. The extra clarity here was helpful. Your artistic sketches make it easier to visualize the process.
I’m glad you found this one helpful, Ray. Happy Thanksgiving!
Great post. Please keep them coming.
Thank you, Bernice. I’m not planning to give up blogging anytime soon 🙂
I love to tell stories and my readers love to read them. However, I will greatly benefit from this breakdown of HOW to tell a story, because sometimes, the flow is missing. Having a few easy-to-remember steps will make all the difference. Thanks so much! So glad for all you do! You are one of my special “thanks” for Thanksgiving, every year. <3
You’re on my special “list” of loyal readers who regularly stop by. And I very much appreciate that. Happy Thanksgiving, Katharine!
Yes, another awesome article. I was just thinking about my story the other day and was a little stumped, thank you so much for breaking it down to such simple steps. Now I should be able to move forward and create an my awesome story. Love, love your infographic and lettering. Happy Thanksgiving to you as well.
That’s great to “hear,” Donna. I love helping people get unstuck. Happy storytelling!
Hey Henneke,
Interesting post. I believe every business has a story as well, it’s just how to tell it — and if it’s successful or not. But even if it’s not successful yet, you can still be inspirational by telling your journey.
Great stuff here.
– Andrew
Yep, that’s totally true—the story doesn’t need to be about success and doesn’t require bragging about sales growth and famous customers. A story can focus on a simple journey of how you want to solve your customer’s problem.
Well said, Andrew.
Thank you for another gift of truly useful advice.
I’m wondering if you have suggestions for when the company story is, well, awkward. For instance, the company started with a wonderful spark 40+ years ago, then fell behind in the industry and is now struggling to claw its way back to relevance.
You don’t have to write a complete story—just pick the elements you do want to share. Storytelling doesn’t need to be a year-by-year or event-by-event report, you can just share a few highlights to help explain the company’s mission today. You can start with the beginning (but you don’t have to). what problem did the company want to solve in the beginning? What insight sparked the idea to start a company? Is the company still solving the same problem? What’s changed in the way it solves it? What’s its mission today?
I have to return and say thank you again for your advice. We’ve re-written our “History” and it feels much better to me. Not sure if our readers will agree, but I am happier!
That’s great to hear. Thank you for stopping by to let me know, Susan. I appreciate it!
Henneke:
An awesome tale to help you tell your own tale.
I have a million great stories like these, and some super funny ones too…for my first biz…but for my newer freelance writing…hmmmm:0! Better start thinking:)
Love this one, and hope you have a jubilant weekend, Henneke!
Sue-Ann
I’m sure you can dream up a good story for your biz, Sue-Ann.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend, too. Happy Thanksgiving!
I love your infographic Henneke!
Good that you put it at the bottom otherwise I would just spend time looking at it instead of reading the article first 🙂
Haha! I hadn’t thought about it that way, I just saw it as a nice way to summarize the post at the end 😉
Henneke,
I just opened your email and read the business storytelling story. And my business story is sketched out on paper and with a little tweaking will be ready to upload to my About page on the website.
You, my dear lady, are fantastic. As others have said, I also enjoy reading your very simple approach. Simple is contagious and beautiful.
Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving. Should you not celebrate, begin a simple Thanksgiving celebration with a few special friends.
Bob Jones
Wow. That’s lovely to hear! Thank you so much, Bob. Happy Thanksgiving to you, too.
Henneke! Your timing could not have been better! I created a page for this when I first started my website (one of the first webpages I ever built). Needless to say it really, really stinks. LOL. I’ve wanted to redo it ever since. In fact, I’ve started and erased a zillion times.
Those were very simple, and perfect suggestions. You’ve inspired me to make it a goal to have one perfected and done by the end of the week. Thank you SO much! =)
What a lovely comment, Kim. Thank you.
I know the feeling of being stuck with writing something. Not knowing where to start and once you have something, not knowing what is wrong. This is exactly why I like simple “formulas” 🙂
Henneke– I love how you transformed what is usually a painful soul-searching process into 4 simple steps. Any one can simply answer the questions. Yay! Happy marketing, Heidi Cohen Actionable Marketing Guide
Thank you for your lovely comment, Heidi. I appreciate it. I love simplicity—if it’s not simple, I can’t teach it. 😉
Henneke, your artistic drawings give so much flavor of your personality. I always know your blog will be a fun read when I see your illustrations. I appreciate your freedom to be yourself while imparting such rich business insights.
Hi Deb, thank you for your lovely compliment.
It’s taken me quite a few years to accept that freedom and be myself 🙂
Hi Henneke,
I really enjoyed this post- especially the helpful framework to get to the essence of the story.
I’d love to hear your suggestions on when to use it for maximum impact? An About page? A more creative boilerplate?
Thanks!
Yes, definitely—add it to your About page; and see whether you can re-use it (or parts of it) in other places, like an author bio and social media profiles. Or perhaps even at the start of a conference talk.
Thank you for stopping by, Edel. I appreciate it.
Excellent post. Thanks Henneke.
Thank you, Anita 🙂
Clear and useful, as usual 🙂
Many thanks from a devoted fan who hasn’t been commenting a lot lately, for practical reasons, but who does continue to read and appreciate your posts – and who just wanted to let you know that 😉
What a lovely comment! Thank you, Bart. I appreciate it 🙂
Wow! This really makes things easier. Thanks once again, Henneke!
The great thing about this is: If you follow these steps, you automatically have a UNIQUE business story. Because, well, it’s yours. And you can always expand the different “sections”. Start small and come back to it later. That’s what I call actionable. Great!
Thank you for breaking that seemingly overwhelming process down into these small, comprehensive steps.
PS: Love the hand-drawn infographic. 🙂
Yes, that’s so true… each story is unique, as every story has unique details, even if the story structure is similar.
I also agree with you, you can expand the story later. For instance, add new problems you had to overcome.
Thank you for stopping by again, Christian. I appreciate it.
Hi Henneke,
I’m the biggest fan of simple. (Goes with my intellect I think). Having just 4 points to concentrate on makes this idea super simple.
So many startup advisers are bleating on about elevator pitch. I can’t stand it.
Your idea is so much better. Of course, it’s useful to know your purpose (all the pitch talks about), but having a cohesive story just seems much more genuine.
Thanks for another fantastic, inspirational post
The idea of an “elevator pitch” makes me shiver.
To appreciate simplicity, you must have a very smart brain 🙂
Thank you for your lovely comment, Kerstin!
You sparked the desire for me to write up my Business Story. I never think of it as something interesting, but you changed my mind about it.
I’ll try to have it done by the end of the week.
Yay! That’s great to hear. Happy writing, Jean-Christophe! 🙂
Henneke,
As usual, you take difficult issues and break them down into easy-to-do steps. I love your ability to break through the gobbledygook-filled jargon, that you find on other sites, down to the simple core.
I also have noticed that you’ve really been having a lot of fun with your drawing, they are getting much more rich in detail, vividness and complexity. Do you use old-school paper and pencil, or a tablet?
I am “Apple-allergic” but I may have to bite the bullet because I continually read the reviews that the iPad Pro is the best tablet for drawing and you’ve inspired me to also pursue my creative drawing muses.
Thanks again,
Chuck
I’m totally old-school. I have a sketchbook, ink, a nib, and colored pencils. In this case, for the lettering, I used a Promarker and a black Micron pen.
I used to think I’d first learn how to draw the old-fashioned way, and then I’d switch to using a tablet. However, I love my colored pencils so much, I don’t really feel like switching. I briefly tried the Fifty-Three stylus for iPad, but I didn’t persevere with it. I like the real feel of paper and pencils 🙂
Thank you for inspiring this blog post, Chuck!
Love, love, love this. (And the hand lettering is fantastic, btw!)
The story at the start makes a great point. We often think the only way to stand out is through some extreme act of bravery, but a story that connects is, in many ways, far more powerful long-term. And the four points to create the story makes it very doable. Thanks Henneke! (Did I mention how much I love the graphic?) 😀
Yeah, you know, that story surprised me, too. I started writing it and it was going somewhere else in my mind, and then at once, I saw the clue that bravery isn’t required. Funny how that can work for even such a super-short story, isn’t it?
And I agree, a simple story is surprisingly powerful, and we can just be ourselves—just pick the most important points.
Thank you for your lovely comment, Kathy!
Wow!
You had my attention from ‘just 4 key points’! And then your craft beer example is a winner because it showcases such evocative language.
I’m off to audit the business story on my website according to ‘the Henneke method’.
Thank you ?.
And another awesome illustration – fantastic lettering ✏️
I love the example of the craft beer as it’s so simple and yet so powerful.
Thank you for your lovely comment, Alison. I’ve enjoyed playing around with lettering! 🙂