What a business story is, and what it is not
A story is not a legend or a list of milestones. It is a clear answer to three questions a customer is quietly asking: who are you, why do you do this work, and what will it be like to deal with you? Say it plainly in your own voice and you will already sound different from most competitors.
It does not need drama. Think of a plumber who took over a parent’s van, a physiotherapist who moved to Abbotsford for the community, or a grower who changed what they plant after a wet year. Each could make a good story. The test is whether it is true, specific and useful to the person reading.
Start with the people
People trust people, so begin with yours. Why did the owner start the business, and why here? What does each team member do on a typical day, and what do they enjoy about it? A short introduction with a real photo beats a paragraph about quality and care, which every business claims and nobody remembers.
If you are shy about being on camera, start small: a photo at work, a handwritten note, a two-sentence profile. Ask each person the questions below and keep their answers close to how they actually talk. Their own words carry a warmth that heavy editing removes.
- What made you start, or join, this business?
- What is the best part of a normal day?
- What do customers worry about before they call us?
- Which job or customer do you remember most, and why?
- What would you like a neighbour to know about us?
Use the place you work in
Few businesses have a setting as rich as the valley. Your story can include the farms of Sumas Prairie, the drive along South Fraser Way, the mountain view from the yard, the wet winters and the busy summers. Mention what your customers see from their own doorstep and they will feel you belong to the same place.
Place also gives you a calendar. Planting and harvest, school terms at UFV, long weekends, the first cold snap and the first hot week all change what people need from you. Tie your posts to those moments, and name your town so that readers in Abbotsford, Chilliwack or Mission see themselves in the story.
Let customers carry part of the story
Your customers can tell parts of your story better than you can. Ask permission, then share what the job was, what changed afterwards and a photo of the finished result. Use their words only if they have said yes, and never edit a review into something it was not. A real story told by a real person persuades more than any slogan.
Keep these short and specific. Two or three sentences and a photo are enough for a social post, and a longer version can live on your website. If a customer prefers to stay private, respect that and describe the job without names or identifying details.
Where to tell it, and how often
Tell the story in pieces that suit each place. Your About page can hold the longer version, your Google Business Profile needs one clear paragraph, and social media is ideal for short clips of people at work. If many of your customers read another language, a short version in that language shows you expect them.
Keep one core sentence the same everywhere so it sticks: who you serve, where, and why you do it. Retell small parts each month and revisit the whole story once a year. If you want help shaping it, our content and media teams do this work, and the free marketing audit is a good place to start.
- About page: the full story, with photos of the people
- Google Business Profile: one clear paragraph and real photos
- Social media: short clips and team introductions
- Email: a welcome message from the owner
- Invoices, vans and packaging: a short line that points back to the story
Stories that search tools can repeat
Search engines and AI assistants now summarise businesses for people who have not yet visited. They draw on what you publish across the web, so a clear, consistent description helps them describe you correctly. Original photos, named people and plain statements of what you do and where give both people and tools something accurate to repeat.
- 01A one-sentence description that matches on every profile
- 02The same business name, town and service wording across the web
- 03Original photos and video that only your business could have made
Questions & answers
Keep the headline version to a sentence or two, and the About page version to a few short paragraphs. Longer is fine if every part is specific, but most readers want a quick sense of who you are and why you do it. Offer more detail through photos, video and individual posts.
Interest depends on the reader. A customer who needs a furnace repaired on a winter evening cares who will turn up and whether they can be trusted. Specific details about how you work, who you are and what you have fixed are interesting to exactly that person.
No, but people respond to people, and a real face makes you easier to trust. If the owner prefers not to appear, feature the team, the workshop or the work itself. Whatever you choose, use real photos and avoid stock images that make you look like anyone else.
Revisit the full version once a year, or after a big change such as a move, a new service or a new owner. Share small pieces monthly, like a team introduction, a customer story or a day at the shop, so the story stays alive without repeating itself.