Revive and Renew Your Business Vision

For most sole proprietors and entrepreneurs, starting their company or business is the result of working for someone and identifying the things you could do better. When you started, what was the original vision for your business? Write it down and then look at how far has the vision gone so far. How much of it have you accomplished with it so far? And most importantly, what have you learned?

Personally, I've learned an invaluable amount about myself, the risks I'm willing to take for my finances, and what my sacrifice means for my family. The first business I ran, I opened the door and ran it off of donations because I wanted to know how people behaved. I learned an important lesson about myself and others and money. That cornerstone helped me shift my business model, although it took me two years to pony up and do it.

What have you learned? Have you altered your original vision based on what you've learned? Has the needs of your team, employees, or independent contractors required you to change your vision or your product? What have you learned about your financial goals? Are you earning as you projected? 

Look at an example of Urth Caffé, they started off as a fair trade company, one of their products was coffee beans. They decided one day to start allowing customers to sample their coffee so they brewed some, shifted to selling coffee, and now today they are a 5 location, full café, selling coffee, sandwiches, and salads. Their original vision was a fair trade market, to bring products from third world countries and offer them in the US and they still do that.

Now that you've laid out what your original vision, grab a clean sheet of paper and write what your vision now is. How will you continue to lead? How will your customers, products, marketing, and your financial goals change? Also consider what you contribute to the world, what's the good your business offers others.

Re-enliven your goals.

You've done the work, you've laid out the old vision, the lessons you've learned, and the new vision, and now you need to do something with that. 

Make a collage, a dream board, or a vision board and put all the pieces of what is important to you and what you want, onto it. You can use a mind-map, write goals, 20 years from now, 10 years from now, 5 years from now, and 1 year from now. If your 10 year goal is X, what must you accomplish in the next 1-5 years to make that happen? After you have it mapped out, who do you need to share it with? Who needs to know what the direction of your goal and company is? Your employees, your family, your mentor, etc. who do you need to let in on what you're going to be doing in the upcoming years.