Your Vision & Your Business. Yes, It Matters!
Every one of us started with a vision, we started with the desire to make a difference. We could see how we could do something better, from taking care of dogs to selling cars, every business started with a vision. The visionary saw how they could run a business, and for me, my vision kept me up at night. That vision is core to your company, to your sales, to your strategic plan and the growth of your company.
What Is Your Vision?
Get out a piece of paper and a pen, or a digital device and write down what your vision is. If you’ve never written it before, do so right now. What was your original vision? It could be the same as it is right now, especially if your business is new. There will be elements that are core to your vision and what makes it work. There will be core elements that state what your business does, what it does better than others, how it affects your customers or the outside world. Do you improve lives by giving them freedom, make people feel more alive, making their lives easier, does it make parenting easier, etc. Even if your job is to help animals, they are your clients, how do you serve them?
In your vision, what role would you play? How would you feel and participate? Would you have a 4-hour workweek? Would you be a philanthropist, would you be wealthy. Is your vision tied to your purpose on the planet? Did you want to make a difference? What would the implementation of your vision feel like to you? Would feel confident and fulfilled? Would you feel satisfied?
Your mission statement is generally made up of those two. Sometimes it includes the third. Build a mission statement as part of your marketing. Your vision is what made you build the company; it’s where the company is going. As an entrepreneur and sole proprietor, it’s you driving the bus, not your employees or subcontractors, trying to reach your target market.
Product You the owner Clients/target market
Enrollment- You’re sharing with someone your vision in a manner that engages them in what you’re sharing. They’re excited about it, they want to know more about what you’re doing. You aren’t trying to convince them, you’re just sharing your vision with them in a way that helps them understand. You highlight what they get out of it, what they might receive, what’s the value to them or their child, their dog, their freedom, etc. Your son will enjoy this because it will help him raise his self confidence.
The reason we enroll is so we get the permission to make a difference in their world. If you don’t enroll them, you don’t have the permission to make a difference in their lives. Use enrollment and your vision for the process.
Being able to enroll others into what you’re doing, your plan, your vision, product, and service. Enrollment for people, when you’re trying to sell someone something, the most successful way to do that is through enrollment.
The Enrollment Process:
- Make sure you use your vision
- Highlight what part of the vision can be for them
- Give them details about your product or service
- Ask a minimum of 3 questions about them. “What are your kids involved in?” What school do they attend, how old are they, etc.
They see the benefit, your excitement, the sincerity and the authenticity that you believe in what you’re saying. Your enrollment conversation gives you that permission.
Your ongoing strategic plan in your business. Where do you want your company to go? What does your biz look like in 10 or 20 years. Multiple locations? Just one location? Are you still there every day? Nationwide? Global? How much in sales are your making or how many products are you selling? It doesn’t matter how big or small, it just matters that you know it.
Your vision not only defines the pathway of your company; start 40 years out, where do I want to be? Cut that back to 20 years and be clear on what it’d take for you to achieve that vision. What are the development milestones of your company? If you back up to 10 years from now, are you the CEO no longer engaged daily in the store. Do you have managers you trust running your stores? Five years from now do you want one location that the manager runs and you’re looking for a second location. People in your area recognize your product. In 2 ½ years your brand is being developed, you’re getting your name out there. This year you need to open your first store, you need to find beginning capital. All of this is built upon your vision and rolling it out to the size that you want.
If you’ve owned your company for a while, you may say you went from vision to execution and the business has taken over your life. Or, you many think, my business no longer serves the target market I set out to serve, your target market has completely changed your business model. You, the 5-8 yr business owner, re-anchor your vision. You’ve been given feedback from your target market, from the world, on how you need to fine-tune your vision so that it meets your current target market. You’ve been given feedback about yourself and what your target market really needs. So, write a new vision. Right it from where you are now, in freedom, not in disappointment. Recommit to your business and your ne vision. Now that you’ve been through the process, now that you’ve learned and done the work, rewrite. You cared and you still care, or else you would have stopped by now. Write how you see yourself, what’s your product, how are you touching your customers and making a difference in their lives. What size do you want to be in 10-40 years. Use that new vision to go through the steps I just talked about.
I implore small business owners, sole proprietors, and entrepreneurs to be clear on their business vision.