Is Your Vision 20/20 When It Comes To Your Small-Business?
By Nathan R Mitchell|Clutch Consulting LLC|Small-Business Consultant|Author|Professional Speaker|Tulsa OK
Having been sick the majority of this past week, I’m still recovering, and my thought processes are still a little clouded. To be honest with you, I’ve struggled a bit throughout the day trying to decide on an insightful topic for today’s blog post. In light of my lack of vision with regards to what I wanted to write about, I decided to write about just that-vision, and how it relates to your business. If you don’t have a clear and compelling vision for your business I am going to assume that you are still in the early phases of startup, because this is vitally important to the long-term success of your enterprise. Essentially, your company’s vision reveals the business you are in, provides a vivid picture of the future you desire for your business, and serves as a guide for the decisions you make in the day-to-day operations of your business.
There are essentially three elements that make up a compelling vision:
- A Significant Purpose Must Be Firmly Established: This not only identifies what business you are in, but more importantly why you are in business. This is not merely what your company does, or the need it fills-it is the reason(s) you do it in the first place! This is essential. A clearly-defined purpose for your company’s existence will add clarity to your business from the vantage point of your customer. A compelling sense of purpose inspires not only those who work with you, but also those who desire to do business with you. People hate to be “sold” to, but they love to “buy” from companies who are excited about and committed to their purpose.
- A Clear Picture Of The Future : What will the future look like for your company if you and the members of your organization consistently live its purpose. As a leader in small-business you should always be focused on the end result, not the process of getting there. Although the end does justify the means, the process of getting there is hard. A company can easily lose focus if they focus too much on the process involved instead of the end result.
- Clearly-stated Core-values: How do you want your business to be perceived by the media, your peers, your customers? It is important for you to know the answers to these questions, because your company’s core-values have a significant impact on the perceived image of your organization by others. Your values will essentially serve as guidelines on how your company should pursue its purpose. Your values must be clearly-stated and defined, so your employees know what behaviors align with your company, and which behaviors don’t. Your values will serve as guideposts for behaviors, decisions, and conflict resolution.
In conclusion, vision is of vital importance to the long-term success of your organization. I encourage you to look at your company’s vision, and measure it against the three elements of a compelling vision. Is your vision alive in your business; do you talk about it; do you live it; are you passionate about it? Do your employees do the same?
Keep Winning!