What Is Your Vision? Do You Even Have One?

I have met with a few successful, enlightened business owners recently and all they could talk about was their “vision”, i.e. where they are going, what they want to achieve, how they are going to get there and what it will look like. Because they have a vision, and are both excited and driven by it, their current business activity seems much more focused, purposeful, directed and most importantly, successful.

It’s not just business as usual, in fact, everything they are doing is leading them to the results they are envisioning, developing the next step. Their marketing and sales plans are controlled by where they want to be next year and the year after. Their operational programs include training for the future, cross-training for seamless success now, and building systems that will handle the growth and development they are planning.

I have also met with small business owners who have not thought through their vision, who are more concerned with today’s problems than with considering where they are going and how they plan on getting there. Their businesses are stagnant, emotionless, and certainly without growth and development.

The vision is the heart and soul of a business plan. Without one, you are limited to what the market delivers to you. With vision, you create your own market and drive your business to achieve your goals. It is an entirely different context and thus yields entirely different results. This is beyond the mission statement as the mission statement is somewhat static in stating what you are committed to. The vision is about the dream. With it, you have a development path that you are in control of. Without it, you are static, responding to whatever happens but not taking a leadership position. The vision is where the passion comes from. Without the passion, life is dull, your business is dull, your employees are unexcited. With the passion, creativity will flourish, new ideas will abound and growth and development will occur.

Share your vision with your employees and they will help you achieve it. They will add value and will carry you there if they can see it and feel it, but only if you have a vision and if you share it with them. Without it, your employees will become robots, working at the lowest level and adding little value.

You once had a vision, that is why you started the business. Rethink it, your vision can change–and should change–as you develop. Your vision is what drives you to succeed. Without one, your business does not have a compass or a map. With a vision you are on a path, without one you are waiting for whatever is going to happen to happen.

What is your vision? If you lack one, stop what you are doing, take the weekend off, and think it through. Ask yourself the key questions: Where are you going? What do you want to achieve? How are you going to get there? What will your business look like when you achieve your goals? That is your vision.