Do You Have a Clear Business Vision? Find Out Why Your Success Depends on It
Face it. When you started your own business, you probably weren't thinking about being a leader so much as you were thinking about being a survivor. If you were anything like I was when I started my company over 30 years ago (in the basement of a factory), you were worried about your projected cash flow, and thinking about how you were going to make enough money to keep your business going.
But as you grow and hire employees, it becomes more important to be able to articulate why you’re doing what you’re doing. Managing employees is complicated; I don’t just mean in terms of having to file paperwork, run payroll, handle legal issues, and remit tax filings. I mean that leading a group of people who all have distinctly different wants and needs for their lives is inherently hard.
The real-world, no-nonsense, buzzword-free truth of the matter is, your business will succeed or fail based on the vision you set, and how well you execute your plans to capture that vision. Your business will be as small or as big as you decide it will be. But always remember that you are the epicenter of the direction your business takes. The more people you bring in, the more you grow, the more important knowing and communicating your direction becomes.
Here are some tips to help generate and cast a vision that you and your employees can buy into.
What is a vision?
A vision statement is a concise way of telling you, your employees, and the world what your business would like to achieve in the near and long term. It’s a lot like goal setting, but a little more grand.
A vision is more of a destination. Think of it like this: when you were young, you wanted to grow up to be something, the president, an actor, an entrepreneur. In other words, you had a vision of your life as an adult.
When I was young I wanted to grow up to be an entrepreneur. At times, I didn’t understand how I would make that happen, and that was okay because it was a vision—a place I wanted to get to someday. I had time on my side, and I believed I would figure it out as I went—and I did. That vision guided the choices I made in my life.
When you set your vision, think about what you want to be when your business is all grown up. It’s okay if you don’t have all the answers now—many entrepreneurs don’t. But a vision is important because it sets a direction for you and those around you.
There are many people out there who’ll want to be with your business because they share a similar vision for themselves. Maybe they’ll see you as a vehicle for how they’ll achieve their own goals. Maybe they don’t want to run a company, but they want to be part of one that aspires to be a world leader, socially responsible, an innovator, or any of the many things you might envision for your company.
One of the biggest benefits of a business plan is to help acquire outside funding from lenders or investors, but in itself, a business plan might not sell your business on a personal level. Your vision tells investors and competitors what you’re about. It tells the world what you want to achieve and on what scale. It can be inspiring and grand, or focused and efficient, but the vision has to be yours.
Be realistic
A word of caution. When you create a vision for yourself, be sure it’s something you can actually become. For example, when you set your vision for your life as an adult, you didn’t say, “I want to grow up to be a polar bear.” Well, maybe you did, and if you were five years old when you said it, some people might have told you you could be one. But if you’re old enough to be reading this, you’re old enough to know you can’t become a polar bear.
If your business is in pouring concrete, it might be a little ridiculous for you to say your goal is to build battleships, or break into the fashion industry. You may have a personal ambition to do those things, but that shouldn’t be the vision statement for your business if that’s not what your business is.
Think about it, why would a potential employee bring their concrete-industry skills to your company if your vision was to depart from that industry altogether?
People need a purpose
Every human being wants to make a difference. It’s in our nature. So if you want total commitment and total “buy in” from your employees, cast a vision that includes helping other people, or incorporates making a difference or leaving a mark.
The mission statement for one of my companies, Patriot Software, is aimed at “helping small business owners.” I write articles for our company newsletter that educate my employees about how small business owners are a hiring engine for our nation. I explain that American small business owners create jobs for their communities.
My employees understand that the more we are able to help small business owners, the more people we’re actually helping to become employed. This is why I named our company “Patriot” Software—a play on the American dream of lifting yourself up by your bootstraps and being able to work for any future you choose.
It’s important for employees to know what they’re working on every single day. When they know that their work matters, and that they are doing good through it, they are more satisfied and committed.
Your vision must be genuine
Casting a vision can be stressful, because you have a lot riding on it. You’re making a public commitment (out loud and in writing) to your employees and to yourself.
Your employees will scrutinize the vision, and they’ll scrutinize you. They need to see (and believe) that you are personally 100 percent committed to making whatever sacrifices are necessary to achieve your vision. They need to see that your vision fits with who you are, and what your company’s core values are. They need to genuinely believe in you and the vision that you are casting before them.
Breaking it down
Some business experts say you should create a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) in order to properly flush out your vision. There are pros and cons to this approach. I have created BHAGs in my business career that have taken more than 10 years to achieve.
One pro is if you achieve your BHAG, you look like a genius with clairvoyant powers. In 1988, I verbally proclaimed my first BHAG during my first year starting up Top Echelon. My BHAG was to “create the most successful network of executive recruiters in the USA.” It took my staff and I ten very long years to achieve that goal, but we did it.
This is rare, however. Not every small business will grow as fast and be as successful as my first little startup. Many entrepreneurs don’t see this kind of success in a generation! And, even with my success, there was plenty of luck and chance involved—there always is in small business ownership.
There were plenty of times early on that I wanted to reset my vision to something more achievable. Why? Because the longer something takes to accomplish, the harder it is to stay motivated, and that’s the major con with BHAG. My success in achieving my BHAG was as much luck and hard work as it was execution.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Shoot for the moon because, if you miss, you’ll still be among the stars. It’s a nice saying, but you could also be broke and drifting in space aimlessly. It’s great to set big, audacious goals, but achievable ones create momentum and keep you and your employees motivated.
My advice? Do both. Set a big, long-term goal, and then plot out how you’ll achieve that goal with smaller near-term visions and milestones you can more easily reach.
It’s okay to wait
Yes it’s true that you, the business owner, should cast the vision. It’s true that your business may go to great heights if you do this. However, if you’re not ready to make a public proclamation about the magnificent things that you and your staff will accomplish together, you should wait.
Just keep reaching down into your heart and see what’s there. It will come bubbling out of you when the time is right.
