The Importance of Vision
When it comes to running a business, your vision is your roadmap, and data is your compass.
I heard this anecdote once: imagine with me that you are lost in the desert. You know that you need to head in a straight line. But if we don’t have our eyes set on the destination, and a compass to keep us on our path, it is inevitable that we miss the target. Of course there are millions of environmental factors, but did you know that the lengths of our legs are not exact? They are (usually) biologically different on a very micro-scale. Because of this difference in length, albeit minute, over time, we will miss our mark. Even missing the destination by a mile could mean that we wander in this desert forever.
That said, what if we never define our vision? That doesn’t mean that we won’t eventually get to our destination. It just means that we will spend a lot of time wandering (or ‘wondering’).
So what do we do? Easy.
We need to spend time planning our vision! Schoolteachers call it daydreaming. I call it strategizing. If only I had thought of that comeback in 3rd grade!
Quite literally, business owners do too little when it comes to daydreaming, or better put, strategizing. The more time we put into planning on the front-end, the more time we save on execution. Which, coincidentally, is my strategy in my annual nostalgic Pokemon play-through, too. Works every-time.
How do we plan? Also easy.
By the way, it’s “easy” because there is a process, or an instruction manual. Here it is:
DREAM.
Think of where we want to be in 5 years. Or 10, or 20. The further down, the better.
Dream BIG. We sometimes let “reality” tell us our goals aren’t reasonable. Dream big, because when you shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll still land among the stars.
2. Set GOALS.
Now, set goals to achieving those dreams by working backwards. So if our 5 year goal is to be a $5m revenue billing firm, Year 4 would need $4m, Y3=$3m, Y2=$2m, Y1=$1m (assuming linear growth).
Make sure our goals are SMART (see future post for SMART goals)
3. Set OBJECTIVES.
Now that we have goals, we need objectives. Aka, a to-do list. So we take Year 1 goal of $1m and break that down into daily tasks that accomplish this goal. (e.g. If an average client spends $10,000, we’ll need to bill 100 clients. If we have a 10% conversion rate, that means that we need to call on 1,000 clients. That is 4 calls/day. Objective 1: make 4 calls/day.)
We should have 2-3 objectives per goal. Think social media following. Think marketing impressions. Think increasing profit margin by lowering costs. Think number of partnerships. Think number of employees, or wage goals. Think personal!
4. EXECUTE.
Execute.
Everyday, do your to-do list.
This process is a self-designed goal list that literally guarantees success. This is imperative for business owners, project and team managers, and professionals at any experience level. Moreover, and this here is key: this is a strategy that could effectively change your personal life, too! Apply these principles to yourself. Who you want to be. Character, income, assets, successes, achievements, fitness or nutrition, education, spirituality… Anything and everything.
YOU need to take control of your life and your business. Working hard is great and all, but not unless we are also working smart. Work smart. How? Use proven strategies like this.
If you would like to discuss setting vision, goals, and objectives, please give us a call! At DNS, personal and professional improvement is our DNA. Let us help you today.
Dr Noa D Stroop