Eight Questions To Ask Yourself When Creating Your Business Vision
Previously, I shared how important it is to create a personal vision statement before you can focus on setting a vision for your business. If you haven’t had a chance to write your personal vision statement, check out my earlier Forbes story and really get to know yourself.
As I mentioned in my book Exactly Where You Want To Be: A Business Owner’s Guide to Passion, Profit and Happiness, “A business strategy is the engine that propels your organization forward, driving you to achieve your personal vision.”
When I work with business owners, I often find that close to 99% never created a business plan nor have a business vision. That statistic is quite staggering. Even those who do create a business vision often tuck it away and never refer to it again.
I can’t emphasize this enough: A business vision is your road map. It contains the directions to help you arrive safely at your goal destination — success. That is your personal champagne moment. If you don’t have a solid vision for your business, you’re driving blind and your chances of stumbling upon success are minimal.
Don’t let not knowing where to start hold you back. In fact, the process is quite simple. One hour of planning now could save you many hours — and a lot of money — down the road.
Step 1: Set aside one hour of your time, either now or later in the coming week.
Step 2: Find a quiet area where you can concentrate away from distractions.
Step 3: Answer the eight questions below with a couple of words or bullet points.
Step 4: Once you have worked through all eight questions, revisit them and write a 100-word business vision statement.
Draft your business vision from these eight questions:
First, include what products or services you are offering now. Next, write down what products or services you would like to offer in the future — this may be a larger or smaller list or a pivot.
Start by including who you sell to today. Then, once you have identified who your best customers are, see if you can define what you would like your future customer base to look like. We work best when we work for customers we like and who pay us!
Include how you will impact those you network with and those within your sphere of influence.
These should align with your personal vision in order to bring the highest level of fulfillment to both your personal and business life. You could also include what your company’s culture would look like.
A good vision doesn’t come out of thin air. It’s something you must work toward by first setting a vision, then creating objectives and lastly, developing key strategies and tactics to achieve that vision. Only then can you turn your vision into a reality.
For your business vision to live and grow, consider printing these questions out for your leadership team and putting them where they can act as a visual reminder. Depending on your team, it may be appropriate to share throughout your company. If not, then you may want to create your five-star (bullet point) summary of it. But that’s a story for another time.
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