When you started out in your business you would have had a picture of what you wanted the business to look like. You would have taken the good parts of companies you’d worked for in the past and put them all together to create a vision of what you wanted your business to look like.
Probably in the early days, you may well have shared that vision with those around you, included it within your website and promotional material.
If you’ve been in business for more than 5 years, and for some, even less time, then I’m guessing that your vision of what you want the future of your business to look like will have changed.
Now, it might just be that the reality of running your own business has taken hold and overrun your original vision, trampling it into the ground so that you’re now feeling jaded and cheated that you haven’t got what you set out to have.
Or it might be that the effects of changed economic conditions and technology mean that your vision is no longer valid or sustainable and you need to change it.
What I find in talking to business owners, is that too often, there was a vision at the beginning but it’s not been thought about properly for years and the business is just ticking along one way or another without any true direction.
One of my food manufacturing clients has a business which he’s been operating for many years. He has an established market for his products although he has lost some retail outlets over the years, he’s ok with the results in the business. Having said that, he keeps up to date with changes in the industry and has acquired new equipment over the years to keep ahead of his competition, and changed product lines to meet consumer demand. His vision is still basically the same as it was originally and it is still valid today.
Another of my clients with a personal training gym had a clear vision when the business was established some five years ago. Over the years though, in an attempt to bring new clients into the gym and make it profitable, they’ve changed their offerings a number of times and in doing so have alienated some of the original and loyal clients.
There is no clear vision for this business and nothing that makes it stand out from the multitude of other gyms in the area. They needed to identify what their vision is in order to survive into the future in a tough market.
When was the last time you had a good hard think about your vision? And have you shared it with your team and your clients? And have you shared it on your website and social media so that prospective clients know exactly who you are, what you do, why you do it and most importantly, why they should come to your business over your competitors?
