Do you remember how you felt when you were starting out in your business? You had so much passion about what you wanted to achieve. You were so clear on exactly how your business was going to look and you could picture it, right down to how your office would look and even the colour of your stationery!
Fast forward 3 years or so... after a lot of hard work, successes and inevitably some set backs - do you still feel the same drive, ambition and enthusiasm for what you do? Have you updated your vision? Or has it become a little blurry along the way? Maybe your business has become a little stagnant or worse still, it's in steady decline and you're starting to feel more than a little concerned.
Signs you need to revisit your vision
If you're feeling a little lost, confused and maybe even uncertain about the future of your business then revisiting your vision could hold the key.
Many of my coaching clients come to me when they are struggling. They want to make significant change in their business but they aren't sure how. We always always always start with a vision.
What's the purpose of a vision?
If you've had an eye test recently then the optician probably asked you to read those large letters on the board. It's easy at the start but as you get further down the list and the letters get smaller and smaller, suddenly you don't feel quite so confident and you begin to second guess yourself.
Until that is they put the right lense in front of your eye and suddenly everything seems crystal clear and you breathe a sigh of relief that you're not going blind!
Now imagine having the same clarity and confidence in your business. This is the purpose of a vision. It gives a clear path for where your business is heading and inspires you to keep going even through the really tough days when you are close to throwing in the towel.
With a clear vision you can tackle challenges head on, make difficult decisions and inevitably drive growth in your business.
How do you create a powerful vision?
When it comes to creating your vision, here are some questions to ask yourself:
Why am I in business? What do I really want to achieve?
What do I want my business to look like in the future?
How much do I want to turnover?
Can I do this alone or do I need a team?
What needs to change for me to achieve this?
Here are 6 ways a Vision is essential for your business growth
To provide direction and ensure you keep on the right track and don't get lost.
To keep you motivated. Maybe it's all got a bit too easy and you need to stretch yourself.
To build resilience. Change is never easy; it makes you feel out of control and affects your confidence. Check in with your vision to remind yourself why you are doing this.
To lead and inspire your team when it's not just you driving the business forward. Take some time out of the business, have a strategy day and work on your vision together so that you’re aligned and all pulling in the same direction.
To attract top talent. Recruitment is definitely a huge challenge for businesses right now and having a bold vision can help. Highly driven people are inspired by drive and ambition, if you can give a passionate story for where your company is heading it shows great leadership and people will want to follow you.
To give confidence to your clients and retain their loyalty through difficult times. Sharing a bold vision of the direction your business is heading will show your clients that you are not resting on your laurels, you are going places as a company!
What next?
Think about where your vision lives. Do you keep it in a book? Your website? In your head?
What about in your heart? Like it was when you started out. When you were so excited you couldn't wait to share it with people. Remember how much easier it was to attract new customers in those days?
My challenge to you is to revisit your vision and ask yourself – Could it be bolder?
If you’d like some help to create an inspiring vision to enable the growth of your business or even yourself, then please
NB. As well as my coaching programmes I can facilitate workshops for your leadership or management team to help you all to feel aligned around your vision.
Speak soon
Liz
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