Catch up on some related episodes:

Today’s talking points:

Why having a vision plan is essential in growing a sustainable and aligned business and how you can create one in time for the new year.

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In the final episode of the year, we are talking about creating a vision for your business (as voted by you!).

I'm going to walk you through what a vision plan is and I will include some tangible and mindset steps to help you create your own vision plan that will support your business and your life.

what is a vision plan & why do you need one

The definition of a vision is:

The ability to think or plan the future with imagination or wisdom.

So a vision plan is a general direction you want your business to head in.

A huge benefit of having one is it helps your decision-making process as every decision must filter through your vision. No matter how good the opportunity or how difficult it is to say no, if the decision doesn’t directly support your vision, then it’s a no.

To be transparent with you, when I first started my business I thought having a vision was fluffy. I remember thinking that I don't need a vision, I just need more clients. But I noticed that I was really starting to struggle personally with decision-making because I had no idea where these decisions were leading me. I ended up burnout because I didn’t want to turn anyone down.

The benefits of having a vision plan in business:

Getting really clear in your vision will help you prevent burnout.
A vision will support you with sustainable business growth.
It will help your business thrive, not restrict it.
It can change and grow with you.

what makes a successful vision plan

There are a few things your vision needs to be in order to be successful:

Your vision plan needs to be super clear. It needs to be specific to your business and describe a specific outcome that only you can provide and want.
You want to think about how this vision sets you apart from other businesses.
It needs to be ambitious but attainable.
You want it to be simple enough that internal and external individuals should be able to understand it.
It should connect with your personal and business values.
It will be unique to YOU!

Remember, if you start building a vision for your business based on someone else’s version of success then you're not going to be happy with the end result. So you really want to make sure that you're sitting back and reflecting on what it is that's important to you and you alone.

how do we map out our vision?

Ideally, we want to map out our vision plan for the next three years.

Stay with me here…

The purpose of this is not to scare you into making a decision about where you want to be in three years’ time, because like I said our vision will change as you grow. However, having a rough idea of where you want to be long term will help you make decisions now that will lead you towards that.

Questions to ask yourself to get started.

1. Your core values

We want to make sure that we are choosing values that align with your business and your life. There are different types of values, including personal values, interpersonal values, operational values, and external values.

For example, my personal values are integrity and determination. My interpersonal values are accountability and trust. One of my operational values is reputation outweighs revenue, impact over income. Some of my external values are continued education and family first.

You can start to see how these start to add up to shape your vision.

2. Your core purpose

What is it that your company is amazing at? And why are you going to do what you do? I want you to think about the main function that you do, but also your unique take on it. In one sentence.

We want to make sure that this is written with words that our 10-year-old would understand. We want it to be simple, specific, and achievable.

3. Our business divided into 6 categories

We want to divide our business into six categories:

Marketing
Sales
Client and customer delivery
Operations
Finances
Mindset.

You can then ask yourself questions for each category to get an idea of your business vision.

For example, some questions for the operations category could be:

Do you want a team? Or do you want to be a solo business owner?
How many people do you want on your team?
Why do they want to work for you?
Do you want your team to be remote? Or do you want anyone to be closely located to you?
What do you want your office environment to look like? Do you want to work from home or work somewhere else?

Asking these further questions means we can get super specific. For example, we can say “I want an office with lots of windows because I love natural light and it makes me feel more productive.”

So start to use this as a way to really dream about the direction of your business, because this is what you're going to come back to when you get in those rough patches. This is your why.

making vision-aligned decisions

Once you’re clear on your values and have gone through the six pillar exercise, you can start to use your vision plan when making decisions.

When you have a decision to make, big or small, you need to ask yourself:

Does this opportunity get me one step closer to my end vision for my business?
Does this opportunity get me one step closer to my end vision for my business?

If yes, go ahead, go to go move forward with that decision.

If the answer is no, then you can ask yourself a second question:

Does this opportunity support my annual plan or my quarterly projects?

If yes, move forward. If no, decline it.

Sometimes we do take opportunities that aren't directly related to our long-term vision, but they move the needle forward in other ways that support are shorter-term projects.

When you say yes to opportunities that don’t align with your visions for the wrong reasons, then you may be closing doors for opportunities with people that would be a better fit. Keep in mind as you are taking on these things in your business because when you are saying yes to one thing you are saying no to something else.

map out your year

The other powerful part of creating a vision plan for your business is how you can use your vision to map out your year, including short-term projects and quarterly focuses.

For example, if your long-term vision is to build a family and be able to step back from the business when needed, what steps can you take now that will push you toward that vision?

It could be something like expanding your product suite to increase revenue, up levelling your current services to increase revenue or hiring more team members that you can delegate to.

You can then start to implement monthly and quarterly check-ins to make sure you are on track to complete those goals or projects, and that they are still aligned with your vision.

So for example, you might plan two months from now to launch a new digital product. But in two months’ time, your business priorities may shift and then launching a digital product might not align with your vision anymore. That's happened to me on more than one occasion.

I think part of being a business owner is getting comfortable with being uncomfortable and being flexible and able to pivot in instances like that. It shows that you are growing. and evolving.

a round-up

A vision plan is a necessary piece of building and running a business. Having this vision plan is going to allow you to make decisions that move your business forward. It's going to prevent burnout, and it reduces overwhelm.

It’s time to create your vision plan for 2023. Keep your eyes peeled for my vision planning workshop in January.