Part 2 of my 10-part series Top 10 Mistakes Small Business Owners Make and How to Avoid Them.

Mistake #2: Small Business Owners Don’t Articulate Their Vision

I’m not a fan of what I’ll call ‘fad management’. I remember the days of Fast Company and the like espousing the free wheeling rules to the ‘New Economy.’ It was cool. It was seductive. But it was wrong.

When push comes to shove. I believe it’s the tried and true principles of business management that every entrepreneur must master if they’re going to succeed. I feel that once you cut through all the chaff, it’s the practices that have been around since BEFORE the days of Andrew Carnegie and the Industrial Revolution that mean the most to the small business owner.

So, yeah, I consider myself ‘old school’.

Having said that. There’s still a ’soft’ side to building a flourishing enterprise.

I’d argue, there’s not a successful business owner around who didn’t have a concrete vision of what they wanted their business to become.

So there - I find myself conflicted about using the ‘v’ word — Vision.

Mostly because I think it’s overused. It’s become cliché. It’s the ‘mission statement’ of the 21st century. Get one and you’ll be a success — GUARANTEED!

Riiiiiight.

I admit talking about vision is corny. Because it just has the risk of sounding like a fix all elixir that will heal all that ails your business.

But sadly, this resistance to the touchy feely aspect of business results in many business owners refusing to take advantage of it’s huge benefits.

Too often, business owners just don’t address their vision. They either refuse - or more likely - just put off articulating what they WANT to come out off all this toil & trouble.
It’s something they’ll get to eventually. Or it’s something that other people need to do.

But those excuses are bogus. The real reason people put this off?

It’s hard.

Stating what you want out of life?

Ok. It’s really, really hard.

Usually it’s because it has such a sense of finality. Gee, once I put it on paper, I’m tied to it forever. And if it isn’t worded properly, well it’ll be laughed at.

How to avoid this mistake:

People tend to procrastinate because the have an expectation that the end product needs to be this perfect ‘thing.’

But here’s a secret: A vision can be WORK IN PROGRESS.

The only audience you have to have to impress is YOU.

So here are some steps you can use to articulate your vision:

1. Start now. Don’t block out time for some perfect alignment of the stars to finally capture what your vision is. Bullet point out. Spend 15 min brainstorming what you want on a piece of paper. Don’t let your pen stop for this 15 min, just get it out there, you can re-work it later. Take whatever you end up with and put it in a file folder you’ll reference throughout this process.
2. THEN Schedule your next session - What time is it now? Can you schedule another 15-20 tomorrow at the same time? You’re just looking for 15-20 minutes a day to mold and rework your vision until it’s just right. Rinse & repeat.
3. Capture ideas throughout the day - Once you start priming the pump here ideas will start to come up when you’re working through your day. They’ll cross through your brain when you least expect it. These little glimmers of genius need to be collected. Throw these into your file folder above and you can start incorporating them during your next session.
4. Know your audience - Your vision can be 3 words. It can be a 25 page manifesto. But it has to work for YOU. I tend to prefer brevity only because it forces us to get to the heart of what we really want to see happen. But hey, it’s your vision….as long as it speaks to you and will inspire you on a day to day basis…go for it! But, if you put in a bunch of business geek nonsense, it won’t ring true. So don’t even think about using the phrase ‘actualize maximum productivity.’
   
5. Rinse & Repeat - Your vision can and will change. Expect to be chipping away at it over the course of your business life. Try to revisit it from time to time to do a sanity check and make sure it still hold water. You’ll find from time to time it’s necessary to reset your priorities so your vision can carry you through to the next phase of your business life.

What to expect from this approach:

Here’s what happens, no matter how you word it…no matter the fluff around it. You’ll find a number of consistent themes start to pop up.

Sure it may be worded differently but at the crux of it all, you’ll see your VOICE your VISION come to life.

Looking at the different iterations you’ll start to see the same things come up over and over again — and that’s when it’ll crystallize. You’ll connect the dots and see that hey THIS is what I want the business to become. THIS is what I want it to provide me and my family.

And that’s going to be POWERFUL.

It’ll serve as the backbone of your business and keep you on course when everyone else is just flittering along with the wind.

Related posts:

1. Are You Taking Time for Reflection?
2. Monday Motivation - October 15, 2007