Strong lives are motivated by dynamic purposes. — Kenneth Hildebrand
Your vision will inspire others
Defining your values will naturally lead you to a vision for your company. The vision can be what you aim for the business to be, both now and in the future. For example, you might determine your company vision as follows:
“My business aims to be the leading soap-maker in the region that guarantees 100% customer satisfaction while maintaining the highest standards of environmental protection in the making of our products.”
The vision you create will ultimately depend on the values you choose. So, have some fun imagining the possibilities of the future you will create.
Having a vision for your company is not only motivational and inspirational for you but others as well. If you have staff (or helpful supportive family and friends for free labor), a vision that everyone understands can help keep energy, and enthusiasm, high. Likewise, with customers and suppliers, a vision statement can persuade and enhance company reputation. By sharing your vision with them, you also help them to feel like they’re part of your company too.
So, while your business plan is your base, the values and vision you add to it are like the special mix of colors and fragrances you add to your soaps to give them their unique characteristics. They help to guide you through the tough decisions as your business grows. Formulating them is as easy as throwing on your ‘creative cap’ and deciding which things, or values, are most important to you! Once you’ve got them all stirring in your pot (business plan, values and vision), it’s time to select a specific shape and pour your mold – and we’ll come to this tomorrow.
Your homework for tonight is to read through your lists of possible values and vision statements from yesterday. Go through your value statements and rank them in order of importance and fit. Pick your top five and wordsmith them until they sound coherent. Go through your ideas for a vision and rank your top three. Which one fits best with your top five value statements? Choose that for your vision. Write or type it up and post someplace visible so you can see your values and vision and refer to them daily.
Looking for another part in the “Kickstart Your Business” series?
Part 1 – Defining Your Business
Part 7 – Put Your Goals To Action
Part 8 – Surround Yourself Well
Part 9 – Endless Possibilities
we have been following the blog for some time and want to thank you for all the help we have recived in the past couple years. It is time to move forward and define the Special Hands business- we really needed some help making a simple business plan-
and here it is! Thanks
Thank you for this session. I like the projects you do but this is important too. We can’t always just have dessert. Ha ha.
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Joyce
http://www.videophonesguide.com
I appreciate your coments added yesterday and especially how you said to focus on 1 thing, do it well, and then add on. I have struggeled with this one. When my one thing isn’t selling, my confidence will falter and then I am ready to start something else and just about that time my product sells. I am learning to be confident in my products and to stand behind them through time but it can be tough. However, focusing and settling in with where I am at feel’s good and I am finally comfortable with adding a little here and a little there versus doing it all today. It helps to take some of the pressure off and work on improving what I have versus on always trying to come up with something new.
Kat, I guess great minds think alike, huh? I’m glad that you naturally were tracking towards refining your vision and values and that you thought some of them were powerful. That’s awesome!
I have been reading quietly. I do appreciate these posts, very inspiring and motivating!
i’m so excited because i have been working all morning and afternoon. i was writing and looked at one short paragraph i wrote. there were some powerful
adjectives in there so i took my highlighter in word and made them green.
then i started the core value page and came up with approximately 14 of them. i alpabetized them just for fun but the list was a full page length.
so i divided them into two columns and alot of them go together.
then i said to self, OK, now to refine this list! i don’t think this list should be any more than, say 5 long…
tried to print what was written but wireless is not working. got frustrated, so i decided to take a break and look here!
so elated that i am “trackin” with what’s going on here!
ok, now to pick up kitten at school
and see if any more eagles are out there.
my husband saw a snake yesterday at golf course. CRAZY weather!
no one knows what to think about these seasons!