Vision? I see no vision!

The use of vision in your business....

A picture paints a thousand words, or so it is said. Great if you are someone who is "visual", but not everyone is. Some of us are kinaesthetic, others auditory or maybe a mixture. If you are not a visual person, stay with me, it's not all about pictures.

In business, we all need a vision, whether it be a small specific goal, a long term strategy or the "ideal" customer. The vision, in this sense, doesn't have to be pictures, it might be words or maybe even a "feeling" but without it , there is no way of knowing whether you have achieved your goal, or found that elusive ideal customer!

Indeed, if we don't have a vision, how can we convey it to those we want to help us? It's no use blundering along, hoping that something will turn up and everything will be ok, you need to take action

Having a vision puts you in a very strong position - many of your competitors won't be working on their business like you. Get the jump on them now!

Find that vision

It can be hard to establish a vision, especially after you have been in business for a while and difficult trading conditions are taking up your all of your time. But you may just find that taking a bit of time-out to think about your vision opens up a whole new world of possibilities and revive your flagging enthusiasm!

Here are a few simple steps to building a vision:

• Decide what the vision is for - long term strategy, short term goals, finding a new customer
• Find a quiet place and time
• Imagine what success might look like
• Start recording your ideas - writing words, doodling, search for pictures, use the voice recorder on your mobile. Whatever works for you
• Take as long as you like, but give your thoughts free reign
• When you're ready, gather the ideas together and you will find that a theme may well have started to form.
• Take this theme and refine it further by writing it on a large piece of paper, or gather pictures that represent it. Stick it on a vision board, whatever works for you
• Keep it somewhere where you can see it, add to it and be inspired by it
• Take action!

It can be extremely beneficial to do this exercise with a friend/colleague, or better still, someone who is not emotionally involved with you or your business and can help you stand back and take the helicopter view as opposed to the microscope view we all seem to be so fond of!

I hope this has inspired you to think about your vision, maybe even start working on it.

PS. if you need a bit of help finding your vision give Graham a call on 07814 125053 or contact him via the website

Happy envisioning!