Vision
Stop reading now if your biggest dream is to build a business that replaces your corporate paycheck.
Click away from this website if you are interested only in the hustle, getting stuff done, and the money you will make in your business when you do get it all done.
Move on if you can do it all yourself and don't need to connect with others to bring your vision to life.
Still reading?
I am so glad, because it is the people, like you, who want to do business different that i like hanging out with. If you want to do business better than usual, you are in the right place.
As important as things like getting your hustle on, making money, high productivity, and output are, they are only a small piece of the pie.
Trust me – i am keenly interested in all of these things.
In and of themselves, however, you are doing business as usual and you risk getting stuck in a perpetual state of busy-ness. Get stuck in busy-ness for too long and you will soon meet burn out.
To ensure busy-ness isn't your fate, you have to have your eye on the prize. A clear understanding of what you uniquely want to create to serve your tribe and ignite the potential of greatness in others is pivotal to doing business better.
Not only should you focus on doing business better than usual because it is the nicer, ethical, and more fulfilling route to take; consumers are smartening up and demanding better out of us. The mounting rise against companies like Monsanto and the food companies are fearful of how their profits will be impacted by people who choose to eat better food. Fast Company writer Austin Allison highlights that building a brand is no longer you good enough. You have to do better. Social media allows us to quickly and weed out the average and how-hum providers to give our money to companies that do it better.
See what I’m saying about this better thing?
So now, let’s change gears and put the foundation in place so you can begin or, if you’ve already begun, fire-up your path toward betterness.
To get clear on where you are going in your business, it is important to take time to outline your vision. Not having a vision for your business is like taking a trip without knowing where you are going – you might never reach your destination. Yes, yes, there is a slight chance you might in fact reach the right destination, but your odds increase by 33-66% – the research varies – if you write it down, share it, and burn it into your brain.
Let’s face it, if you don't know where you are going, how can you possibly create systems that will help you get there. Without a strong vision, it is next to impossible to communicate with, engage, and rally a team and a tribe to help you reach your end state.
A Four Part Vision
Creating and executing on a vision that support and nurture true change is difficult. Some of the best companies in the world lack in this area.
You do not fall into that category — You are striving to be better than the rest, so we are going to cut to the chase and give you the components for a better than usual vision. In his book, Betterness Umiar Haque shares the four parts your vision must include:
Ambition :: Your vision statement must answer the question of why. Naturally businesses are here to create a profit. Ambition transcends this elementary principle and conveys your higher purpose. What will you give back outside of profits? Haque calls this your higher-order wealth.
Intention :: Second, your better-than vision statement will include an intention that outlines how you will help OTHERS excel and realize their potential. For example, Safeway’s vision statement outlines that it will be “best at fresh… availability.. product and price.” It does not, however, outline what it’s customers will be better at as a result of shopping at Safeway. Will they be healthier, know more about food, or be better chefs? Bottom line, it’s not what’s in it for me… It’s about what’s in it for the people I serve.
Constraints :: What will never do to ensure the intention noted above can be realized? I bet you know the companies that Haque identified as having strong constraint ::
You can make money without doing evil.
We feature foods that are free of artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, sweeteners, etc…
Imperatives :: Imperatives clarify where and when you do what you do. They go beyond short term gain, and highlight how you will create a ripple effect that stands the test of time.
Bad :: Our goal is to grow visist to key Yahoo! starting points and properties…by 15% per year…
Good :: Stories come first. Characters must be believable. Technology is a means not an end… – Pixar
Good :: Make the final product insanely great. Use as few buttons as possible. – Apple
Alright! Now that you understand the components of a better-than vision. Are you ready to create yours?
Fill in the Blanks
__{Insert name of your company}____ creates __{Insert name what you create – hint, if you are computer maker you don’t create computers – what’s your higher purpose}____ for people to __{What do you want your customers to achieve as a result}____.
To accomplish this goal, we will never __{what will you never do}____.
__{Insert name of your company}____ will __{Insert list of things you will do to ensure your higher purpose is realized}____.
NiceOps Vision
NiceOps’ vision is a work in progress and that’s okay. What is important is that you put a stake in the ground today which you can leverage and pivot from in the future. As an example, here’s what NiceOps is all about ::
NiceOps partners with entrepreneurs and small business owners who are creating businesses that do business better than usual.
NiceOps clients are having an impact in their lives and the lives of others and they are able to do so on a larger scale, because they do good business behind the scenes as well as in the public domain. By implementing, NiceOps our clients are able to make more and give more.
To accomplish this goal, we will never ::
- Guilt trip our clients into working with us or getting something done – Everything happens at the right time.
- We will never to above or less than to our clients – We are partners, mutually interested in the client’s success.
- Make our clients recreate the wheel. If we’ve got a solution that will work for you at our fingertips – We share it.
(I’m honestly still working on my never list! So this might get refined and added to)
NiceOps will ::
- Offer value tools and templates to accelerate success.
- Keep the fun and heart in business.
- Always have our clients goals at the top of our mind when building strategies.
- Be an objective partner.
- Continually look for ways to share success + wealth.
More to come here too! 🙂
When I’ve firmed this up a bit more, I’ll likely send it over to my copy writer to spiff it up!
Share Your Vision
Now, even with a draft this in place, you are ready to initiate the cloning process and spread your vision further and in a more impactful way than ever before.
To get started, join us as Clone Camp next week. This blog post also serves as pre-work for the work we will do in How to Clone Yourself beginning on June 17th. I want to clone as many of you as possible, so there are three pricing options to match your needs + budget.
Can’t wait to see you and would love to see your draft vision statement in the comments.
Amber
PS The two companies mentioned in the contrainsts examples were Google and Whole Foods
PPS If this concept interests you I highly recommend you check out the book Betterness.
TWEET IT!
Not having a vision for your business is like taking a trip without knowing where you are going.
To ensure busy-ness isn't your fate, you have to have your eye on the prize.
The vision statement model presented in this post is fully detailed in the fantastic book Betterness. Highly recommended.
