Almost all Business starts with a vision, and can only grow with a compelling vision. That seems extreme but give me a moment to inspire you. It could change your entire perspective on the vision you want to state to the world.  

The Startup  

Some common visions begin with financial independence, working for yourself, freedom to travel or pursue a challenge that interest you. Your vision was clear to you at that time despite having no desire to create a vision or mission statement. When asked most will let people know that is their intention., but often your vision is articulated in the terms described above.

Once you started your business, you either had success, or failed miserably. 90% of business startups fail. The reason seems to center on the lack of a clear compelling vision. You see, no one cares that you want financial independence, or to work for yourself or to travel. Those are great goals but not a compelling vision.

The 6-7 Figure Business

Those that survived the initial business challenges of an inward directed vision created a company, and develop different levels of success. Many CEO’s of small companies enjoy this success through sheer willpower, a desire to succeed, a creative and highly functional customer service model, and clever or even powerful “Marketing to the pain point” of your customer. I have read about and discussed vision with over a thousand CEO’s at this level about their vision, and they say something like “We give great service, offer significant savings, or We delight our customers.”

Notice that the focus has changed in companies that have moved to profitability and sustainability. However, often the company that lives in this space is displaced, constantly under pressure to succeed and more often than not reaches a ceiling, a place where they simply cannot seem to go further. This is where you, the CEO are told to “write a vision statement.” You probably found this article for that reason.

Unfortunately without spending time “Making a Vision” rather than articulating your current vision, you will not change the landscape of your business. Articulating a vision that is consumer concentric or surrounds your needs has a cap on the level of achievement, simply because it is not interesting to anyone that does not need your product or service.

The Current Vision creates a frustrated CEO

You are making money, some more than others, and you have achieved your original goals. For a while you remained excited, searching out new ideas on how to run your company effectively. You hired a team, you worked on your revenue goals, and even created a vision statement like the one above. 

Are you frustrated, unable to grow larger, feeling a bit tired of the grind, or simply made enough money that the effort seems to be worth less than the marginal increase in profitability?  

If you leave this issue unattended, you will probably continue to languish in this conundrum awaiting some magical solution. You beat yourself up, guilty that you are not feeling grateful, and some turn to escaping the problem with distractions like aggressive risk taking, pursuit of the attention of others, alcohol or drugs. 

At some point in our careers, it simply is not enough that we provide for our financial need, create freedom, or pursue things of interest. It just feels a bit meaningless. Some then turn to helping others, through charity, or morphing the business into a sort of for-profit-non-profit. 

When I meet these CEO’s they seek a solution but seem to focus on the next business management idea or clarifying their business process. These are great solutions to given problems, but eventually you hit a the same point, it just did not answer to your frustrations.

The Compelling Vision Statement

At some point on this journey, you are told to develop a vision statement. Many of you have heard similar advice on developing a Mission Statement, that document that remains in the drawer, or is posted in the lobby, but no one reads. 

If you want to truly create a vision statement, it must be compelling. A compelling vision is bigger than you, and your customer. It announces to the world what you stand for. It may encapsulate your “Why” as challenged by Simon Sinak, in his book Find your Why. However, I would suggest that it is not just your why that counts, it means finding why the company is important to the world or people at large.

In the next blog post, I will discuss the difficulties with creating a compelling vision statement, and how to overcome them, but for now, consider in your truly deep core values, “Why am I doing this business. What bigger purpose am I really trying to achieve, but have buried for what seems like ages, because it was simply not feasible, dreaming or I was discouraged from it, instead told to focus on profitability and cash flow. Do not put pen to paper, instead begin an exploration of that intrinsic, often suppressed desire to make your life a bit more meaningful in this world, but you happen to express it in the business you operate. Do not rush your journey, it will provide you a lifetime of genuine satisfaction, and the world will thank you by supporting your business.

Stay tuned to read my next post if you are struggling to find that vision. Most likely, you are blocked by the vision killers in you and others.