Do you want your business to be successful? Obviously the answer is yes, but if don’t have a clear vision for your business then you might as well answer “no”. Your business will not go far without vision, both long-term and short-term.
A lot of business owners have both the long and short-term vision for their business, but because of financial uncertainties and other road blocks, business owners might lose their vision and cause their business real harm. So, if you feel that you lost your vision, or maybe you never had real vision in the first place, here is some advice gaining a clear vision for your business:
What are Your Anchors?
Anchors are those things that hold you back from moving forward and taking risk. Businesses and business growth is all about taking risk. No risk, no business.
You need to overcome your fears and let go of certain anchors. Write out those things that are holding you back and formulate an idea for overcoming those obstacles. You might find that those things aren’t as big as they seem and you may be able how to overcome the other ones when you see them written out in front of your face. Remember, No risk, no business.
What are Your Company Values?
A lot of first time, small business owners don’t even consider setting out their values for their business to go by or for their employees to follow. This is a big mistake to overlook. Setting up your core company values will set the tone for how your business is run, your clientele and your employees.
Having your company values set will help you to better lead your business by giving you parameters to work with and within when it comes to making decisions.
Short-term Plan
What is your 6 month plan? What is your one year plan? Setting out these short-term plans will help to move toward achieving your big picture, long-term goals and plans.
When setting your short-term plan make sure that it is realistic and attainable. When you hit these goals they give you a boost of hope and confidence for the future of your business. They also help for you to work hard and strategize on how to attain your goals.
Marketing Strategy?
So many businesses that I come across don’t set money aside for their marketing nor do they invest the time and energy to invest in creating a marketing strategy. Remember, if you are a small business then chances are that you have competitors who want your business. If you want to survive then you need to fight back and fight for their customers.
The best way to get into the fight is by way of marketing. Let your customer know that you are there and you have exactly what they are looking for.
Core Focus
What your business offers is your core focus. Your core focus is what will help you to compete with the other businesses in your niche. Answer the question, “What do I offer that my competition doesn’t?” “Why should someone buy from me and not the other guy?”
These questions will help you to believe in your business and will help you to sell with confidence. Answering these questions for yourself will help you to answer them for the customer.
You can have a great product or service and offer it at a great price, but if you don’t have vision then you won’t succeed. Vision is what gives a business the strength to move on when things get tough and it enables businesses to prosper when everyone else fails.
By Henry H. Hernandez
Henry Hernandez is a veteran and entrepreneur from Texas. Henry works as a marketing coordinator for a company that sells cheap checks online, www.cheapchecksplus.com. Henry can be found on Google+
