How To Create A Vision For Your Business
Creating a vision for your business, allows you to define what success looks like to you.
vi·sion ('vi-zhən): the act or power of seeing that which will or may come to be, as through keen foresight: a person of vision.
It gives you a guide for where you want to go and how you want to get there. This is so important because building a business is an act of intentional creation. We are actively engaged in creating something from the ground up that is full of possibilities and potential. How exciting is that?! It means that we don't have to do things the way they have been done in the past. We can try new things and integrate what we value and love most. I believe very strongly that the world is in dire need of independent-minded visionaries that allow themselves the freedom and space to create vocations and livelihoods that are in alignment with what they feel good about. Scratch 'good about' - I mean 'so freaking passionate about' that you want to explode from how expansive and radiant you feel when you tap into it!
Visioning helps us to find congruence between our intentions and our actions.
Without a vision, we are ships sailing in a dark night with no lighthouse to guide us. Without it, your website, business cards, and brand strategy all fall flat, with no real goal, focus, or context. Without it, the motivation to keep going when things get bumpy is hard to find. With it, you become crisp, clear, and relevant. Decisions are more easily made. Confidence surrounds our choices. Having a vision also allows us to communicate our desires to the world, our team, and the people around us so that they can help us get there. But a vision is not born from one night of passion. It takes time, learning, and more time. Time to experiment, take risks, put it out there, get feedback, tweak details, and pivot until it works.
When we design a business to be in alignment with our vision for where we want to go, instead of where we are right now, we begin to line up with our potential.
Creation is a process. Visions evolve.
So without further ado, I'd like to present what I call - Vision Questions. Vision Questions are ten questions designed to help you create a clear vision for your business. Once they have been answered, we'll use the answers to create a vision statement that can be used as the cornerstone for your brand. (I find that visioning is best done uninterrupted with some tea, so feel free to come back to this page when you've got a few minutes of time to give to yourself.) Ready? Let's dive in!
VISION QUESTIONS:
What does your ideal business look like?
How big/small is it?
Do you work from a storefront/office/laptop/sailboat?
Who would your best employee or collaborator be?
How do the people that work there feel about their jobs?
What kind of customers do you attract?
How do you feel about the business?
Why do people care about what you do?
What do you value above all else?
If your business was to leave a positive impact on the world, outside of your products/services, what would it be?
Now to tie it all together…
Now that you have answered the above questions, it's time to pull it all together into a vision statement. This can be a paragraph or longer. Let yourself embellish or deviate from the answers as much or as little as you like. While writing, use adjectives to create a vivid picture for yourself, and be sure to write in the present tense. Use it when you're feeling confused, need a boost, or while making important decisions.
In the future, use the questions to revamp your vision as you need to. I hope that this exercise helps you find clarity in your vision. I'd love to hear about where you want to go with your business. Paste your vision statement in the comments below. I'd love to read it.
If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them!
To your unbridled success,
Brooke