2020 VISION - HAVE YOU GOT IT?

Strategic planning is important to set your company’s vision in stone

Got an idea for a business? Great! What are you going to achieve with it?

Let’s fast forward to 2020. Now tell me what you see. Have you built a trusted brand? Do you have a national, or perhaps, a global business? Are you a success? This vision of where you will be is all part of Strategic Planning. It’s something you must seriously consider before you take your business idea any further let alone launch it into the marketplace. But what if you’re having trouble gazing into the future and planning your way? Where do you start?

Look at what you’ve done already. You should have carried out a little research, found a niche and run your idea by friends or family. Their enthusiastic reaction, combined with your ambition, will have turned it over and over in your mind, giving it an identity and inspiring you to create it.

So let’s now look at something that will give your wonderful idea a tangible form. Get a pen and notepaper and find somewhere to sit, relax and think. If you’re planning to set up in a partnership you must do this together to make sure you share the same dream and want the same outcome. Scribble words, phrases, or short sentences that you feel sum up where you want your business to be and what success means to you. Stop! I forgot to mention, be economical, it’s not a novel you’re writing but your Vision Statement and it must be wrapped up in no more than 50 words. It may only be one paragraph but it is so important and you must get it right. Within it you must encompass the essence of your business success, what you want to achieve and where you want to be in, let’s say, the year 2020. It should be exciting enough to motivate you and fire up others you want to involve in the venture.

I maintain that this single exercise – whether looking ahead for a year, five years or a decade – begins the planning you need to do to achieve success. This is something I believed when I set up Diva Cosmetics (as a new mother) back in 2000. I had a wealth of experience and expertise in the industry, I was focussed on what I wanted, and knew exactly how I was going to get it. It was, in essence, written down in 45 words!

Running a business is challenging, decisions have to be taken and if you’re not absolutely certain where you’re heading it’s possible to stumble, lose your way and ultimately miss out on the success that should have been yours.

I often referred back to Diva Cosmetics’ Vision Statement when confronted by difficult decision-making. If opportunities led me away from my original strategy, I refused to be sidetracked. Establishing my goals was a priority at Diva Cosmetics. I knew from day one where I wanted the business to be and achieving £1m in the first 12 months was, of course, all part of the plan.

I made use of a planning system I call my Seven Business Disciplines to ensure I didn’t deviate from the path towards success. Having sold the company, I now use this proven system to guide start-ups in my mentoring business, EMpwr. Of course, there are many facets to my first discipline, Strategic Planning, but having a clear and considered Vision Statement is a very positive start. Once finished, put it aside for a week or two.

When you go back to it, review it, edit it and leave it again. Repeat this process until those 50 words mean what they say. Now you have your vision for success. Success doesn’t just happen it takes enormous effort and hard work. It also takes thorough planning, specifically Strategic Planning as a foundation to build everything else on, so now you see just how vital it is.

Strategic Planning is the grand plan and will help you manage your future. By the time you’ve finished your first draft you’ll have a better understanding of your position in the marketplace; know what you’ll have to do to achieve what you desire; and have a framework for purposely and dynamically moving forward.

A lack of research and planning is often blamed for business failure, so do make sure your business planning is watertight. If you’re daunted by that then consider getting advice from someone who’s already got what it is you want. Planning is crucial to your success, so take advice. At EMpwr, I can help you check out your idea, make sure it’s feasible in the current economic climate and guide you to formulate your plan for success.

At this early stage in your business planning, make sure you set out your Vision Statement and be true to it. Focus on where you want to be with the clearest of 20:20 vision and then set off but never lose sight of it. Who knows where you’ll be in 2020? You do ... because you’ll have planned it!

For more advice on business planning and her two-day entrepreneur workshops visit www.empwr.co.uk.●