The Big Picture

Is there a difference between wanting my business to succeed and having a vision?

“John and I both know what we want for this business.

And that is, we both want to move the business forward and make it successful.

That's the vision.

John has worked in the restaurant business his whole life - mostly waiting tables and bartending.

I, on the other hand, I've worked in some of the nastiest, hardest and smokiest kitchens you've ever seen.

I've been a dish guy, a waiter, and now a chef.

I've been cut, burned. I mean everything you could possibly imagine.

So, we understand each other.

Or so I thought.

A few weeks ago, John and I argued about a little issue.

You see, we don't actually have a delivery van yet.

So, we mostly use the services of one particular pick-up truck driver.

He's been with us since we started 2 years ago.

Truth be told, he has really helped us on a couple of occasions.

He even offered his services to us on credit when cash was tight.

For that reason, John thought I was rude and unfair when I didn't wait for the driver; even though he was one hour late that day.

His lateness almost cost us a client.

But John didn't care. He was more worried about the driver's "feelings".

He thought nothing major happened. So I shouldn't have been tough on the driver.

But then, something major did happen later on.

Last week, John was in charge of the catering for a fancy dinner party.

And once again, the driver was late. And this time, for almost 2hrs.

Long story short, he drove too fast trying to make up for his lateness again and he crashed the car.

Thank God! No one got hurt.

Only his pick-up truck got badly damaged.

But for us, we lost very important equipment along with food and expensive drinks worth thousands of cedis.

And, we also lost the business of an event planner we've been dying to work with since we started.

Worst of all, we failed the client and lost the only little reputation we had.”

Ernest*
Caterer and Co-Owner of a Small Catering Business.

*Names in this article have been changed.

It always amazes me whenever I hear someone say, “Oh, my vision is to move my business forward and be successful”.

Look, everybody wants whatever they’re doing, to move forward and be successful.

Like that boy who doesn’t like to study, but still wants to pass all his classes and move forward.

Or, that tennis player who failed to train for her big match but still wants to win.

Saying “I want my business to move forward and be successful” are just hopes and wishes.

And hopes and wishes don’t make money. It rather takes action and doing the right things.

“doesn’t mean anything“

First off, saying “I want my business to move forward and be successful” doesn’t mean anything.

Ok. So, in which direction do you want it to move?

And, how successful do you want it to become?

No one knows.

That statement is unclear and doesn’t precisely say:

where you want your business to be
what you want your business to be known for.
what you want it to achieve
and what you want it to become in the future.

It’s not specific, not measurable – and therefore, it means nothing.

“here to build“

Don’t forget that you’re here to build.

That’s your one and only job as a business owner.

To turn ‘what you do’ into something that:

makes you money
runs smoothly with or without you.
and has a future.

In other words, to build.

But, how do you do that when you don’t even know what you’re building?

It’s like saying, “I want to build a very beautiful house” without exactly knowing what the house will be and look like.

Just imagine how that “beautiful house” would turn out, if you try to build it with no idea of what you’re building.

Exactly!

It would be a mess.

“your big picture“

There’s nothing wrong with being hopeful.

In fact, every good thing in this world, started with hopes and dreams.

And, it’s out of your hopes and dreams that you’ll have the energy to keep moving when things don’t look great.

But, hopes are still not the same thing as a vision.

So, yes. There’s a difference.

A vision is your big picture – and also your purpose.

It’s both why your business exists and what you want it to become.

It’s that image in your mind of what success would look, sound, and feel like – for you and your business.

It’s the destination that you and your team work towards to and try to achieve every day.

It’s what motivates you and get you excited every morning when you wake.

Most of all, a clear vision allows you to know exactly:

what to focus on,
what your principles and values are,
how to stay consistent,
what to add, improve and when to do it?
who to partner with, hire and how to even train them.
and, what might be a danger or opportunity to your “beautiful house”.

“take Ernest and John for instance“

First off, Ernest probably wouldn’t have made John his partner if he truly has a vision.

He wouldn’t have just teamed up with John only because of his experience as a waiter and bartender.

Ernest would’ve (at least) also made sure that he and John understood each other on precisely what business they want to build together.

Especially on:

how they want to do it.
the principles and standards that must always be kept and followed.
how things must be done.

So, instead of fighting over who’s rude or nice, they both would’ve seen the driver’s first “lateness” as both a threat and an opportunity.

A threat to their business if it continues to happen.
And an opportunity to improve or build a new system or protocol when it comes to transporting food and drinks to event locations.

Sadly, they didn’t.

And they both paid the price – massively.

“that’s just your laziness talking“

Look, maybe you feel it’s a waste of time to sit down and define your vision.

Well, that’s just your laziness talking.

Because, without a direction and destination, you won’t be able to truly tell whether your business is succeeding or failing.

Impossible to tell whether you’re going forward or backwards.

There’ll be a lot more uncertainties and confusion.

First, it’ll be difficult to see what needs to be done and how everyone should perform.

That means, you can’t create ideas or be proactive or do things by design.

Instead, things will keep happening to your business – things you don’t want.

And, since you can’t see what you’re building, you won’t be able to use your time, resources and energy on things that’ll bring sustainable growth.

No.

Your mind and body will always be in ‘damage-control’ mode.

Always working harder, overtime and busy putting out fires and solving problems.

Problems that shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

You and everyone’s work will be a mess. So will your business.

You’ll have no power or control in your own business.

A business that has no direction, no future and will only make your life miserable.

So, just sit down, clarify and write down your vision for your business.