Welcome to the June 12, 2007 issue of BOSSMENTOR® Business.
- Feature Article: 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Creating a Vision for your Company
- BOSSMENTOR® Update: 3 Months To Go!
- BOSSMENTOR® Best Info: “The 4-Hour Workweek”!
“Escape 9-5, live anywhere, and join the new rich.” The 4-Hour Workweek.
BOSSMENTOR® Update
“And then there were 7…..”
Yes, we’ve had fallout of one member from our team, and it’s time for the sales and marketing specialists to kick in the turbo power on getting our products out to the market.
Did I say products? Yes – we have two. In fact, as a result of this exercise we’ve come up with potential for a whole new brand and line of products……but first things first.
Now we’re really at the point where we have to use other people’s everything – time, money, contacts – especially contacts, as we start to put together the sell-in process.
A friend of mine always refers to his business as a ‘real’ business (I think sometimes it’s just to get a reaction from me, but I just roll my eyes now when he says it). His business has manufacturing, production, distribution and warehousing and a whole lot of logistics. We all know it's a vastly different business model than that of a service-based business.
Most of my clients have service-based businesses, but there are also others who produce physical products. But, what we are attemtping here with our products is not the same sort of model as my friend's business. The real skill in our project is designing and producing and shipping our products without investing any money upfront. That was one of the conditions of this exercise. We are working toward achieving that goal, using the 'other people's something' strategy!
And, we have to obviously be ethical and conduct all our business with integrity….so we couldn’t steal the funds we needed!
Would anyone like to attempt a guess at what sort of products we may have developed?
I can’t reveal the answer yet, but our MMC team would love to see what all of our readers are thinking! If you want to guess, send us an email to info@bossgroup.com.au and we'll reveal the guesses in future newsletters...
Until next time……..
5 Mistakes to Avoid When Creating A Vision for Your Company
1. Thinking about it, not visualising it.
Your vision for your business needs to be as clear as if you were watching a movie – what can you see, what can you hear, how does it make you feel, who else is in the picture. You get the drift.
The clearer your vision, the more it resonates with how you feel, the more likely you are to realize it.
The golden rule for your vision is that is must engage you emotionally – it must excite you.
2. Creating a vision that isn’t in alignment with your personal life.
One of the biggest hurdles that most business owners have, which when overcome will help them improve their grasp of strategy and focus, is creating a vision. More specifically, a vision that aligns their business and their life.
For example, don’t develop a vision for a global or even national company, if you don’t really want to travel. Bad conflict! When this occurs, what happens is that the vision is never fulfilled, because somewhere deep in your sub-conscious you actually know that your desire not to travel is greater than your vision of a global company!
Your business is a core part of your life, so spending as much time as it takes to get your vision in focus is going to create alignment in everything you do to achieve it.
3. Not thinking big enough.
If you want to have a big life, you need a big vision. Don’t be scared of it – embrace it!
Your vision is a really big picture for everything in your life, and it needs to be big enough to inspire and motivate you into the future. It isn’t just a set of goals that you are aiming to achieve in the short term or the next few months. It needs to be much bigger than that. Remember the power of JFK’s big vision to put a man on the moon in a few relatively short years.
Big visions can create big actions, and big futures! So go for it!
4. Not reinforcing it on a regular basis.
You need to spend time on a regular basis seeing the picture that you want to create. The more you think about it, the more your actions will (consciously or sub-consciously) take you a step closer to realising your vision.
Your team also needs constant reminders of the vision they are working towards – put reminders around the office, make a corporate storyboard, do your own personal storyboard, talk in the future tense and not the conditional tense. For example, when we have secured our first $1M piece of business with Acme Company, we will go to [somewhere fabulous] for a team celebration. Don’t say, “if we secure ….then we will go…”.
5. Not living it.
‘Act as if’ is a powerful piece of advice. ‘Act as if’ you are living your vision, that your company is winning million dollar projects, and feel how that feels. Far more confident and successful than ‘hoping’ you win.
Act as if you’re already achieving your vision and that your business is ‘living’ the vision you’ve created – and you will get there. Call it what you want, but it’s all about focus and never losing sight of what your focus is.
Stay tuned to BOSSMENTOR® Business and our website for more ‘how to’ information on developing your own Business Strategy Blueprint……
BOSSMENTOR® Best Info
I thought today’s feature article went quite well with the Best Info profile – lots of people have a vision for a 4-hour workweek.
Tim Ferriss’ book is all the rage at the moment, as he extols the virtues of not only living a 4-hour workweek, but provides very interesting insights into how it may be possible. Get some insights into the author and the book on Tim’s website: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com
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WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE ON YOUR WEBSITE OR YOUR OWN EZINE? No problem! But here’s what you MUST include: Jenny Stilwell is the creator of BOSSMENTOR® Business, a FREE ezine for professional, lifestyle oriented business owners wanting to confidently increase the value of their business, ultimately spending less time in it. You’ll get proven strategies, tips and resources designed to help you achieve success. To receive your free e-book information, and sign up for how-to articles on creating and managing business growth, visit www.bossgroup.com.au .
About BOSSMENTOR®
Business consultant and mentor, Jenny Stilwell, is the creator of BOSSMENTOR® Business and the Director of BOSS Management Group.
Jenny helps her clients take control of their business growth, so they can focus on what’s important in their lives. She helps her clients get really clear on strategy, structure and business growth, as well as provide proven strategies, tips and resources to help business owners achieve success. Learn more now at www.bossgroup.com.au.
BOSS Management Group, Suite 3, 8A St Andrews Street, Brighton, VIC 3186, Australia. Phone: +613 9592 3844, info@bossgroup.com.au.
