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In short a Vision is the foundation of your business.
There are alot of people trying and failing to start businesses online.
You probably see them trying to build a following on instagram, pushing pyramid schemes on their friends and family.
Their failure can in someway be put down to a lack of vision.
By the end of this article you will see why having a vision is so integral for building a business that is sustainable and rewarding.
It’s tempting to create a noble vision. A vision that everyone can agree would be a good change in the world, or looks good on a landing page.
For example.
That’s great, but how likely are you to stay focused on that if your struggling financially each month?
With your first business your Vision should include working towards a sustainable future for yourself.
Once you achieve that you’ll be far better equipped to change the world.
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
Creating an online business is about creating the life you want.
And we’re not talking about having money. If an online business provides value it will work. If it works it will scale and make money.
(You don’t need to invest in new shops and more staff, you just get more traffic to your site, more on that later)
So let’s assume your business is a success, money is no longer a problem.
What would you do with that freedom? How would you live your life?
We talked about how businesses often set their Vision to simply do what they are already doing, only slightly better.
In life people often set their “Vision” to the most plausible progression from there current situation.
Maybe a promotion or a bigger house, just a little more money to keep the wolf from the door.
Is that really your vision? Do you really want to be driving to the same office or workplace for the next 10 years to potentially afford a few more square foot to sleep in when you get home?
It’s the same with your online business.
Do you really want to be spending the majority of your time doing something just because it makes money.
I want you to imagine the day in the future when your business has been a success and you’ve achieved everything you wanted. Not a day where you go sky diving or climb Everest, or even go on that dream holiday.
Imagine an average Tuesday.
It doesn’t have to be about money, it can be about mastering a skill, or spending more time on what you love.
If you’re thinking “I don’t need all this hippy crap, I just need to pay my bills.” I completely understand.
I felt exactly the same way.
But trust me when I say, if your vision or motivation behind your business is “get rich quick”, Or simply to make a little extra money. Two things are going to happen to you:
More importantly, here’s what’s going to happen to your customers.
When they come to your business they are consciously or unconsciously asking:
“What am I getting from this?”
If your not sure and your focus is I want to make money, that will be the message your customer receives.
Imagine walking into a shop and having a salesperson jump on you and throw every offer and product they have hoping that something will stick.
It doesn’t how much they smile, compliment you, how good they look. You can feel their underlying intention is to get money out of you. It’s literally repulsive.
The alternative is walking into a business where you get a sense that the owner really cares about what they are doing. They want to share that with others who care about the same thing. Who takes the time to understand if what they have to offer is right for you.
Understanding your Vision is integral online.
It is your brand, it’s how people understand what your offering and why it’s important to them.
Get it right and everything will fall into place far easier.
The money will become a by-product of working toward your vision. you won’t have to sell anything because people who have found you and stuck around, want what you are offering.
Now if a business is going to create the life you want, it has to work.
To work, the focus can’t be about giving you what you need.
It can, however, be about helping others achieve the same outcome you want.
That might be a life of financial freedom, it might be mastering the guitar. It might be something philanthropic like clean beaches. It can be as big or as small as you like.
But it has to be genuine.
It has to be something you are intrinsically motivated to work towards.
What pre-occupies you?
For a business to work, it has to provide value to others that they are willing to exchange their money or attention for.
How many times have you seen someone who starts a business and expects people to support it because it’s “their business.”
The message is “you should buy something off me because it’s my business, because i want this”
A vision for your customers means that when they come into contact with your business they understand the outcome that you can help them achieve.
One of mentors Stuart (you may have seen him if you’ve subscribed to our email list), started his first business when he was lonely estate agent.
His biggest concern was meeting the right person. He started looking into self development and dating advice. He worked towards the idea that he needed to build healthy relationships. As he did that he shared the advice and resources that he found valuable, warned people about the resources that weren’t. He created content that was valuable to people searching for similar answer following of trusted subscribers.
Once he’d collated enough resources and valuable recommendations it was financially viable to advertise on channels like youtube, and search engines targeting search terms that people who would get value from his content and recommendations
Once you have a vision you’ll be using it with everything you do.
When people land on your page the first message they receive through words, pictures or video is
“This is going to help you achieve…. (insert vision)”
If you are creating content you should be almost start with “this is going to help you achieve (insert vision) by doing this”
If you are recommending or selling a product, why what is it helping people achieve?
This is as much for you as it is for your customer. When you start building your business you will be overwhelmed with all the things you need to do or can do.
Having a vision will be your north star, when ever your are feeling lost you can use it to get your bearings.
