Why is a personal vision so important?

Personal Vision? Often the response is “Oh no, that’s not for me….. I’ll just keep working hard and everything else will be fine.”

But think back to when (and why) you first started your business – you probably had a great vision about what it would mean to you, your family, your customers and maybe even your community.

How has that all worked out for you? Unless you’re one of a very small % of business owners who have nailed this, then the chances are that your business has consumed you, particularly after the year we have just been through.

When I first meet with business owners and ask them what their plans are for their business, they normally have straightforward answers like – to double sales over 3 years, open another office, acquire a competitor etc. And it’s not wrong to have those aspirations.

But at TAB the first question we always ask is - what do you want out of this?

So what is personal vision?

Everybody’s personal vision is different – the clue’s in the name! But here’s a few examples:

• I want to sell my business in 5 years’ time and live on the profits
• I want to pay myself a better income to buy a Tesla
• I want to balance my existing business with starting a new one
• I want to work less than 60 hours a week and play more golf
• I want to get out of the day to day running of the business
• I want to free up one day a week to spend with my young kids

At TAB we work hard to help people to develop their personal vision as we believe this should drive your business vision. Ultimately this is your motivator and will define where you want to get to and when.

Sometimes that can feel selfish and self-indulgent. But you’re the business owner, you’ve taken the risks, you shoulder the responsibilities, and you have the sleepless nights.

Nobody’s suggesting you’re not hard working and motivated or that you should be anything less than generous and supportive to your employees, suppliers and customers, but when it comes to defining ultimately what your personal vision is and what you want from your business, you CAN have your cake and eat it – because you own the bloody bakery!