Why Vision Really Matters in Business

“Capital isn’t scarce; vision is.” ~ Sam Walton

If you talk to small business owners about the problems they face in their businesses, many put capital first before any other problems. If capital is not inadequate, it is not available at all many always say. Unknown to these people, many small businesses struggle not for lack of capital, but lack of vision. Foremost American retail entrepreneur Sam Walton of Wal-Mart tells us that from his own experience, capital isn’t always scarce but vision is.  With real vision, you can always work out how and when to raise capital. So vision is superior. Vision by definition is an aspirational description of what an organization would like to achieve or accomplish in the mid-term or long-term future. It is intended to serve as a clear guide for choosing current and future courses of action. Without a vision therefore, it becomes difficult if not impossible to chart a clear future for any business. That is where the real problem usually is and not with capital inadequacy as many small businesses like to report.

If you run a business organization, no matter how small and you are unable to articulate and declare your mid-term and long-term goals, you clearly don’t have a vision for the business. Without these goals, it is impossible to measure progress correctly and to articulate how well you are doing in the business. In most cases, that kind of scenario is always a foretaste to the disaster lurking ahead. That is where vision comes to the rescue. Even the scriptures say, “Without a vision, the people perish.”  It is that serious believe me. Vision no doubt is really very important in the course of any successful business.

Take a look at these names, King Croesus, Pope Sixtus IV, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Benjamin Siegel and Ray Kroc. Do you know what they all have in common? They were all great visioners who made tremendous impacts in their chosen fields of human endeavor and the world appreciates them for it.

Get busy right now because…. “No pains, no gains. To get the prize, you must pay the price.”

Why You Must Be Purposeful

“Have a very good reason for everything you do.” ~ Laurence Olivier
 
Whatever you do, be sure you are doing it for a reason. If you have no reason for doing anything, no matter what it takes, don’t do it. A purposeless venture is at all times a worthless venture. The question is, why waste time, energy and resources doing things you shouldn’t be doing? There is neither a gain nor any form of satisfaction from doing purposeless things. If you have a fixed intention in doing something, there is a goal to be met. With it, you can measure your progress, gauge and adjust your direction as you go along. Doing so will enable you to know when you’ve achieved your aim. Achieving your aim is elating and satisfying at all times. Without a purpose, many people simply drift through life without achieving anything or making any impact whatsoever in whatever environment they happen to find themselves. That is sadly pathetic but true.

Somehow, people with goals to aim at always manage to succeed faster and better than others because they always know where they're going. They have real reasons for doing what they do and they as a reward get more and better results. If you love challenges like I do, you’ll discover that the reasons you have for doing what you are doing constitute the challenges you face. It is the same reasons which help you to continue to strive on no matter the odds! With set goals in mind, if rewarding enough, you kind of stay the course until you achieve. Without set goals, it is doubtful if anyone can ever get anything worthwhile achieved satisfactorily.

Get busy right now because…. “No pains, no gains. To get the prize, you must pay the price.”