VISION WITHOUT EXECUTION IS HALLUCINATION

“Vision without execution is hallucination” I found this quote last night as I was reading a new book on Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson. (In my mind Da Vinci is one of the greatest men that have ever lived.) The quote got me thinking about the importance of keeping your business on track.

All successful business owners know the importance of keeping things on track. Besides the “ego” which allows you to say that you are self-employed, it is important to maintain the deadlines you set to reach your vision.

Procrastination, or perhaps I should say laziness, may get in the way of achieving the time frames we have set. Working for yourself does not mean that you don’t have any deadlines; without them your business will go nowhere. If you don’t push things, you won’t see any progress, and without progress you are going to have a hard time making a name for yourself in your target market.

Keeping your business on track is one of the most important functions that you as a business owner have. I am sure that you know that growing a business is at least 10 times harder than you first anticipated and that the number of “moving parts” can be overwhelming. The worst part is that you can lose sight of one of these moving parts and not discover that you are falling behind until it has already happened.

If you google “small business support systems,” you will get a lot of information on accounting systems, telephone systems, software systems, security systems, office furniture systems, etc.  None of these individually or collectively will offer everything you need to grow and to sustain profitability.

The solution is a bit more complicated. The outline of a system that I recommended to my clients consists of the following parts:

1. Achieving your vision: The new work that has to be done per your vision action plan.
2. Physical preparation: The tools such as a computer, a place to work, office furniture, files, etc.
3. Servicing and retaining customers/clients. This is your current income source and it must be maintained.
4. Foundation work: Maintaining and reinforcing the foundation is important. In this area such things as required legal documentation, accounting, and all the other necessary business paperwork has to be constantly monitored.

Each of these segments has a place and each should be reviewed every day to determine the  priority of the work that has to be completed in each area. This process will make sure that each area is acknowledged.  The final message: If you lack self-discipline then having a mentor/coach becomes a necessity for growth.