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The conversations go something like this. "Suzanne, we need help with leasing, marketing, leadership, hiring, training, fill in the blanks. Where do we start?" In the doing of the thing, whatever that thing is, we have to know where we are going. So, I often ask, "Where are you going? What are your long and short-term goals - 10, 5, 3, 1 year from now?"

VISION

It's really about where are you going and if that vision isn't clear, guess what? You aren't going to get there. It seems simple but when we are in the "doing" or working "in" the business without taking the time to look from the top or outside at the business, we miss key important indicators of potential stumbling blocks or in reverse, what might be opportunities to make the journey a better, faster, cheaper and more fulfilling one. We call them clarity breaks. I highly recommend them.

This goes for your personal life. I don't have a problem visualizing success but sometimes, I haven't thought about all of the steps to get there. Thinking through incremental milestones to reach your goal offers many great moments in the journey to celebrate and recalibrate. It also requires you to think about how to get to the next step and makes it easier to digest then looking at the end goal, several steps down the road.

PEOPLE

The next question goes like this. "Potential client, do you have a people plan to support your vision? And that means the $$$ and cents plan to go along with it?"

Even if you have a clear vision, understanding that people, resources, time, etc. are part of making that vision come to life. Otherwise, you know what happens. There is a misstep, and it all comes tumbling down. It's like Jenga - you have to think ahead on how moving the piece impacts the structure. Many businesses don't even know what pieces they need. Think about it.

The thought that goes into the purpose or "why" of your business and "who" you are considering your customer, requires thoughtful efforts and you really can't skip this step either. Understanding your target customer, what makes you unique and how you stand behind that, is so important. I've seen businesses create an awesome product in isolation, pick the wrong target customer, and flop. I've had painful experience with this myself. I have proposed solutions or implemented ones that didn't fit who my customer was, and they become costly mistakes and lead to disappointed customers. Good lessons for sure, but skipping steps, not understanding the customer journey, won't cut it. Top to bottom. Bottom to top.

Personally, I think about the people in my life I lean on for advice, mentorship, friendship. People can make all the difference (the right ones!) in your personal success. Make sure you are hanging with the crowd who WANTS you to succeed and are core value - aligned. They aren't always asking. They are offering too.

EXECUTION

Businesses will be scaling, hiring, generating new business and they don't have the infrastructure to support the growth. No process. Think of the business as a house. Not developing processes and accurately mapping how a particular process will be executed, leads to a faulty foundation. And, like a house, when built on a faulty foundation, they collapse.

It doesn't mean don't take risks. Just be sure to work through the business plan enough, so you know the vision, you have the people, and you can execute at a high level. You do all this at the beginning of your dreams, revisiting, pivoting, altering direction, learning, you will have a much better chance of seeing them come to fruition. Oh, and that goes for your personal life too. See it through. You will be that much closer to the goal at the top. You did the work. Let's get moving!

VISION|PEOPLE|EXECUTION