My favourite palindrome goes like this: ‘A man, a plan, a canal: Panama.’ If you missed it…read it backwards. The adage can be applied to any truly successful business. In that plan, Phillipe-Jean Bunau-Varilla had a vision. He, like many other success story characters, knew what the canal would look like before getting started.
When all efforts and decisions are geared towards accomplishing a defined vision, achieving your goals is much easier. You won’t let hang-ups hang you out to dry, or get bogged down by bumps in the road, if you have a clear vision of the finish line. At Silver + Goren, we have helped enough business start-ups to know there will be those hang-ups and bumps. It is the clients with the ability and determination to look ahead that are able to succeed.
While you are still in the early brainstorming mode, let’s look at a very common misunderstanding for entrepreneurs. Many people think you need a brilliant new product or one-of-a-kind service in order to succeed.
All you really need to do is find a different way of doing the same thing that thousands of other people are doing – in a way your clients will appreciate more. The difference can be in the way you treat your customers, the way you process your service, a different way to package your product or as simple an idea as showing up exactly when you say you will if you are a service technician.
Once you secure your stand-out vision, make sure to keep focused on that plan. Visualizing your end result is what will successfully help you achieve it. Don’t get lost in the details.