Business BootKamp (TM), Realizing Your Vision
Happy Saturday!
Now that you have your mantra, and you have that little beacon off in the distance to keep you focused on your goals, how do you practically achieve that goal? If the mantra is the lighthouse, then your vision is your treasure map. It shows where you are going and how to get there! When your break your vision down into smaller achievable parts, realizing your vision is simpler, and often times comes to fruition faster. These parts can be broken down into three basic questions: who & why, what, and how.
The first step bringing your business vision into fruition is to fully know what you are offering and why you are offering it. This means understanding the solutions that you offer or the problems that you solve. Even if you are in a luxury market segment, you still solve a specific ‘problem.’ Take golf courses, for example, they are a luxury, but they are incredibly successful. Why? Because they understand that they solve the ‘problem’ of entertainment, socialization, and business meetings. The more successful courses cater to this through having club houses, halfway houses, restaurants, and ballrooms, for members to gather both before and after a round, and without playing a round, and to rent out for whatever they choose. They understand the role they play in people’s lives.
Next, determine who is your target market and begin focusing your offerings on those customers. To do this, ask yourself who will gain something of value from what you are offering? There are many different types of golf courses, from equity courses, to public courses. Each has their place in the market, and knows that while golf may appeal to a large number of individuals, different people want different things from their golf experiences. Some people just want to learn to play and use it for recreation and to relax, others want tournaments and competitions, and others want a place to show off and do business, just to name a few reasons a person would golf. The key is that a golf course cannot cater to all these desires, but will specialize in one of the other so that they can meet the expectations of their target market (or their customers).
Now that you know the what & why and who it is important to decide on the how. How do you want your target market to perceive you? This is determined largely through your interactions with them. These interactions come in all shapes and sizes from marketing campaigns, to the products/services themselves right down to their presentation at a retail store, or at an initial meeting with a potential client. These interactions set the tone for your brand. Wal-mart, for example has a strong brand. They may not be everyone’s favorite company, but everyone that knows Wal-mart, has a clear set of expectations about their products and even their experience when shopping there. This is the result of past experiences, hearing stories of other’s experiences, and experiencing the marketing strategies of Wal-mart. So how do you become as predictable as Wal-mart: Consistency. In all interactions with customers, whether it be through advertisements, an employee of the company, the product experience itself, or the product presentation at a shop, keeping it consistent with your brand, vision, and mantra will create that brand continuity.
As always, when it seems like it is two steps forward and one step back, fall back on your mantra to give you the strength and resolve to just keep going. If you can focus on your steps, reaching your vision is closer than it may appear!
By the way, if you missed our band performance last weekend , click the following link for some photos – Yahoo!!! That was fun — https://www.linkedin.com/company/volpe-consulting-&-accounting-services
Looking forward…
Chelsea Auton
The Volpe Consulting & Accounting Team
Sources:
https://www.cbn.co.za/news/is-there-real-value-in-having-a-vision