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Writing a Vision & Mission

Two Common Mistakes when writing a Vision and Mission you should avoid

Have you ever wondered what a good Vision and Mission statement is? You will recognize them immediately,

Walt Disney’s ‘We make people smile’ (Vision statement).

The instructions to write them are typically deceivingly simple, such as:

• Who are we?

• What business are we in?

• Who are our clients and customers?

• What makes us different from our competitors? And so on.

But in reality you will find far too many businesses that have Vision and Mission statements that seem to be designed by committee: drawn out, non focused statements that seem to try to please everybody. Not the simple, focused and inspiring statement it should be. Why is that?

It is because of two common pitfalls, which once you see them are obviously related:

Trying to cram too much into the statement.

Adding elements from the Common Goals, Main Strategies, Target Market and Culture statement into it.

Your Vision statement describes a state of being, something that the company will be known for. It should be almost Zen like simple. Such as ‘We make people smile’.

In the case of Disney you will find the ‘providing wholesome family entertainment’ in the Mission statement.

A Mission statement helps narrow down the options for the company of how to achieve the Vision.

Using laughing gas Disney could also make people smile, but that is obviously not wholesome family entertainment. So what are the sources of the other elements that seem to pollute too many Vision and Mission statements?

The Common Goal describes a very specific, measurable Goal, to be reached at a very specific date, that provides proof that the company is clearly providing the above to the market. This is where you find things like number of clients, employees or revenue goals. Being a billion dollar plus company at a certain date is a Common Goal. As such, that Billion dollar element does not belong in the Vision and Mission statement.

The Culture Statement describes the norms and values that are seen as critical for everyone that works in the company. When you read statements about being family friendly and having high integrity in a Vision and Mission statement you are actually looking at Culture Statement elements. Things like ‘Technological innovation’ and ‘having the best tools and equipment’ are Main Strategies elements. And describing your Target Market such as ‘families with a disposable income of…’ is of course also the wrong document.

All these additional things are very useful, but if you cram them all into one Vision and Mission statement, you missed the point.

Keep It Simple, Stupid. Those are the best Vision and Mission statements.

Be Different

Do Something Different!

Sometimes it takes you doing something different to create the results you are striving for.

As an old boss always told me “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

While it drove me crazy to hear this, as he would say the same thing over and over and expected it to generate a different response from us, it certainly rings true in most circumstances.

In doing something different, just as with life, there is no magic 8 ball with all the answers. Just making an educated decision and going for it. Now, make sure to test and measure to get the results, these are key for going forward after this. Having collected the data from what it was that you did different, now find out what worked and what didn’t and change again.

You certainly won’t get stale by changing it up, you may actually like it a little, and will like it much more when it generates results that you like.

So go out there and give it a try, feel free to let me know how it goes and if you have any questions- ask them.

Goals and Dreams

Ever thought about your goals? What you aspire to do or become? Ever

dreamed of becoming someone completely different? Had that dream of

winning a big lottery and what all you would do with your winnings?

If you noticed in the previous questions, I quickly transitioned from goals to

dreams. Why? Well, I would ask you “why not?” Why can’t your dreams

become your goals?

“If you dream it, you can do it.” ~ Walt Disney

The Challenge: Most love to dream, yet never take the time to document

those dreams and see what it would take to make those dreams a reality.

Most would challenge a dream as if it is some fairytale and not a possibility.

Why would you want to limit yourself and create a mediocre reality when your

dreams are so much more? Why not take those dreams and break them

down into steps to making them real?

FYI- in doing this you actually are creating goals. That’s right, with just a

couple steps and a little more thought, you have created goals and the

stepping stones to your dreams.

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have

within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the

stars to change the world.” ~ Harriet Tubman

Make sure they are documented in some way to make them real and ask

yourself when you start doing tasks: “Does this get me closer to my goals?” If

the answer is yes- you are on your way, if the answer is no- why are you

doing the task? I’m not here to say that every task not directly related to your

dreams is not important and not to do them, I’m simply saying to ask yourself

the questions. Tie your tasks to your goals, maybe it means altering the way

you are doing something or the amount of effort you put into it, just make sure

it ties into what your goals are.

Hindsight is 20/20 right? If you looked back on all the things you have done

over the past week, were there things you didn’t need or have to do and that

didn’t add any value to you or those around you? Nobody said it was easy to

make your dreams come true, however if you put in the correct work and

focus you can accomplish your dreams, you can live your own fairytale so to

speak.

I ask you one final question: What are you doing still reading this? Go create

your stepping stones to your dreams and live life to the fullest.

Don’t dream your life, live your dreams.

8 Major Ways to increase profits

Do you want to increase profits in your business? Well, who doesn’t?

But when you ask other business owners how they would do it, you typically will get two types of answers:

“Get more clients” (often in the form of ‘increase your marketing’)
“Cut your costs.”

And come think of it, these two answers seem to contradict: Increasing your marketing would probably increase your costs, while decreasing your costs means typically cutting expenses, including on marketing or on the other perks that your customers have started to appreciate.A major business coaching franchise decided to break this conundrum by suggesting a simple ‘Five ways to profit’ formula which goes as follows:

(Leads * Sales conversion = Clients. And Clients * Average $ sale * Number of transactions = Revenue.)

Revenue times Margins = Profit.

In other words: Leads * Sales conversion * Av $ sale * Number of Transactions * Margins = Profit.

What is good about this formula is that it breaks the simple ‘either decrease your expenses or increase your marketing’ statement. It becomes clear that you can also increase your profit by focusing on how often your clients will use your services. Or that you need to upsell, or become a better closer. What is not good about this formula is that it still misses, or over simplifies several essential elements that are the basis for profits.

The true formula for profit in a certain time period is based on eight ways that affect profit, not five:

(1) Leads, (2) Sales Conversion, (3) Customer Retention, (4) Average $ Sale, (5) Number of Transactions, (6) Collections and Cash Gap, (7) Gross Margin or Variable Costs, (8) Overhead or Fixed Costs

And before you dive into the formula, there is a likely order of getting more bang for your buck.

At the very first: measure very element of these eight ways. What you cannot measure, you cannot improve!
Improve your Cash Gap and your Collections. CASH = KING
Address expenses in two ways: first cut any needless overhead (usually in the so called ‘Fixed Costs’), secondly, address time wasters as they effect the gross margin (and probably mean you can work with less overhead as well)
Keep your customer Retention high! It is so much easier to make money from existing clients than trying to get new ones in. Never lower your service and quality standards! Make them happy and they will be more likely to give you referrals.
Now work the average dollar sale. Maybe you can upsell a bit, or change your prices. Be aware though, pricing is the sharpest tool in your toolbox. It can make, or break you. Make small changes and test and measure.
Time to work the Sales Conversion rate. When was the last time that your sales force was retrained?
Now see if you can get your customers a bit more often in the door by increasing the number of transactions. Note that this requires reaching out to your existing clients, which might cost some money
Lead generation is the last area to work on, and unless you know of low price marketing strategies, the most expensive. It is typically also the one that is basically unlimited.

For those who want to see the full eight ways formula:

(1) Leads * (2) Sales Conversion Rate = (A) New Clients

Old Clients * (3) Retention Rate = (B) Remaining Clients

Total Clients = (A) + (B)

Total Clients * (4) Average $ per sales ticket * (5) Number of Times they buy = Sales Revenue

Sales Revenue – (6) Collections % <and cash gap> = Collected Revenue

Collected Revenue * (7) Gross Margin = Gross Profit

Gross Revenue – (8) Fixed Costs = Net Profit

Note that there are over a 1000 recorded strategies that increase profits, all of them somehow fitting in one of these eight ways. If you don’t know where to start, ask a business coach for whom this eight way formula with its 1000 strategies is day to day stuff to get you going.

After all, who doesn’t want more profits?