The Importance of Having a Big Vision

By Graham Acreman

In the last issue I wrote a list of 10 Powerful Business Success Tips for Owners and Entrepreneurs. Today I'm going to elaborate on the first item - Have a big vision!

For many years I worked with Shred-it, a document destruction company founded by Greg Brophy in Oakville, Ontario.

I vividly recall Greg talking to me one day about the importance of thinking big.  He shared that when he first started his business with one shredding truck,  he would often be prospecting for new customers in the morning and helping service orders in the afternoon. He said, "When I was driving back home in the evening I'd pass by a local competitor who had 8 trucks and I used to think, Wow - if I ever had 8 trucks that would be amazing!"  Greg told me this story shortly after celebrating the milestone of 1,000 trucks world-wide! Shred-it had also become the biggest document destruction company in the world!

His point was that in spite of how big the company had grown, it had only continued to grow from 1 truck, then 10 trucks, then 100 trucks because he continuously set the bar higher and higher!   If his bar remained at 8 as it was when he first drove by his competitor he would probably never have gotten to 9, let alone 1,000.

When you think big then by extension you'll have bigger goals and the decisions that you make every day will take your goals into account. The decisions that you make and actions that you take will support your growth and will better allow you to scale your business.

Too many business owners get stuck thinking small and stay small.  Thinking small limits your opportunities because your expectations are low. You end up self-disqualifying yourself from opportunities and the ways of thinking that would otherwise help you grow.

Thinking big attracts the right people and opportunities. When your vision is big, it's also exciting - not just for you but others too!  

Top people in any field want to work for ambitious companies and leaders with big visions.  This about it, would you rather work for a company that has plateaued or is in decline  or one that is growing quickly and ambitiously?

Having a big vision can help channel your thoughts and decisions as they will always help you stay aligned to your vision.

Steve Jobs once said, "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do."
 

5 Steps to a Big Vision

1. Believe -   You need to believe in your vision. This is paramount because if you don't believe it then no one else will either.  If you're in doubt, ask yourself, "Why not you?"  
2. Support - Surround yourself with people and mentors who support your vision.
3. Share - Share your vision with everyone who will listen.  This is how opportunities and the right people will find you. You can't do it alone and others can't help if they don't know your vision.
4. Be fearless - You'll need to get out of your comfort zone and remember, action cures fear.
5. Learn - Learn from every source that you can. There are so many resources available on every conceivable subject and as you develop a plan to help achieve your vision you'll undoubtably have many things to learn.