Why You Need A Vision And Mission.
Having a strong vision and mission is imperative for your business to succeed, failing to have this is like going on a journey with no map… you’ll never get to the destination as you don’t actually know where you are trying to get to!
I know this probably sounds simple to a lot of my followers, who are established business owners, but when you are starting out, a lack of this sort of insight can trip you up.
You also need to be aware that your vision and mission can (and most likely will) evolve, develop, morph and redesign itself over time. There is nothing wrong with that as long as you are aware of this evolution and it is in line with your wider goals and aspirations.
I have definitely experienced an evolution of vision within one of my businesses; Aleafia, which is a holistic wellness centre based in the heart of North Devon. This space, this centre, this location is more than just bricks and mortar, it is the physical representation of a dream for me. Let me explain; a few years ago I was being parachuted into massive companies to overhaul their operations — these consultancy projects were high-pressure, high-stress, high-octane and, at the time, I loved it. Taking all the systems, processes and procedures of big brands to make the whole organisation more efficient, effective and — ultimately — more profitable was a real buzz. But the workload, the ridiculous hours and the constant international travel came at the detriment of my own well-being.
I didn’t even realise that I was working myself to death (almost literally) until it was almost too late. Luckily, I managed to hit the stop button on that life just in time for me to survive the rollercoaster and that led me to search for a better life, a deeper meaning and a more valuable impact. Which led me to Morocco where I ‘found myself’.
Now, I am still an operational executioner, so I won’t go too far into the fussy and fluffy (which I also love by the way) but realising that I could — and should — lead a life with more fulfilment made me create a vision that was more holistically well-rounded. While I was in Morocco I reset, I refreshed and I revitalised, but I knew that part of my soul wanted (and needed) the hustle, the drive and the purpose, so I designed a life with that in mind.
On returning from Morocco, Aleafia, my well-being centre, was born. The operations expert in me kicked in quickly and soon the centre was running very smoothly so I could focus on the next stage of the vision; which initially was going to be focused on a slow, self-funded expansion of locations that we owned. But, due to the high level of holiday trade that we received, I would continually have chats with customers who would say ‘Oh I love this place, I wish we had one of these centres near me’. And, once I heard this a fair few times, I realised that my team and I had an opportunity to make an even wider impact using a different model than the one we had originally planned.
By further systemising the brand we could roll out an offering that would enable us to franchise the business, meaning we could create that greater impact for a wider audience, as per my earlier vision.
As I mentioned above, you absolutely need that vision in order to keep yourself heading in the direction of your ultimate goals, but there are definitely times when you need to have a level of flexibility within your targets in order to grab an opportunity when it presents itself to you.
We are already deep into the process of franchising the wellness centre, creating multiple options which could include a full centre setup, all treatment offerings and our exclusive plant bar (yes, you could have a standalone Aleafia Plant Bar coming to a town near you soon!) so I will keep you all updated on the progress as we head on this exciting new avenue for the business.
This is an exciting time for evolving our mission and vision — hope you can come along for the ride with us.
