In This Episode
Some days it’s easier to stay positive than others.  For instance, those days when you land a big new customer or finally bring on board that key new hire.  But there are other days when it’s really tough to keep that positive outlook.  Simply flip the scenarios mentioned before where instead of landing a big new customer you instead lose a customer that makes up 25% of your business.  Or that key employee gives you two weeks notice.
So what’s an owner to do?  Should you as an owner ride the roller coaster of emotions in public for everyone to see?   Should you keep it all bottled up inside?  Maybe it’s time to just call it a day and sell the business.  Try reaching out to all of those folks who has contacted you over the years expressing an interest in buying your business.  Or maybe just close up shop?
One of the best ways we know to stay positive is to look into the future.  Fewer things suck the oxygen out of the room faster than talking about the “good old days” and “the way things used to be.”  We had a client recently lament about how he felt like his business was a ship lost at sea and he wasn’t sure what port he was trying to reach.  This “lost at sea” feeling is a common one with small business owners.  A simple way to address this lost at sea feeling is to craft a 10-Year Vision for your company.
The Vision is the first of the 7 Keys to Success we use to coach our small business owner clients.  The goal is to lay out where you see yourself and your business 10 years from now.  It should include some measurable things like how many employees you’ll have, your annual sales $, number and types of customers as well as different products/services you’ll be offering.  The goal is to keep it to one page or less, just a couple of paragraphs.  You won’t have all the answers for how you are going to reach that port, but you’ll certainly know where you’re trying to go.
So if you’re pining for the gold old days, which could even mean the pre-COVID days, buck up!  Let’s use that learning and knowledge and plug it into actions we can take today that will make for a beautiful future which is encapsulated in your 10-Year Vision!  Click here for a downloadable 1-pager on how to craft your 10-Year Vision.
People, Companies and Resources We Mentioned in the Show

* MVP’s 7 Keys to Success (https://maximumvp.com/7-keys-to-success/)
* A League of Their Own (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_League_of_Their_Own)
* Donald Trump (https://www.donaldjtrump.com)