The Hunt for Talent is Ushering in a New Era

Posted on by James Kenefick

Market forecasts have a common denominator – it is the word “change.” There has been an increased focus on performance management, employee engagement, and development. Among these activities has been a war for talent. By 2030, the lack of qualified workers could leave 85 million jobs empty. It is now more important than ever to develop innovative solutions and attract the right talent to ensure success.

Why IQ is not enough?

It is said that the world has never changed so fast, and on the other hand, it will never change so slowly again. We are judged today somewhat differently than in the past, not only according to how smart we are and what kind of education or expertise we have but also from the perspective of how we manage ourselves and others. Finding the perfect balance between being in touch with your own emotions and recognizing the emotions of those around us may be key to success in the professional world. Gone are the days when qualifications and results came first, now employers are looking for a workforce with exceptional soft skills, including the ability to communicate, give feedback and make meaningful connections. Individuals with a high EQ have a head start when it comes to achieving their goals, as they are able to better connect with their colleagues, clients, and target audience. A computer may be able to outwit a grandmaster in chess, but it still lacks the ability to understand the query “Do you want to play?” as it cannot comprehend the game being proposed. Technology can be capable of making our work more efficient, but it can’t replace the human touch. The ability to ask the right questions of machines, as well as to collaborate as a team and with the customer, are dramatically needed skills. Therefore, a valued competency in employees is both the ability to discover meaning and create meaning, as well as unconventional and adaptive thinking.

An Employee Shouldn’t Be Seen as a Piggy Bank

People are an organization’s most valuable resource. Rather than viewing them as a financial burden, they should be recognized as an investment. According to the World Economic Forum, more than 1.3 billion people worldwide lack basic digital skills. Companies need to get with the times and equip all departments with tech-savvy employees. In fact, every area, not just IT, will need personnel well-versed in technology. Amidst a scarcity of talent, businesses that want to stay ahead of the competition must invest in upskilling their workforce. They should not only focus on what kind of employees they need but also understand those already employed. At the end of the day, they are all searching for something beyond a paycheck – a sense of purpose. Rather than feeling like a commodity, they crave to be recognized, heard, and valued.

The Hunt for Talent is Ushering in a New Era

Posted on by James Kenefick

Market forecasts have a common denominator – it is the word “change.” There has been an increased focus on performance management, employee engagement, and development. Among these activities has been a war for talent. By 2030, the lack of qualified workers could leave 85 million jobs empty. It is now more important than ever to develop innovative solutions and attract the right talent to ensure success.

Why IQ is not enough?

It is said that the world has never changed so fast, and on the other hand, it will never change so slowly again. We are judged today somewhat differently than in the past, not only according to how smart we are and what kind of education or expertise we have but also from the perspective of how we manage ourselves and others. Finding the perfect balance between being in touch with your own emotions and recognizing the emotions of those around us may be key to success in the professional world. Gone are the days when qualifications and results came first, now employers are looking for a workforce with exceptional soft skills, including the ability to communicate, give feedback and make meaningful connections. Individuals with a high EQ have a head start when it comes to achieving their goals, as they are able to better connect with their colleagues, clients, and target audience. A computer may be able to outwit a grandmaster in chess, but it still lacks the ability to understand the query “Do you want to play?” as it cannot comprehend the game being proposed. Technology can be capable of making our work more efficient, but it can’t replace the human touch. The ability to ask the right questions of machines, as well as to collaborate as a team and with the customer, are dramatically needed skills. Therefore, a valued competency in employees is both the ability to discover meaning and create meaning, as well as unconventional and adaptive thinking.

An Employee Shouldn’t Be Seen as a Piggy Bank

People are an organization’s most valuable resource. Rather than viewing them as a financial burden, they should be recognized as an investment. According to the World Economic Forum, more than 1.3 billion people worldwide lack basic digital skills. Companies need to get with the times and equip all departments with tech-savvy employees. In fact, every area, not just IT, will need personnel well-versed in technology. Amidst a scarcity of talent, businesses that want to stay ahead of the competition must invest in upskilling their workforce. They should not only focus on what kind of employees they need but also understand those already employed. At the end of the day, they are all searching for something beyond a paycheck – a sense of purpose. Rather than feeling like a commodity, they crave to be recognized, heard, and valued.

Leadership Strategy Checklist: The Ultimate Guide

Posted on by James Kenefick

Strategy is one of those business terms that is critical to understand but difficult to define. This ambiguity makes it hard to distinguish what makes up a good or bad strategy.

Fortunately for entrepreneurs, Professor Richard Rumelt’s book, Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, does an incredible job of defining the various elements of strategy and laying out the foundation for establishing a good strategy while avoiding a bad one. This book has been an influential part of my entrepreneurial path over the years, so I had to make it the cornerstone of this piece. 

So let’s begin — and to do that, we must first start with what Rumelt calls the kernels of strategy. Because for you to set yourself up with a successful strategy, you must understand what lies at the heart of strategy.

The Kernels of Good Strategy

The basic underlying structure of a good strategy is as follows:

Diagnosis

Part of developing a sound strategy is understanding how to leverage your resources to achieve results. To do this, and to do it successfully, you have to understand the challenges facing your organization. Ask yourself: What’s important? What’s not? This will hone your focus on diagnosing what’s most critical and then lead you down the path of figuring out how you can approach and address each challenge. If your diagnosis isn’t clear, your path to action won’t be either, so it’s important to get the diagnosis right.

Guiding Policy

Your diagnosis will inform your strategy. The purpose of a guiding policy is that it helps you establish your intentions so you can focus your attention in the right direction. There will be so many options available to you to begin setting your action plan, so you need to ensure you’re pursuing the path that makes the most sense for your goals. When you follow your policy and adapt your organization, you set yourself up for success.

Coherent Action Plan

Strategy without action is nothing, just as action without strategy is futile. Your diagnosis should inform your guiding policy, and then your guiding policy should help you develop steps to accomplish your goal. These steps should be clear and concise, but they won’t always be easy. The difficult part of strategy is that it comes with tough choices, but you must have the discipline to see these steps through to the very end. 

Good Strategy vs. Bad Strategy

Before we explore the elements of good strategy vs. bad strategy, it’s essential to understand the difference between them. Where a good strategy honestly acknowledges challenges and offers ways to overcome them, a bad strategy overlooks problems and creates aimless ambitions. So now, let’s take a deeper dive.

At the heart of a good strategy are the following elements:

  1. Leverage your strengths: A leader’s strategic leverage comes from their ability to anticipate predictions that point them in the right direction, pivot when small adjustments are necessary, and concentrate their efforts on fewer objectives to be more impactful.
  2. Press your advantages: A promising strategy pinpoints a company’s strengths or advantages, and then presses those advantages in the market.
  3. Look for internal weakness: Leaders can’t just focus on the competition’s weakness; they must also prioritize strengthening the weakest links within their own organizations.
  4. Watch for inertia and entropy: Inertia and entropy can pose risks to a business. Be mindful of inertia (a company’s resistance to change) and entropy (how a company devolves into chaos if not properly managed). 
  5. Narrow your focus: Don’t divide up attention into too many channels. Instead, focus on one or two critical issues and work on resolving those. 
  6. Choose feasible objectives: Leaders must pick feasible goals if they hope to reach the larger goals they’ve set for their companies. Too much ambition could lead to failure.
  7. Beware of chasing growth: Don’t strive for growth just for the sake of growth. This could lead to unhealthy growth that is forced rather than intentional.
  8. Treat your strategy as a design: Strategy isn’t chosen; it’s constructed. A good strategy must be tightly designed to form a whole that will help bring about a leader’s success.
  9. Anticipate change: A leader should constantly predict what changes could impact their industry and, as a result, their business, and look for opportunities in these changes to help drive their competitive advantage.

Now, let’s transition into bad strategy. Rumelt defines the four characteristics of bad strategy as follows:

  1. Fluff: Many leaders use grandiose phrasing to create an illusion of high-level thinking. Don’t do this. Instead, be honest, and make it simple. 
  2. Failure to face the challenge: If a leader cannot correctly define their organization’s challenges, they will not accurately address them.
  3. Mistaking goals for strategy: Setting a goal to achieve is different from actually developing a strategy to overcome the obstacles that will help you achieve those goals.
  4. Bad strategic objectives: Objectives are considered harmful when they fail to address critical challenges or when they’re just altogether impractical. 

Rumelt wrote his book to challenge leaders to look at things from a new perspective. He didn’t want to offer formulas for building a good strategy but, instead, wanted to impart logic behind what makes a strategy good or bad. I hope you found as much help in his words as I have from reading his book, which I cannot recommend enough.

Leadership Strategy Checklist: The Ultimate Guide

Posted on by James Kenefick

Strategy is one of those business terms that is critical to understand but difficult to define. This ambiguity makes it hard to distinguish what makes up a good or bad strategy.

Fortunately for entrepreneurs, Professor Richard Rumelt’s book, Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, does an incredible job of defining the various elements of strategy and laying out the foundation for establishing a good strategy while avoiding a bad one. This book has been an influential part of my entrepreneurial path over the years, so I had to make it the cornerstone of this piece. 

So let’s begin — and to do that, we must first start with what Rumelt calls the kernels of strategy. Because for you to set yourself up with a successful strategy, you must understand what lies at the heart of strategy.

The Kernels of Good Strategy

The basic underlying structure of a good strategy is as follows:

Diagnosis

Part of developing a sound strategy is understanding how to leverage your resources to achieve results. To do this, and to do it successfully, you have to understand the challenges facing your organization. Ask yourself: What’s important? What’s not? This will hone your focus on diagnosing what’s most critical and then lead you down the path of figuring out how you can approach and address each challenge. If your diagnosis isn’t clear, your path to action won’t be either, so it’s important to get the diagnosis right.

Guiding Policy

Your diagnosis will inform your strategy. The purpose of a guiding policy is that it helps you establish your intentions so you can focus your attention in the right direction. There will be so many options available to you to begin setting your action plan, so you need to ensure you’re pursuing the path that makes the most sense for your goals. When you follow your policy and adapt your organization, you set yourself up for success.

Coherent Action Plan

Strategy without action is nothing, just as action without strategy is futile. Your diagnosis should inform your guiding policy, and then your guiding policy should help you develop steps to accomplish your goal. These steps should be clear and concise, but they won’t always be easy. The difficult part of strategy is that it comes with tough choices, but you must have the discipline to see these steps through to the very end. 

Good Strategy vs. Bad Strategy

Before we explore the elements of good strategy vs. bad strategy, it’s essential to understand the difference between them. Where a good strategy honestly acknowledges challenges and offers ways to overcome them, a bad strategy overlooks problems and creates aimless ambitions. So now, let’s take a deeper dive.

At the heart of a good strategy are the following elements:

  1. Leverage your strengths: A leader’s strategic leverage comes from their ability to anticipate predictions that point them in the right direction, pivot when small adjustments are necessary, and concentrate their efforts on fewer objectives to be more impactful.
  2. Press your advantages: A promising strategy pinpoints a company’s strengths or advantages, and then presses those advantages in the market.
  3. Look for internal weakness: Leaders can’t just focus on the competition’s weakness; they must also prioritize strengthening the weakest links within their own organizations.
  4. Watch for inertia and entropy: Inertia and entropy can pose risks to a business. Be mindful of inertia (a company’s resistance to change) and entropy (how a company devolves into chaos if not properly managed). 
  5. Narrow your focus: Don’t divide up attention into too many channels. Instead, focus on one or two critical issues and work on resolving those. 
  6. Choose feasible objectives: Leaders must pick feasible goals if they hope to reach the larger goals they’ve set for their companies. Too much ambition could lead to failure.
  7. Beware of chasing growth: Don’t strive for growth just for the sake of growth. This could lead to unhealthy growth that is forced rather than intentional.
  8. Treat your strategy as a design: Strategy isn’t chosen; it’s constructed. A good strategy must be tightly designed to form a whole that will help bring about a leader’s success.
  9. Anticipate change: A leader should constantly predict what changes could impact their industry and, as a result, their business, and look for opportunities in these changes to help drive their competitive advantage.

Now, let’s transition into bad strategy. Rumelt defines the four characteristics of bad strategy as follows:

  1. Fluff: Many leaders use grandiose phrasing to create an illusion of high-level thinking. Don’t do this. Instead, be honest, and make it simple. 
  2. Failure to face the challenge: If a leader cannot correctly define their organization’s challenges, they will not accurately address them.
  3. Mistaking goals for strategy: Setting a goal to achieve is different from actually developing a strategy to overcome the obstacles that will help you achieve those goals.
  4. Bad strategic objectives: Objectives are considered harmful when they fail to address critical challenges or when they’re just altogether impractical. 

Rumelt wrote his book to challenge leaders to look at things from a new perspective. He didn’t want to offer formulas for building a good strategy but, instead, wanted to impart logic behind what makes a strategy good or bad. I hope you found as much help in his words as I have from reading his book, which I cannot recommend enough.

The Future of Purposeful Leadership: People, Planet, Profits

Posted on by James Kenefick

What does it mean to be a purposeful leader? Well, it depends on who you ask.

There’s been a longstanding exchange happening in the business world for decades about what successful leadership looks like. Some would say the greatest leaders are measured by their prosperity. Some would say it should be how their employees revere them. And some might say it’s reflected in their commitment to sustainability efforts. But I would say, why can’t it be all three?

I’m not the first to want to marry these three components together. Entrepreneur and author John Elkington coined the term ‘triple bottom line’ in the early 90s to epitomize this concept. In short, purposeful leaders that will truly make a difference in their industries, communities, and society don’t just pick one end goal to focus on; they strive to create organizations that serve all three.

Despite being around for almost 30 years, the pool of leaders who’ve tasked themselves with carrying out the triple bottom line is relatively small, and, if I had to guess, there could be a few reasons why. Sustainability is often viewed as an altruistic accessory of leadership rather than a responsibility of leaders. In the “customer-first vs. employee-first” debate, the customer usually wins. And when it comes to money and social responsibility, many believe you can’t have the best of both worlds. 

As someone who has implemented the triple bottom line approach into my own companies, past and present, I think a lot of CEOs are just struggling to figure out how to do this juggling act themselves. So, what can you do? First, you have to understand the problems of only focusing on one component, and then you can see how all three build off one another to create better organizations. 

People

Yes, people must always be a priority in business, but putting blinders on to everything else can distract leaders from environmental consciousness and profitability, which will be the demise of any company, big or small.

In the ‘people’ component of a triple bottom line, the goal is to positively impact everyone — those who are directly linked to your business (your employees and customers) and those who aren’t (your local and global communities). But you don’t have superpowers. All of this can’t fall on your shoulders. So, to have the most significant influence, you must prioritize the people closest to you (your employees), and it will trickle outwards from there.

This is where some leaders struggle. They feel like they have to put their customers and shareholders first, but let me explain why putting employees first is a win-win. Organizations that are created to serve, nurture, and protect employees develop workers that are highly trained, highly knowledgeable, more empowered, and a lot happier than companies who don’t. This creates a snowball effect. Happier, experienced team members take better care of customers. Happier customers keep coming back to your business. This means increased profitability, which will lead to happier shareholders. 

Companies that put their people first are 21 percent more profitable in the long run, making everyone happier.

Planet

If you’re a leader who takes corporate social responsibility seriously, that’s great. But if you’re only focused on environmental impact, your business likely won’t be sustainable, as it won’t be profitable, so then it can’t serve people or make a difference in the world in the long term. 

Today, businesses get a lot of heat from society to be more sustainable, and for good reason. Larger corporations have been (and still are) able to get away with causing irreversible damage to the planet. In 1969, a river in Cleveland caught fire because it was so polluted and sparked a revolution. The same thing just recently happened in the Gulf of Mexico. So it’s no wonder people are holding businesses accountable for their environmental impact. 

You can still be profitable and sustainable. In fact, you need to be profitable to be sustainable. Southwest Airlines is a remarkable example of this. In an industry that isn’t renowned for making money, they’re one of the most profitable airlines. Their commitment to saving the planet plays a significant part in this, but so does their dedication to their employees, which is why Southwest is consistently voted one of the world’s most admired companies.

Patagonia is another example of how companies can use their profits for good. In 2018, they donated the $10 million they saved from Trump’s tax cut to efforts that protect our communities and public lands and organizations that supply life-saving resources to at-risk areas. They could have easily kept that money and used it for internal initiatives, but they chose to invest in the planet instead. And every time they invest in their social mission, they see more growth.

Profits

Entrepreneurs who are only motivated by profits burden people and cause damage to the environment because they are willing to do anything in the name of money. And we already know that profit-hungry companies are never held in high esteem.

This isn’t to say that profits aren’t important, of course. We need them to grow, to be able to invest in our employees, and to be able to give back. But profits should be an outcome of our missions rather than the sole driver of our initiatives. I saved this component for last because it will be the shortest section. The previous points illustrate how purposeful leaders can still think about money while increasing their profitability. When we invest in our employees and live out our social missions, that is how we can grow our customer base and continue to grow our companies.

Leaders who only focus on one area are driven by short-term pursuits and solutions. Committing to people, the planet, and profits is how we can continue building truly sustainable and influential organizations. 

The Future of Purposeful Leadership: People, Planet, Profits

Posted on by James Kenefick

What does it mean to be a purposeful leader? Well, it depends on who you ask.

There’s been a longstanding exchange happening in the business world for decades about what successful leadership looks like. Some would say the greatest leaders are measured by their prosperity. Some would say it should be how their employees revere them. And some might say it’s reflected in their commitment to sustainability efforts. But I would say, why can’t it be all three?

I’m not the first to want to marry these three components together. Entrepreneur and author John Elkington coined the term ‘triple bottom line’ in the early 90s to epitomize this concept. In short, purposeful leaders that will truly make a difference in their industries, communities, and society don’t just pick one end goal to focus on; they strive to create organizations that serve all three.

Despite being around for almost 30 years, the pool of leaders who’ve tasked themselves with carrying out the triple bottom line is relatively small, and, if I had to guess, there could be a few reasons why. Sustainability is often viewed as an altruistic accessory of leadership rather than a responsibility of leaders. In the “customer-first vs. employee-first” debate, the customer usually wins. And when it comes to money and social responsibility, many believe you can’t have the best of both worlds. 

As someone who has implemented the triple bottom line approach into my own companies, past and present, I think a lot of CEOs are just struggling to figure out how to do this juggling act themselves. So, what can you do? First, you have to understand the problems of only focusing on one component, and then you can see how all three build off one another to create better organizations. 

People

Yes, people must always be a priority in business, but putting blinders on to everything else can distract leaders from environmental consciousness and profitability, which will be the demise of any company, big or small.

In the ‘people’ component of a triple bottom line, the goal is to positively impact everyone — those who are directly linked to your business (your employees and customers) and those who aren’t (your local and global communities). But you don’t have superpowers. All of this can’t fall on your shoulders. So, to have the most significant influence, you must prioritize the people closest to you (your employees), and it will trickle outwards from there.

This is where some leaders struggle. They feel like they have to put their customers and shareholders first, but let me explain why putting employees first is a win-win. Organizations that are created to serve, nurture, and protect employees develop workers that are highly trained, highly knowledgeable, more empowered, and a lot happier than companies who don’t. This creates a snowball effect. Happier, experienced team members take better care of customers. Happier customers keep coming back to your business. This means increased profitability, which will lead to happier shareholders. 

Companies that put their people first are 21 percent more profitable in the long run, making everyone happier.

Planet

If you’re a leader who takes corporate social responsibility seriously, that’s great. But if you’re only focused on environmental impact, your business likely won’t be sustainable, as it won’t be profitable, so then it can’t serve people or make a difference in the world in the long term. 

Today, businesses get a lot of heat from society to be more sustainable, and for good reason. Larger corporations have been (and still are) able to get away with causing irreversible damage to the planet. In 1969, a river in Cleveland caught fire because it was so polluted and sparked a revolution. The same thing just recently happened in the Gulf of Mexico. So it’s no wonder people are holding businesses accountable for their environmental impact. 

You can still be profitable and sustainable. In fact, you need to be profitable to be sustainable. Southwest Airlines is a remarkable example of this. In an industry that isn’t renowned for making money, they’re one of the most profitable airlines. Their commitment to saving the planet plays a significant part in this, but so does their dedication to their employees, which is why Southwest is consistently voted one of the world’s most admired companies.

Patagonia is another example of how companies can use their profits for good. In 2018, they donated the $10 million they saved from Trump’s tax cut to efforts that protect our communities and public lands and organizations that supply life-saving resources to at-risk areas. They could have easily kept that money and used it for internal initiatives, but they chose to invest in the planet instead. And every time they invest in their social mission, they see more growth.

Profits

Entrepreneurs who are only motivated by profits burden people and cause damage to the environment because they are willing to do anything in the name of money. And we already know that profit-hungry companies are never held in high esteem.

This isn’t to say that profits aren’t important, of course. We need them to grow, to be able to invest in our employees, and to be able to give back. But profits should be an outcome of our missions rather than the sole driver of our initiatives. I saved this component for last because it will be the shortest section. The previous points illustrate how purposeful leaders can still think about money while increasing their profitability. When we invest in our employees and live out our social missions, that is how we can grow our customer base and continue to grow our companies.

Leaders who only focus on one area are driven by short-term pursuits and solutions. Committing to people, the planet, and profits is how we can continue building truly sustainable and influential organizations. 

Before You Begin, Start With the End in Mind

Posted on by James Kenefick

With any initiative or venture, getting started can present challenges from financial planning and hiring decisions to industry preferences and market strategies.

While the process of creating, operating, and scaling a business is both challenging and rewarding, you should be sure that your intentions are clear from the very beginning.

The adage of “start with the end in mind” is a relatively ancient one, with notable figures like the Stoic philosopher Seneca and Stephen Covey, the author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, both referencing the concept in their works. Clarifying your end goals and true intentions before you begin a project, especially one as involved and demanding as starting a business, can give you guidance, direction, and insight that you might otherwise lack.

By planning ahead, taking steps to make your goals a reality, and keeping a firm grasp on the end you desire, you can make your business venture more effective and successful. I dive deeper into these principles below so you can understand how to make them work for you and your career goals. 

Working with Clarity, Efficiency, and Purpose

By establishing clear end goals before diving into a new venture, you can improve how you execute essential preparations, functions, and strategies. When you start a business knowing what you ultimately want to accomplish, you will be able to make decisions that are better tailored to helping you achieve your goals without as much deliberation or confusion.

Clarity is key for any entrepreneur. By establishing end goals and priorities, you can give more attention to essential tasks and productive pursuits, resulting in higher rates of efficiency and optimization. Setting specific intentions and goals for your business venture can eliminate wasted time and give you a sense of purpose, especially if your business goals align well with your personal ideals. Striving to achieve meaningful goals can make the labor required to start and manage a new business more appealing and satisfying.

The practice of starting with the end in mind is productive and fulfilling, and aspiring entrepreneurs should prioritize this mindset to encourage greater clarity, efficiency, and purpose in their work.

Answer the Big Questions

Before you start a business, you should ask yourself some big concept questions to better understand what you really want to achieve and how you want to accomplish your goals. These questions might include:

• What are you good at? Think about your skills, qualities, and characteristics.

• What problems can you help to solve? Be as specific and niche as possible.

• As you work to solve a problem, what will be your real differentiator? And is this part of your natural skill set? 

• What do you need to learn to assist? Or how can you help develop a team that can assist as well?

Questions like these are not always straightforward to answer. You may not have a concrete answer right away, but addressing the big, long-term questions can give you a more actionable idea of how you want to build and run your business, not only at the very beginning but throughout its existence, as well.

Explore Your Exit Options

Deciding on an exit strategy before making other strides toward starting your business may feel unproductive, but knowing your options and preferences can help you make informed, strategic decisions.

The number of exit options available to businesses is relatively plentiful, but entrepreneurs must understand that not all exit options are equally beneficial to all businesses. Assessing exit options by comparing the anticipated complexity and effort of the transaction(s) with the potential value or price of the sale will be effective in helping you determine which options may best suit your business idea and goals.

These options may range from giving control of your business to family or friends (a low-profit and low-effort transaction) to creating an initial public offering or IPO (a potentially high-value and high-effort course). Depending on your desired level of involvement, business experience, legacy aspirations, and more, you may determine that some exit options are unappealing or ill-fitting for your venture.

You do not necessarily need to settle on a single exit option before getting started, but it is essential to consider the options available so that you can plan ahead.

Construct a Solid Business Plan

Once you have an idea of what you want to achieve and how you expect your business to progress, you should construct a business plan that accounts for these goals. When composing this document, you should identify your financial needs in addition to what you hope your business will look like, offer, and accomplish. This document will serve as a formal guide for your business and any potential partners and investors you might attract later.

Suppose you find that you do not fully understand aspects of the business or you cannot accommodate alone. In that case, you can devote time and energy to acquiring the necessary information, resources, and connections. Creating a solid, comprehensive business plan ahead of time can guide you toward productive and proactive business decisions to help you accomplish your goals in effective, efficient ways.

Account for Flexibility and Change

Even after crafting a thorough business plan, remember that you will likely make changes in the future, especially if you have plans to be involved with this business for a long time. Knowing what you want to ultimately accomplish with your business is important, but you should also acknowledge that external factors — such as market conditions, technological standards, and customer needs — may change over time. Additionally, your priorities and interests may shift, resulting in the need for reevaluation.

Before starting a new venture, you should still prioritize assessing your business goals to help guide you, even if those goals may change. Having direction early on can position you and your business for success regardless of shifting priorities and aspirations.

Entrepreneurs looking to start a new business should take care to identify their needs and goals before beginning the process. Doing so will grant you more clarity, efficiency, productivity, and fulfillment as you endeavor to establish and manage your new business. Before you get started with any project, envision how you want it to end, and you may find that the process of creating, operating, and growing your business is more effective and successful.

Before You Begin, Start With the End in Mind

Posted on by James Kenefick

With any initiative or venture, getting started can present challenges from financial planning and hiring decisions to industry preferences and market strategies.

While the process of creating, operating, and scaling a business is both challenging and rewarding, you should be sure that your intentions are clear from the very beginning.

The adage of “start with the end in mind” is a relatively ancient one, with notable figures like the Stoic philosopher Seneca and Stephen Covey, the author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, both referencing the concept in their works. Clarifying your end goals and true intentions before you begin a project, especially one as involved and demanding as starting a business, can give you guidance, direction, and insight that you might otherwise lack.

By planning ahead, taking steps to make your goals a reality, and keeping a firm grasp on the end you desire, you can make your business venture more effective and successful. I dive deeper into these principles below so you can understand how to make them work for you and your career goals. 

Working with Clarity, Efficiency, and Purpose

By establishing clear end goals before diving into a new venture, you can improve how you execute essential preparations, functions, and strategies. When you start a business knowing what you ultimately want to accomplish, you will be able to make decisions that are better tailored to helping you achieve your goals without as much deliberation or confusion.

Clarity is key for any entrepreneur. By establishing end goals and priorities, you can give more attention to essential tasks and productive pursuits, resulting in higher rates of efficiency and optimization. Setting specific intentions and goals for your business venture can eliminate wasted time and give you a sense of purpose, especially if your business goals align well with your personal ideals. Striving to achieve meaningful goals can make the labor required to start and manage a new business more appealing and satisfying.

The practice of starting with the end in mind is productive and fulfilling, and aspiring entrepreneurs should prioritize this mindset to encourage greater clarity, efficiency, and purpose in their work.

Answer the Big Questions

Before you start a business, you should ask yourself some big concept questions to better understand what you really want to achieve and how you want to accomplish your goals. These questions might include:

• What are you good at? Think about your skills, qualities, and characteristics.

• What problems can you help to solve? Be as specific and niche as possible.

• As you work to solve a problem, what will be your real differentiator? And is this part of your natural skill set? 

• What do you need to learn to assist? Or how can you help develop a team that can assist as well?

Questions like these are not always straightforward to answer. You may not have a concrete answer right away, but addressing the big, long-term questions can give you a more actionable idea of how you want to build and run your business, not only at the very beginning but throughout its existence, as well.

Explore Your Exit Options

Deciding on an exit strategy before making other strides toward starting your business may feel unproductive, but knowing your options and preferences can help you make informed, strategic decisions.

The number of exit options available to businesses is relatively plentiful, but entrepreneurs must understand that not all exit options are equally beneficial to all businesses. Assessing exit options by comparing the anticipated complexity and effort of the transaction(s) with the potential value or price of the sale will be effective in helping you determine which options may best suit your business idea and goals.

These options may range from giving control of your business to family or friends (a low-profit and low-effort transaction) to creating an initial public offering or IPO (a potentially high-value and high-effort course). Depending on your desired level of involvement, business experience, legacy aspirations, and more, you may determine that some exit options are unappealing or ill-fitting for your venture.

You do not necessarily need to settle on a single exit option before getting started, but it is essential to consider the options available so that you can plan ahead.

Construct a Solid Business Plan

Once you have an idea of what you want to achieve and how you expect your business to progress, you should construct a business plan that accounts for these goals. When composing this document, you should identify your financial needs in addition to what you hope your business will look like, offer, and accomplish. This document will serve as a formal guide for your business and any potential partners and investors you might attract later.

Suppose you find that you do not fully understand aspects of the business or you cannot accommodate alone. In that case, you can devote time and energy to acquiring the necessary information, resources, and connections. Creating a solid, comprehensive business plan ahead of time can guide you toward productive and proactive business decisions to help you accomplish your goals in effective, efficient ways.

Account for Flexibility and Change

Even after crafting a thorough business plan, remember that you will likely make changes in the future, especially if you have plans to be involved with this business for a long time. Knowing what you want to ultimately accomplish with your business is important, but you should also acknowledge that external factors — such as market conditions, technological standards, and customer needs — may change over time. Additionally, your priorities and interests may shift, resulting in the need for reevaluation.

Before starting a new venture, you should still prioritize assessing your business goals to help guide you, even if those goals may change. Having direction early on can position you and your business for success regardless of shifting priorities and aspirations.

Entrepreneurs looking to start a new business should take care to identify their needs and goals before beginning the process. Doing so will grant you more clarity, efficiency, productivity, and fulfillment as you endeavor to establish and manage your new business. Before you get started with any project, envision how you want it to end, and you may find that the process of creating, operating, and growing your business is more effective and successful.

0