One of the hardest parts of entrepreneurship is “holding the vision” when it feels like it is falling apart. But let’s start building that muscle so we are strong enough to do so when it feels like the sun is going to explode on us, shall we? Let’s take a minute to explore this.
Why did you start the business you did? I mean there are thousands of products and services and hundreds of business models- so why did the one YOU started “resonate” with you? How did the idea just drop into you? What happened to get you started? What was your vision? What did you see and how did you feel? Did you do any research? Was it intuitive? Did your idea just “take off” and there you were, “chasing the vision?”
I love to revisit these questions when things don’t seem to be going very well in life or business. It’s critical to have a plan to keep your perspective when your business has a speedbump. When there’s a cash flow issue. When things are out of stock with suppliers or vendor deliveries are late. When clients pay late or must drop out of programs. When I start to question what in blazes it is that I am actually doing here.
The Outcome is Trust
Holding the vision when it doesn’t feel like anything is working right now is rooted in trust. Your vision wasn’t given to you by accident. It has taken me a long time to understand this, but your vision is divine. It was given to you, and your job is to bring it to the world.
If we’re honest, we’ve all questioned our vision at one time or another. Because many times, we tie our self-esteem and self-worth to the external metrics of sales and revenue and growth… and in our most human condition, we always want growth. But the truth is that “growth” isn’t always linear or predictable, and our constant external need to validate our vision by metrics can create a season when you aren’t trusting that what you have been given.
What doesn’t change is the vision. The vision you were given when you started.
So, how do you hold the vision when things don’t seem to be working? And why is that important?
- Understand firstly that your vision is unique to you.
You’re bringing something to the world that is uniquely yours. For example, I was given the vision of the Breakthrough Number and the content for the book, The Profit Accelerator for Small Business. There are thousands of other business books and business strategy approaches out there, but mine is uniquely in my voice and intended for the people who it resonates with.
Your products and services are uniquely yours. The way you deliver them. The way you serve your customers. People are destined to hear from YOU, learn from YOU, become YOUR clients and customers. Because you have YOUR unique point of view, and only YOUR voice.
I believe you aren’t reading this article by accident. You may never read another thing written by me, or you may become a client in the future. I don’t know what our interaction is meant to be. Or when. In the same way, people you meet, and those who do business with you, are not there by chance. I no longer believe in coincidences. I believe everything is just too interconnected.
And you’ve been given a unique vision to bring to the world, your gifts, and your talents. If you are an entrepreneur, you are doing what 85% of the world won’t. That makes you rare also. Embrace this about yourself and holding the vision gets easier in the tough spots.
- Be open to receiving the opportunities that support your vision, especially the unexpected ones
When unexpected opportunities show up, and you are open to receiving them, they can help you hold the vision when you struggle. I’m sure you can think of at least one example of the sale that seemed to come out of nowhere or the perfect referral right when you needed it. It may be that you saw something and had an idea that worked out and felt like luck.
There are also far too many stories of unbelievable things happening “at the last minute” or “at the right time” or “unpredictably” that support the overall vision for the business but maybe not in a linear or conventional way. The key here is to be open to taking action as different things are put in front of you.
Opportunities may not always show up with an obvious cause and effect. You may meet someone who gives you a direct referral, or you may meet someone who doesn’t use your product or service but interviews you for a podcast, and their listener reaches out to you. You took the action by sitting for the interview and getting your message out, supporting your vision for your business.
When these unexpected opportunities arise, and you receive the benefits from them, they are confirmations from the Universe that you are in alignment and in your purpose. As you continuously stay open to being surprised and allow these types of events to reaffirm for you that you are exactly where you are supposed to be, you will suffer less when struggles inevitably happen.
- You must look for the evidence, allow the evidence to build on itself, and you must be willing to use it to help you hold the vision.
I am not by nature a trusting person. I struggle frequently to remind myself that the Universe is only working for my highest good. I need to see the evidence, or more accurately, I want to see the evidence, that I am on the right track or to know that I’m “doing it right.” Mybe it’s because I am a lawyer. I live by the mantra, “trust- but verify” when working out in the world.
Interestingly, evidence is always available. You just have to look for it.
When I was working with a mentor in 2020 and I was struggling with the vision inside my early consulting business, “Entre Money Coach,” she had me write down 100 things that had gone “right” in the previous six months. What an exercise! I couldn’t believe the list. I “only” got to 74, but it completely changed my perspective.
There was so much progress and I had so many wins. It completely confirmed the vision I was given as a business consultant. Interestingly, it didn’t confirm the brand, and I transferred the consulting practice to just using my name in 2022, but the content is the same.
Using my coffee company, Convoy Road Coffee Roasters, as an example, I let the evidence stack up as we started, and each brick helped us to keep going. First, in January 2021 my first Facebook post sold 11 bags of coffee. Our Facebook group was growing every month. People kept reordering our Morning Blend.
In our third month of business when we went days without an order, we used these bits of evidence that the vision for this company was not a mistake, and we held that vision. We believed that the orders would always come in and that we were meant to start this company.
In only 5 months Convoy Road Coffee Roasters was a $50k a year company. From nothing. By December 2021 we completed a $17,000.00 revenue month, had purchased a commercial roaster and obtained our USDA license, and started a list of monthly coffee subscribers that we’ve kept for over three years now. And now, I keep all the evidence in front of me and let it build, while I build my trust muscle by keeping track of the magic that happens too.
Focus on Your Purpose and Show Up at Your Best to Develop Trust
Things happen in life and business that aren’t always favorable. In fact, sometimes they downright suck. We lost our first business back in 2013, but I always knew I was meant to be an entrepreneur. Interesting that I never saw myself owning a products company, particularly the highly regulated food production industry, but here we are.
Your business will evolve. It’s supposed to. Holding that vision when you are down to your last $200.00 isn’t easy. Neither is holding the vision when you can’t make a deadline, or you don’t sell any spots in your program. When you start to feel defeated or like you are doing something “wrong” it is easy to lose sight of what you were given.
Holding the vision that you have been given when things are down is a mixture of knowing that your vision is uniquely yours, given by the Universe and not a mistake, you are exactly where you are meant to be, and being open to letting confirmations come in and the evidence stack up on your journey.
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