What’s Your Dream for Your Business?
Most of us spend so much time with our noses to the grindstone that we lose any clear sense of where we’re going. We don’t stop to notice what’s working, what isn’t, or what we truly want for our business. We just keep plodding along, one foot in front of the other, barely taking a moment to catch our breath.
The twelve items below are not designed to replace your existing dreams. They are simply suggestions or examples — starting points to help you think clearly about your future plans. You may have others that matter more, and that’s exactly what we want.
These items are not random. They are not scattered. They are a sequence — a pathway — a journey.
This exercise helps you reflect on three gentle questions:
1. Where am I now in my business?
A simple reflection on my current situation — what’s working, what isn’t, and where I stand today.
2. What is the dream I have for my business?
As a business owner — whether for a short time or many years — what do I want in the coming months and years in my business?
3. What’s my next step?
By looking at the twelve levels below and noticing where I am today, I can get a clearer sense of what my next step might be.
1. Be the Best You Can
Our customers are going to have a wonderful experience. I want to give them the best value for money that is humanly possible. In a tangible way, I want to demonstrate that we care about their custom. My hope is that people will say about our business that it’s the best value you can get anywhere.
2. Reduce Staff Turnover
I want to learn the essential skills to hire steady, reliable, loyal staff - who care about their jobs and their customers - and who want to deliver the best customer service possible. I also want to make it a rule in my business that the staff will receive respectful, kind, and caring treatment at all times from management, and fellow employees.
3. Keep the Doors Open
My business is financially successful, but is so dependent on me, the owner, that the only way for me to get time-off work or take a holiday, is to temporarily close the business, and cease trading. I want to stop doing this, and ensure our business hours are more consistent – so that customers know when we will be open for business, and that we will always be there for them.
4. Work Part-Time
As a business owner, I would like to work less hours and improve the quality of my life. I want to re- structure the business to run more smoothly – and allow me to take time off without the business falling apart.
5 Remain Open, Not Stuck
Many business owners don’t want to build an empire — they simply want things to stay the same way they’ve always been: steady, simple, and manageable. I feel the same way. But from experience, I also know that staying exactly the same isn’t really possible. A business is always moving in one direction or another — even when everything feels comfortable. I want to have the courage and fortitude to make the changes — large or small — that keep me moving forward instead of settling into a routine that keeps me from making progress.
6 Hire Full-Time Staff
Reliable, full-time staff, make a huge difference in growing a business. For both myself, and my business to grow, I need to have the support of full-time staff for all essential positions. And, I also need to ensure back-up staff are cross trained, with proper job-descriptions, to support one another during times of holidays, illness, or absence.
7 Build Systems
Having clear, simple systems makes it much easier for staff to learn their roles and for the business to run smoothly. I want to gradually develop simple, practical systems that help my staff learn their roles clearly and confidently. This doesn’t have to be done all at once — it is a process.
8 It’s Time to Replace the Owner
You are the business, and it’s time now to have a backup — someone who can keep things running when you need time away. Life happens, and every owner faces moments when they simply can’t be there, such as:
· needing a day off for family matters
· taking a holiday (and not closing the business)
· dealing with illness
· recovering from injury
· helping relatives or handling personal responsibilities
I want to hire, train, and motivate a full‑time staff member to replace me, the owner.
Making money and creating wealth is one thing, but if you never have time to take time off work when you want to, and just be, what’s the point of it all? Life is uncertain — and we never know what is around the next corner.
9 Mature Business
My dream is to reach the point where I own a fully functioning and profitable business that works without me. When you reach this ninth level, you have created a business that can earn money even when you’re not there — giving you a form of passive income and true freedom.
10 Sell my Business
I want to turn my business into a valuable, standalone asset that can be sold.
11 Retirement
I want to be able to retire within 5 years.
12 Franchise or Expand my Business
I want to package my proven business model into a repeatable system to open additional locations or franchise it to others.