Why this is important

To be successful, you need to have a firm view of where you want your business to go. A clear vision of the future helps you react effectively to changes inside and outside of your business and the challenges presented to you at any given time. Having a vision means you can:

• be clear about where your business should go;
• understand what will affect your business and how;
• maximise business opportunities; and
• manage risk.

Who might do this

You might do this if you need to:

• set up a business or a social enterprise for the first time;
• review the current business plan;
• make changes to the direction of your business; or
• persuade staff, clients, stakeholders or others of the need to prioritise or make important changes within your business.

What it involves

Achieve the vision for your business involves:

• clarifying the purpose, nature and values of your business;
• recognising and creating business opportunities where they do not obviously exist;
• assessing and minimising the risks of different courses of actions;
• making decisions on the evidence available;
• reviewing and monitoring the progress of your business towards the vision from time to time; and
• involving other people who are critical to the success of your business.

Other units that link closely with this

Links to other standards

If your business grows and develops a management team it may be appropriate to consider the following units from the Management and Leadership Standards.

1. Clarify the nature and purpose of your business.
2. Clarify the values that underpin your business.
3. Identify where your business is and where it needs to go.
4. Make sure that your vision underpins the development and planning of your business.
5. Share your vision with others who are critical to your business.
6. Take account of the views of any staff or stakeholders when pursuing your vision.
7. Look for, and recognise, business opportunities.
8. Create business opportunities where they do not obviously exist.
9. Quickly identify potential business developments and how they will affect your business.
10. Identify the additional benefits of potential business opportunities.
11. Identify the resources to do what is needed.
12. Recognise and minimise negative influences on your business.
13. Be willing to take what you assess to be reasonable risks.
14. Confidently make decisions on the best available, but often incomplete, information.
15. Learn from what works and what does not.
16. Find ways to develop and maintain the confidence, drive and enthusiasm to succeed.
17. Make sure you are moving towards your vision at all times.

Vision

1. What success for your business looks like.
2. What the values that underpin your business are and whether they are consistent with your vision.
3. How much of the vision is already in place.
4. What you need to do to achieve your vision
5. How to involve people who are critical to your business when developing and realising your vision.
6. How to ensure that your vision is clearly communicated to all who need to know it.
7. How to monitor and adjust your business planning and development to support your vision.
8. What measures you will use to judge if your business is moving towards your vision.

Business opportunities

9. What the challenges and opportunities in your business environment are (for example, changes in the marketplace, competition, government policies or other changes in the environment).
10. What the implications of any new venture for your business’s direction, image and bottom line are.
11. How to be creative and innovative when recognising new opportunities for your business.
12. How to take advantage of opportunities presented.
13. How to take into account the lessons learned from previous business successes or failures .
14. How to identify and weigh up the risks linked to different courses of action.
15. How to collect and use evidence to support your decisions.