The journey of an entrepreneur (2/6)

Every journey, no matter how long or difficult, starts with the first step. Last week I shared my entrepreneurial story, and how it reminded me of other personal challenges I've faced (find the article here : ). Each first step starts the next, so here is the second article in the series, with my conquest of a mountain as a thread to further address some aspects of being an entrepreneur.

It all starts with a vision...

"Entrepreneurship is believing in something... and then doing it" Often we associate entrepreneurship with action. Normal, entrepreneurs are hard workers.

What we see less is the submerged part of the iceberg, the permanent reflection, the reflex to see an opportunity in everything, the idea that arises just before going to sleep: a new customer need, a revolutionary product, a market opportunity, a new customer experience, a creative idea for communication, a more efficient organization, ... there are no limits to the imagination of an entrepreneur.

This is exactly what the first step of any company is: an idea, a dream, an ambition, a goal, ... that becomes a point on the horizon - the vision that drives the entrepreneur. Becoming a market leader, boosting your product offering, winning new customers, introducing an agile organization, transforming the customer journey, ...
At this stage it is a matter of formulating your vision, evaluating it, attacking it to improve it, reworking it, refining it. When you know where you want to go, the journey takes shape.

Then, the vision must be "translated" into specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound objectives - in other words: SMART objectives. If the dream or the genius idea projects the entrepreneur's head into the stars, the objectives keep the feet on the ground - handy for taking steps.
Double its market share in 3 years, launch 1 new customer service every 6 months, improve margins by 1% each year, ...
Clear and precise objectives make the vision concrete, the motivation real and the commitment shared, for the entrepreneur, his teams and his partners.

The strategies indicate the priority axes which must ensure that one does not lose sight of the ultimate destination, and that one reaches the fixed objectives. Being well equipped, anticipating risks, managing resources, ... these are all useful strategies when hiking as well as in business.
Partnering with experts, hiring new skills, digital transformation, ... The strategy establishes the priorities, responsibilities and interdependencies of each contributor - like a roadmap.

Engine... actions! Each action must contribute to a strategic axis, without interfering with the other axes, and without disrupting daily operations. For this phase of
deployment, all actions must be allocated, planned and budgeted. This is not the beginning, nor the end, but it is definitely the beginning of the end of the journey (loosely adapted from Winston Churchill), each step brings us closer to the destination.

The hardest thing is the decision to act, the rest is perseverance - Amelia Earhart

The process described applies the 80/20 rule, with the first 3 phases covering 80% of the effort, paving the way for effective execution - like the tip of the iceberg. So good preparation does more than half the work, ensuring consistency of action towards a shared vision: eyes on the common goal, noses pointing in the same direction.

Does this approach speak to you, inspire you, intrigue you? Do not hesitate to like, comment and share this article. And don't miss the rest!

Does this approach speak to you, inspire you, intrigue you? Do you have an idea, a dream or a vision but are struggling to put it into practice? Don't hesitate to contact me to talk about travel and destinations over a coffee - gert@springworks.ch or +41 79 701 85 43.