Newsletter Issue 7 – Future Vision
April 18th, 2010
Want to know where to look for golden opportunities for your business?
2010 is well and truly here and, with January behind us and February almost done, we’re already 1/6th of the way through. It’s this time of year when business owners really start asking “what does the year ahead really have in store?”
I’m asked this question a lot. Until Apple develop an iCrystalBall it’s hard to be precise.
“It is better to be roughly right than precisely wrong” (As John Maynard Keynes is often misquoted as saying. (He actually said “It is better to be vaguely right than exactly wrong” – but I guess people got it roughly right).
What do you know for sure, and what are you ‘fairly certain’ of? It’s these things that will help you make the right business decisions, take the right direction and reach your business goals.
We talked in a previous article about how an analysis of the ‘business environment’ (I called this a STEEPLED analysis) both now and in the future can help with your crystal ball gazing (if you haven’t already read it then read it now). You can also download a STEEPLED template from our new downloads area here.
Even Better If…
The STEEPLED analysis can be further enhanced through the use of scenarios. These are ‘views’ of the future, that, if done creatively and systematically, can provide a wealth of information that you can use to grow your business. You can build them by either developing your own view of what ‘your world’ might look like in the future or by researching those used and created by other ‘futurologists’. Here’s a link to a pre-developed scenario from an Australian organisation as an example and here’s one to a sustainability organisation (This one is from Forum for the Future who I have been working with and developing a Sustainability Strategy for a client recently).
To create your own view of potential futures for your industry start by simply using the ideas and factors generated from your STEEPLED analysis. It may seem difficult at first but once you get into it you’ll be amazed at how much fun it is and how easy it can be.
Remember, none of your scenarios will be precisely right or precisely wrong, but if you use the information around you, there will be elements that are ‘roughly right’. It is within these ‘roughly right’ elements that you will unearth opportunities for your business.
The future holds the opportunities…
Review the scenarios and understand their implications for your business. Ask yourself, and those around you, some key questions:
• What must we do to take advantage of the opportunities?
• What risks/ threats to our growth need managing?
• What can we see that no one else has yet noticed, or done anything about?
The answers to these questions will help you identify the opportunities – and threats – that face your business. By understanding them you can then develop the plans to maximise your chances of growing your business in the future and of ultimately achieving your vision.