… “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the cat.
“I don’t much care where,” said Alice
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the cat.
“So long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “ if you only walk long enough.”
If you're a regular reader of this column, you’ve likely heard me quote Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland before. Particularly the exchange between Alice and the Cheshire Cat.
The message bears repeating.
It reminds business owners, me included, to remain focused. And it does so with a great deal of whimsy.
Your actions produce your results.
Are your actions representative of the direction you want to go in?
Where are you headed in 2023?
Where are you headed in the next 3, 5, or even 10 years?
Are you building your business with a cash-rich exit in mind?
Actions <lead to> Results
Actions are your leading indicators.
Results are your lagging indicators.
If you are looking for specific results, are you taking the right actions?
Let me give you my own example:
My BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) is: Double the number of self made millionaires in Canada
I operationalize this by: Supporting cash rich exits for the Self Made Nation - CEOs, Founders, Business Owners - therefore creating a more self reliant Canada
This is my Big Broad WHY. My inspirational “Why”.
(The Narrow “Why” is creating financial freedom for my family)
Operationally, this month, this is what it looked like for me:
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I made several introductions from my network to our RBC Mid Market M&A group
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I made a few introductions from my network to business valuators
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I made further introductions to RBC Commercial Account managers
I took these actions to help you, members of the Self Made Nation can, in effect, grow, evaluate, and create the collaborations that will lead to you exiting your business on your own terms when you are ready.
In the words of Cameron Herold, author of ‘Double Double', a return guest on my podcast, and keynote speaker at my ‘Double to Sell’ event for the Self Made Nation, “Business is like a puzzle. You can see the vision of what a puzzle looks like in the box, and that's the same with businesses. A Vivid Vision of what your company looks like and feels like in three years from today. And if you can see, and you can communicate that to your employees, your customers, your shareholders, your suppliers you’ll be able to reverse engineer that and make it come true. Your starting point is your Vivid Vision.”
As per the exchange between Alice and the cagey Cheshire Cat, if you don’t have a destination in mind, any path will take you somewhere.
But is it where you want to be?
I’d love to chat about your vision for your business, and support you in planning your cash-rich exit. I have resources and connections that I am happy to share.
Reach out to me via DM me on LinkedIn or email me at colleen.campbell@rbc.com
TTFN,
Colleen