Planning for 2020 and beyond

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Where were you in 2010? Professionally? Financially? Personally?

A lot has happened in 10 years. The whole world has changed. Likely, your world has changed quite a bit, as well.

2020 marks a new decade. 2030 will be here in 10 years, ready or not. Where will you be? Professionally? Financially? Personally?

At this point, we’ve seen enough decades go by to begin to understand a little of how it works. It starts with a vision: Where do you want to be?

From there, you can begin to outline a strategy: What will it take to get there? What kind of help will you need? What’s the first step?

The strategy is not the starting point; the vision is the starting point. The strategy will change. The first iteration will be flawed, simply because you don’t know what you don’t know. It’ll morph, adapt and grow, as long as the vision sits out there.

The profound power behind this process is breathtaking. Over and over, we’ve seen individuals and teams craft some sort of “vision,” some “target,” some achievement that’s meaningful, and over and over, they get it. Or some part of it. Or often, way more than they dreamed.

A northeastern contractor envisioned a five-year plan wherein the business mix would dramatically change, the business would grow by 15 percent per year, profits would grow and the quality of life for his team would be better. The following five years saw the 15 percent year-over-year growth, top-of-the-industry profitability, better quality of life, as well as a work-mix change. This represented better results than the company’s prior 27-year history — all starting with a vision shared by the team.

A southeastern contractor’s team members had an audacious vision that they could be a $20 million business in five years. Considering they were less than $5 million at the time, it seemed like a stretch. The business then proceeded to grow by 30-35 percent a year, easily outpacing the goal.

A southern contractor currently envisions being at an industry-leading $300 million in five years. Can the company do it? The vision is clear, it’s shared by the team and a strategy is in place. Predictably, the strategy is changing even as of this writing, but the vision remains consistent. Based on what we’ve seen of the power of shared and committed vision, we don’t recommend standing in their way.

All successful individuals or businesses can relate to the same story — they can point back to a moment when a different future was envisioned.

Don’t let the winter get away without sitting down with your team and dreaming a bit about 2030. It’s a long way off, we know. It’s scary to make 10-year plans. We know a lot will happen in 10 years; we know the ideas you talk about may not be relevant in 10 years. But we also know 2030 will come, and we want you to be where you want to be or at least headed there — or maybe way past it.