Can You be Successful in Business Without a Vision?

Can You be Successful in Business Without a Vision?

Tue May 14, 2013

Have you ever heard of the Broadway show, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"? Anyone in business knows the irony and joking behind this title, and knows that the response is, of course, "you can't!"  However, what we've been seeing more than ever over the past year is that a lot of new players in the business world—either in existing companies or completely new ones—are entering their respective markets with creative ideas and concepts, but lacking the vision and knowledge needed to achieve their desired level of success.

To beg the question, is it enough to just work hard? Or do you need more—a goal, a vision, knowledge, to make you stand out and move you ahead? There are countless books and articles on better business plans, successful organizational strategies, etc., but what they don't touch upon, and what many people miss, is that without a true understanding of what it takes to make a successful product, brand, or company, and an overall vision, it might never take flight.  People are not often taught or trained to think about these additional steps or areas of focus, and it's something important to keep in mind.

Furthermore, it's perfectly natural for people or businesses to fall into the "grass is greener" line of thinking. It's easy to look at wildly successful competitors and think how lucky they are. However, what's often overlooked are the many years of hard work, planning, starts and stops, pitfalls, mistakes, and pursuits of their visions that went into prior to their "overnight" success.  Delving deeper into their journey to success can provide much relevant insight, and prove to be a great motivation.

What are your thoughts? Did you have a vision for your business?  Can a hardworking, vision-less brand truly succeed?