This morning, I attended a conference given at my local Chamber of Commerce. It was entitled, "How to Bring Your Business to the Next Level." The reason I mention it is that the speaker covered one thing that most small business owners don't give much thought to, their "company vision."

Many small business owners start out with various reasons for wanting to strike out on their own - more time with family, more control over time, less commuting, etc. So, they say, "I want to start my own business." Well, as was so eloquently pointed out in this seminar, any business needs to have a company vision.

But, "that's for big corporations, not a small enterprise like mine" you may be thinking. NOT! Every business entity needs a company vision. You exponentially increase your chance of success with one, and exponentially decrease your chance of success without one. Why?

A company vision forces you to dig deep to find out where you want to take your company. Even if your goal is as simple as "make $500 a week," a vision will force you to crystallize where you want to be and, more importantly, why. If you're starting a business, eventually, you want it to run without you, because I'm hoping that you want to have the option of not working one day.

I know all of this may sound like big business, corporate mumbo jumbo, but trust me - as someone who's had two businesses in the last 10 years - it's these "intangibles" (eg, Corporate Vision Statement, Company Mission Statement, etc.) that lead to the "tangibles" (ie, writing a business plan, doing a SWOT Analysis, creating a marketing plan, etc.).

I always overlooked the intangibles and looking back realized that if I had implemented even a quarter of what I now know, I would be splitting my time between two successful businesses.

FYI, a SWOT Analysis is where you analyze the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats of/to your business. From this you will be able to "identify critical success factors," eg, what are the keys to success for your business. From this will flow your marketing plan, eg, who to target, where, when, why, how, etc.

After identifying and analyzing all of this information you will be able to "Set Goals" for your small business (make sure all goals are measureable). Eg, "increase revenue" is too general of a goal. Try, "add two new clients a month for the next six months." This gives you something concrete to focus on, a specific measure around which to build a marketing plan, etc.

As you can see, one measure builds on the next. Skipping one is like trying to build a house without a foundation. So, even though you are "just a small business owner trying to make a living" you will have a much better chance of success if you take the time to do this type of critical thinking up front.

My mission statement for InkwellEditorial.com is to "help editorial and creative professionals earn a living as freelancers." Everything I talk about, write about, promote, etc., is centered around that. This type of laser focus is what you will need to succeed as a small business/freelancer - along with a concrete plan to get there. Creating a company vision is the first step in this plan.