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Curtain raiser of 5 growth pillars
A few weeks ago, Sundeep Sikka gave you a curtain raiser on the 5 growth pillars that will help you achieve scale and size beyond what you think is possible today (Click Here to see article). He talked about the building blocks that will help you scale up manifold - from 10 crs to 100 cr Aum or from 100 crs to 1000 crs of AuM. Reliance MF and Wealth Forum are committed, through the Think BIG initiative, to provide you with insights and roadmaps that can help you take and accomplish this journey with confidence.
The 5 growth pillars are :
Articulate a vision, an overarching long term goal that focuses your attention and all your actions Upskill yourself - equip yourself and your core team with the skill sets required to achieve this vision Build processes - it is only replicable processes in everything you do, that enable rapid growth Nurture and grow a vibrant team that dreams and delivers along with you Move your personal focus to execution - transcend from doing to getting things done
In this article, we will discuss the first pillar - Vision.
Vision
Why must you have a clear vision? For the simple reason that a clear long term vision is the only thing that keeps you sharply focused on where you want to reach and helps you evaluate whether each step you take is a step closer to your destination or away from it. Entrepreneurs who allow the turn of tides to dictate their course rarely become successful. Successful entrepreneurs are those who have a clear sight of their destination, and who chart their own course in order to reach their destination.
Vision is not only about growth, about how big your business should become over say the next 10 years. Vision is a highly personal statement - of where you see yourself professionally over the next 10 years. Size of business could be a parameter that you will use to evaluate yourself, but equally, there could be other parameters that are dear to your heart. Respect and recognition could be more important to some than business size. Making a difference to society could be the overarching aim for some. Whatever is your innermost driver, the motivator of your actions - that is what should be translated into your vision statement.
Writing down a vision statement is the first step towards realizing it. It forces you to "officially" commit to a goal and enables you to begin charting your course to achieving it. As advisors, we tell all clients that articulating their financial goals is the first and most important step towards achieving it. Without articulating their goals, how do you create plans to achieve these goals. And, if goals are not articulated and plans are not drawn up and executed, what are the chances that these goals will be eventually achieved? What you tell your clients is equally true for yourself. If you don't articulate where you want to be professionally in 10 years, how will you go about getting there?
So, where do you want to be in 2024?
10 years from now, where do you want to be? If you haven't already crystallized your vision statement, do it now. As discussed, this is a personal journey and a personal destination - there is little merit in looking around to find the perfect vision statement off the net and making it yours. The best way to do this is to close your eyes for 5 minutes and visualize how you see yourself and your business in 2024. That picture in your mind is really what your vision is. What's the picture that your mind and heart are painting for you for 2024?
When you open your eyes, write down what your heart and mind showed you as the picture of your business in 2024. Refine this until you get for yourself a vision statement that is going to drive all your efforts over the next 10 years.
Examples
Here are a few vision statements to showcase the diversity of destinations within the same financial advisory business. These are just fictional examples, for illustration purposes.
Example 1 : I will be largest financial advisor by assets under advice in the city of Madurai by 2024, with an AuM in excess of Rs.100 crores
This could well be a vision statement of an IFA in Madurai with an AuM of say Rs. 10 crores. His vision is simple and direct - grow business by 10 times in the next 10 years and thus emerge as the largest in this business in his city. Clearly, being seen as the biggest in his business in his city is the main motivator of this IFA. If this is his stated vision, all his future actions should be focused on realizing this vision. If for example, his has been a completely retail focused operation, he will need to upskill himself to serve HNIs of the city. He will need to break into corporate accounts in his city. He will need to draw up a list of the top 100 investors in his city and make plans of how he is going to make inroads into each one.
The moment he commits to this vision statement, he can no longer continue with "business-as-usual" and hope for walk-in clients into his office to grow his business. If he is serious about realizing his vision, he will need to make plans on how he is going to get there and review all existing efforts to see whether they are aligned with his stated vision.
Example 2 : Kalpavriksh Financial Solutions will be the most successful independent financial advisory firm in the state of Rajasthan serving over 10,000 families with a 90% plus satisfied client base.
In this case, the advisor is clearly thinking of a firm beyond himself, which is why his vision statement is about his firm and not himself. He is looking to establish his brand and not himself. His vision encompasses his entire state and not just his city. His vision is expressed in terms of number of clients served rather than AuM. Success is measured through a specific satisfaction level.
To set about achieving this vision, he will need to first look at how he is going to build a team, how he is going to go about setting up and managing branches outside his city, how he is going to set up advisory services that meet client requirements and how he is going to set up a feedback mechanism that helps him understand client satisfaction levels. Since the number of families he wishes to serve is large, he will need to think of how he is going to promote his brand and his service across his state to attract these kind of large numbers. All actions, as can be seen, will get focused on achieving every aspect of the vision statement that he has articulated for himself.
Example 3 : Wisdom Wealth will be the 1st choice of successful families in the Delhi NCR region for comprehensive wealth management services. Wisdom Wealth will be nationally recognized as the finest boutique wealth firm in the country.
This entrepreneur is clearly a boutique player, and sees a picture of the future where his firm is the preferred choice for every ultra HNI in his city, for wealth management services. While he is happy to restrict the geography of his services to his city, he clearly sees his firm as the best wealth outfit in the country, with external recognitions as validations of quality.
In order to be seen as the best in the country, he will need to first list down the parameters used in awarding these recognitions, ascertain where his firm stands vs the best, and work towards surpassing the best on each of these parameters. He will need to have smart PR in the HNI circles of his city to ensure that these recognitions get noticed where he wants them to get noticed.
Example 4 : 2nd Innings Retirement Specialists will be the country's most successful specialist retirement advisory firm, with the largest number of retirement plans under execution.
Here is an example of a firm that is charting out a new course in this country - one of a super specialist. This firm is not a financial planning services firm, but a super specialist which caters only to families who are either planning for retirement or who are already living a retired life. As a super specialist vs a generalist, this firm will have to develop extensive capabilities in managing all aspects of retirement - financial as well as behavioural. The firm will need to benchmark itself against the finest retirement specialists globally and introduce relevant best practices in India. It will need to plan extensive PR to promote the concept and need for a super specialist in the retirement space. It will need to plan on scaling up rapidly to ensure that the first mover advantage gives it a lasting competitive edge.
Writing your vision statement is only the beginning, not the end
As can be seen from these 4 examples, there can be diverse vision statements within the same business, with no right or wrong vision. Your vision is your very own - there is no need to ensure that you conform to "generally accepted" vision statements. Your vision statement could well be for example, to move from a single man operation to a firm that runs without you such that you are able to sell off your business in the next bull market and retire to the hills!
Whatever be your vision statement, writing it down is the first step towards achieving it. Framing it on a wall and then continuing with "business-as-usual" will ensure that it just remains that - a statement on a wall. Once you have written down your vision statement of where you see yourself and your firm in 2024, you need to ensure that you begin charting out the road map of how you are going to get there. In the examples discussed above, we've looked not just at what the vision statements imply, but the different road maps that need to be drawn up to achieve each of these vision statements. And, as can be seen, the road maps are vastly different from one another, because the destinations are different.
To conclude
Its not for nothing that the saying "Well begun is half done" has become so popular. Your journey to achieve growth beyond what you think is possible today starts with the first solid step - set your sights on where you want to be 10 years from now. Take out 5 minutes today to close your eyes and see a picture of yourself and your firm in 2024 and then write down what you see. Articulate your vision statement today, and begin your journey towards BIG growth today. You cannot become BIG if you don't Think BIG.
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