The Power (And Curse) of The SMART Dream

Having a dream can be a powerful driving force to propel and guide you in your business. But it can also be an outright curse.

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." - Eleanor Roosevelt

While it is a convenient notion to think that simply a vision of your business will guide you properly down the right paths to business success, if you buy into that myth then you are heading down the fast path of likely disappointment. The reality is that success depends on a LOT of hard work and planning, as much as simple and seemingly accidental luck.

If you fail to plan - and fail to understand what (and why) it is that you truly are trying to achieve, then your dream will materialize in ways that will eventually seem out of sync from your intended vision.

Dreaming without a plan is simply irresponsible. Not only to yourself, but to the opportunity that may be wasted due to lack of respect for the process involved to harness the true power of your dream and nurture it properly to success.

More than a few years ago, a popular comedienne named Lily Tomlin was quoted as saying, "I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific. " If you frame your dream within this context, be sure that your give your dream definition.

By now, you have surely heard of SMART goals, but have you tried to apply them to your dream? A quick refresher class on using SMART planning for those who need it:

• Specific - can you almost touch your dream? Feel it? Taste it?
• Measurable - how can you tell when you have arrived at it? Or heading the right direction?
• Attainable - can you see yourself attaining your dream? Are you seeing previously overlooked opportunities or skills that will help you down the right path?
• Realistic - do you believe you can achieve it? Are you both willing and able to achieve your dream?
• Time Driven - gotta have a deadline.....fuzzy deadlines make fuzzier goals

When you have your vision, your epiphany or inspirational moment, grab it by the horns and turn it into a SMART Dream. Respect the vision and embrace the process...Embrace the Power of the SMART Dream...and don't become cursed with the Dream that got away!

The "Car Test"

Does your printed material pass the "car test"?
First of all, let's define what printed material is....essentially anything that would be found in the hands of your customer, vendor, business partner - or really ANYONE that YOU would like to be able to be easily contacted by.
This could be a email that has been printed. A take-out menu from your favorite restaurant. A brochure (hard copy or downloaded from the web). A supply form or some type of list.
The common ingredient to all these is that YOU want the person who has this in their possession to be able to act upon (place an order, pass information, ask a question) on in ANY environment. Okay - maybe not a deserted island....but most places.
So what is the car test?
If a person who has your information can act upon it in their car, you pass. What does this specifically mean? The printed information has:

• Your name and/or company name - so the person will know who they are contacting
• Your phone number - business, home, cell or all the above. Extra points if they know which one they are calling, and the hours you might respond
• Your email address. Double car test bonus points if the online format (which turned into a printed format) contains the email address as a hyperlink!

I can not stress enough to businesses, that in this ADD time challenged world we live, if you do not give your customer, vendor or partner the ability to interact with you as quickly and painlessly as possible....then you may forever lose that opportunity, their motivation or sales order.

So - does your stuff pass the "car test"?

The 4 Test Rule

I look at a lot of business plans, and in short, what do I look for?

1. The idea is PROFITABLE. Maybe not today, but soon. Unless you have secret hypnotic powers and can convince some unwitting VC that Pet Rocks are indeed making a comeback, you better have a plan.
2. The idea is SCALABLE. What does that mean? Well...if your margins are running 40% BUT your entire market consists of all the left handed, identical twin Capricorns living in the West Indies who play Scrabble on Thursdays...then your plan may not be of compelling interest based on the size of your overall target market.
3. The idea is REPLICABLE. It can be done more than once. And in hopefully more than one place. It is a repeatable, successful business model that can be grown by you and others with reasonable confidence.
4. Lastly - the idea is SUSTAINABLE. You can reap the profits of your labor (both figuratively and literally) longer than the wonderfully not-so-successful Pets.com business lifecycle....I think the only company in history to go public (IPO) and bankrupt in the same year. Impressive.