Tweet

Have a clear vision and focus on the people

Written by: Brian Scudamore

Article Overview: Have a clear vision – Know what your future looks like, feels like, and acts like. It has to be a compelling vision that gets your people excited and focused. Latch onto that picture as though it has already happened. Transport yourself into the future so you can see it with picture clarity. Share it with your team so they can see it and do what it takes to achieve it.

Have a clear vision and focus on the people

How did you get started? - In 1989 I was in a McDonald’s drive-thru. I was a high school dropout one course short of graduation and I knew I needed to find a way to pay for college. In the drive-thru there was a beat-up pickup truck in front of me that said Mark’s Hauling. I thought the hauling business was a great idea and with my last $700, I bought a truck and got started. I drove around town and when I saw someone with a pile of junk I knocked on their door and offered to take it away from them for a fee. That helped me fund my college education. I actually dropped out one year before graduation because I was learning more from my business than from school.

Advice for entrepreneurs - Have a clear vision – Know what your future looks like, feels like, and acts like. It has to be a compelling vision that gets your people excited and focused. Latch onto that picture as though it has already happened. Transport yourself into the future so you can see it with picture clarity. Share it with your team so they can see it and do what it takes to achieve it.

It’s all about people - When people come to our head office there is a decal on the wall that says: “It’s All About People.” Every decision we make we take into consideration the people in the business. We are only as strong as the weakest person in the company. Never ever compromise on the quality of people you bring into the organization. It’s first who, then what?

Franchise – I weighed the pros and cons of franchising. With the franchising model I believed we could get all the brilliant minds from different backgrounds and together we could build something much bigger than I could have ever done alone. Because there are so many people with different investments in the company we are all unified in this business. I ran the business for 10 years prior to franchising so I worked out all the bugs and tweaked the model. You need a proven success story before you can sell to franchisees. Jumping in too soon can be deadly. Building upon a success story can be a great model.

Mistakes to avoid? - The biggest mistake relates back to people. All the times that I made the wrong decisions were with the wrong people at the franchise or head office level. The longest day in a manager’s life is the day you realize you have the wrong person on board. We are a lot more careful through our interview process to make sure we bring the right people to the table. We are careful and selective. It’s easy in start-up phase when employment levels are down and it’s hard to find good people to compromise but you can’t compromise on the level of people you bring into the organization.

Don’t interview one by one - We do something a little unique when bringing new people on board. We have a group interview process – one or two employees interview 6-10 candidates at once. We see how they interact as a group, how social people are, and how quickly they can think on their feet. You learn a lot all at once. You can see how they stack up against each other immediately. It’s an effective time saver and reveals the best people, who rise to the top throughout the process.

Ask the right questions – The most important interview question I ask is: ‘Why do you want to do this?’Are they giving you a BS answer or are they passionate and honest about why they are excited. Are their eyes sparkling? People have to have that spark for what we’re building to be a part of our brand. That’s our most important interview question. Why do you really want to do this? How badly do you want this?

Learn from your mistakes - To me it’s less about the mistake than what you do with that mistake. Do you learn from it and improve from it? Learn while the company is small so you don’t make mistakes when the company is larger. We debrief with the team to make sure we don’t repeat those mistakes.

If you were starting in a different industry, what would it be? - I’m so in love with my business and my industry and building a global brand that it’s hard to answer. I’m so in love with the one I’m with that this is it for me. I don’t believe that I’ll get into another business. I’m about staying focused. When you find the right idea my advice is to keep at it.

Related Articles
  How Clear Is Your Vision For Your Business? Is It Time For A Business Vision Examination?
  Achieving Swift Vision for Your Business or Organization
  Activating Your Vision
  There is a huge difference between see and foresee
  How a Vision Statement Can Influence Your Business Success

Article Tags: 10 years, brilliant minds, bugs, clarity, clear vision, college education, compromise, decal, drive thru, franchise, franchisees, graduation, high school dropout, investments, latch, mcdonald, pickup truck, pros and cons, school advice, success story



Related Forum Posts
Re: What I Enjoyed Reading This Week - Oct 14 - I really enjoyed the Improve your vision with an app article in the New Scientist. I don't wear glasses and think a lot of people cripple their vision by wearing specs from an early age instead of exercising their eyes... Nice to see someone has developed an ap that will help.
Depends on the conditions - If for example I give up ownership, but the owners commit to pursuing my vision with my product, then I will certainly considering giving up ownership. Contingent on my being able to buy back ownership in the event of incompetence or if the new owners fail to follow through with my vision.
Re: 3 Business Lessons from Henry Heinz - Hi Evan, Thanks for a brilliant and inspirational article. I knew he was a great man but I didn’t realise what a humble background he came from and what a focused and hard working young boy he must have been to have such a clear vision of where he was going. Over here in the 60’s I had first hand knowledge as a boy of how effective a slogan can be which was for Heinz baked beans which are very popular in all households and it went “A million housewives every day pick up a tin of beans and say, BEANS MEANZ HEINZ”. It was set to music but was so popular that children would sing it every day and such was it’s success that every middle aged man or women in the UK today can tell you that slogan without even having to think about it, pure genius. regards, Mal.
Re: Franchise 'due diligence' checklist - As a simple bit of advice - approach your franchise search with a clear mindset. On occasion I hear from someone interested in investing in a franchise, and they are simply "so" determined to own/purchase an exact concept - tunnel vision at its worst in terms of investing. There are actually quite a few determining factors outside of just capital, that might help someone differentiate one opportunity from another. I would have to include, just "lifestyle" as being a significant determining factor. Do you like to travel? Are you even willing to travel at all? Do you want to work out of your house? In front of a computer? etc.
Re: Quote of the Day - Steve Case (AOL) - You can do it! I run a personal development blog and a lot of my focus is on making sure people know anything is possible. You need to focus on the "can" instead of the "can't" at all times. Great quote!


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Starting a Business a Brave Move or a NoBrainer

Sales Courage and Resilience

RULE YOUR BUSINESS LIKE A SHINE STAR

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.