//GETTING STARTED// We don't care about your website. Wait, what? A website is the principal and fundamental method of creating credibility, authority and education for your customers, but all that doesn't mean anything if you don't have a clear idea of who you are as a company; that's where we start. This where you begin to find your forever. \\What is your vision for the future of your company? Majority of our clients haven't really gotten to the point of writing down their Vision or Mission Statement, and with so much that needs to be done, when would you find the time? Now. A leader knows where their company is going. Writing down your vision is not just about filling up space on your website, but giving you focus about where you're going. You've already invested so much in your venture, so taking some time about to write down what you want to accomplish should be easy :). ©2014 All rights reserved. || FYF Media, Inc. Starbucks mission/vision statement: Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time. Reports of Steve Jobs' vision statement from 1980: To make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind. Google's statement: To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Are you inspired yet? \\What is your mission statement? Quite simply, this defines the purpose of your company and what it wants to accomplish in the present. You want to be concise and to the point, but don't afraid to be bold or honest about what exactly you want your company to represent and achieve. Here's one from The Walt Disney Company: The mission of The Walt Disney Company is to be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information. Using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services and consumer products, we seek to develop the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world. And one from Coca- Cola: Our Roadmap starts with our mission, which is enduring. It declares our purpose as a company and serves as the standard against which we weigh our actions and decisions. To refresh the world... To inspire moments of optimism and happiness... To create value and make a difference. \\What's your splash? We are in a world where traditional markets are saturated, while new developers/entrepreneurs are showing up every single day; you need to be disruptive. You need to make a splash in the pond if you want to get attention. How explicitly do you understand your target market? How is your business model different? If you feel it isn't, How is your marketing different? What are your competitors not talking about that could be important to your customer? ©2014 All rights reserved. || FYF Media, Inc. \\What is your current marketing strategy? What are all the ways you spread the word about your business? Whether it's physically talking to people, your social media channels, or making phone calls, however you are letting people know about your product or service, write it down in point form. \\How often do you analyze your business process? How you do business from beginning to end is your process, your business model. Maybe your business model is perfect. Awesome, have you checked? Change and adaptation is the blood that will sustain the future of business. The largest companies in the world have started to recognize this fact, and if they can do it with large moving pieces involved, you can too. We've included a template of these questions that you can copy + paste into a word document. ©2014 All rights reserved. || FYF Media, Inc. What is your vision for the future of your company? (Remember, this should be once concise line encompassing everything that you want to accomplish.) Vision Statement: What is your mission? (What is the purpose of your company?) Mission Statement: What is your splash? (Commonly called a USP or Value Proposition - what separates you from everyone else) What is your current marketing strategy? How often to evaluate your business process? ©2014 All rights reserved. || FYF Media, Inc. \\LEADERSHIP This list was developed after pulling from different resources, Google searches, business events, personal engagements and observation, to create a list of essential leadership traits we think you should consider as you and your company are moving forward. Vision & Focus As a leader you need to think and plan out the future. Your business may have started rapidly in a couple of weeks, or taken years of planning, either way having a vision is critical. You're the captain, the ship will go wherever it wants (possibly crash) if you don't keep an eye on the horizon. Time & Task Management This is a key aspect to being successful in business, and in life in general. How well do you plan and manage your time? You can't do everything, so you need to focus on the most important items that YOU can do and delegate the rest. You can make more money, you cannot create more time; focus on what you do best. Inspiration Love what you are doing, and people will fall in love with it as well. Zig Ziglar, a renowned sales professional and trainer, explains sells as an emotional transference. When you're excited about something, when you've had a really great experience, you want to share that excitement and people are attracted to it. Use that to inspire and motivate those around you: customers, employees , strangers, seagulls, anyone around you should be inspired to give their best. Honesty Integrity is not only an important part of being a good person, but is an important business skill as well. When you have a strong moral position, people will feel as if they can depend on you, which builds trust; trust IS sales. Authenticity has been predicated as one of the number aspects of businesses in the next generation. Positivity Be courteous, always say thank you, open doors - true leaders are never too puffed up on their own ego to show appreciation for things done for them. These actions are signs of how positive your mindset is; positive people tend to be mindful of how their actions affect others. Stay cool under pressure; a positive attitude can find the silver living in the storm. Communicate Being clear in your tone, your emails, your discussions, using charisma and engagement when you're speaking, being understood about expectations and deliverables - these are all necessary aspects of good communication and interrelate with the other aspects of being a strong leader. ©2014 All rights reserved. || FYF Media, Inc. Confidence You have to bold enough to try new things, to ask yourself the difficult and uncomfortable questions. Being unique, means that you have the courage to stand out. Also, sometimes you just have to pull the trigger, period. That doesn't mean you don't spend the adequate time preparing and getting all the facts to make the best decision possible, but when it comes to the moment you have to trust your instincts, and have the confidence to know you're making the right decision for you and your company. ©2014 All rights reserved. || FYF Media, Inc. Where's your weak spot? Rank yourself Choose between number between 1 - 10 or Y/N 1 - being none 10 - being extremely How concise is the vision for your company? How well are you able to organize your time in an efficient manner? How well do you delegate tasks that could free up your schedule doing more productive tasks? How regularly does your motivation inspire you to complete things you don't want to do, but are what's best for the business? How motivated are your employees? How well are you able to inspire your employees? How often do your customers complain about quality of your service or product? Would your employees/business partner agree that you smile often? How often do you get frustrated or overwhelmed by the operations of the business to the point that you feel your day is ruined? Are you good at public speaking? Are you an effective speaker? How well do you set expectations on your employees/business partner? How often do they fall short of those expectations? How good are you at making timely effective decisions? ©2014 All rights reserved. || FYF Media, Inc.