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| Courtesy of Faithwalk Photography |
Do you have a vision for your cottage
industry? Lately, our family has had a still continuing discussion about
the future of our cow herd. Our family's style of
discussion is as follows: broach the subject, state how the situation is and analyze our
options until we get distracted by something else. A few days
later bring up the subject again, re-discuss the options, bring in
any other options we have thought of since last discussion until we get
distracted once again. Repeat the cycle until we eventually reach a satisfactory
answer. Probably not the most efficient way to reach a decision, but it works for us. :)
Anyway, while listening to these family pow-wows on how to expand our cow herd, I've
been reminded of the importance of a clear vision. If you want to
have a successful cottage industry, you have to know where you are
going and why. For me personally, I've found that a written vision is a must in my work.
Benefits of A Written Vision
For a long time, I operated my various
cottage industries with a vague idea of where I wanted to go. I hobbled on this "do it on the fly" method for a time until my work became more time intensive. It wasn't until the Lord opened the door for me to write full-time that I finally sought Him for a vision and then wrote it down. Here are some of the benefits, I've experienced
since penning down my vision statement.
1. Clarity of Focus
As you have likely experienced,
there are scores of directions any of us could go with our cottage
industry. Let's go back to our family cow enterprise. We have heritage breed cows that can be bred for either
milk or meat purposes. This opens several directions we could pursue. Should
we focus on expanding our milk customers or raise steers for meat? What about raising family milkers that we can sell to other homesteading families? Most of us are better off choosing a focus or
two and mastering them well, rather than juggling several possibilities at once. Having a written vision keeps you focused on mastering a niche instead of drifting in masses.
2. Reveals The Best Use Of Resources
All of us only have so much money, time and energy to spend on our work. Once you know your vision, it clears the weeds between knowing good from best. Let's pretend our family decides
our cattle's life purpose is to multiply their kind among other
homesteading families. Temperament in parent stock now becomes top priority, along with a balance between meat and milk
production. We also know we need to make the necessary changes to be able to accommodate
several ornery...uh, I mean, adorable heifer cows running our pastures
until they are broke to milk. The beauty of a written vision is that it shows us where our priorities need to be and how to wisely use our resources to that end.
3. Filters Your Opportunities By
Keeping You On Course
A vision set in pen pulls you back
when distractions tempt you. An example from the farm might look like this. You get a great deal on a
show champion, pure-bred cow. By the time you finish handing over the cash, the seller has dazzled you
with the glory of the show ring making you believe you are
driving away with a four-legged ticket to a hill of blue ribbons. You start
doing your research on show life and find out they are held every
weekend and you need to attend at least 95% of them to make it worthwhile (disclaimer: I've never shown anything other than my
ignorance, so please understand I'm throwing out fake numbers here
:)). Now you have a decision to make: will the show ring make your
cattle more useful to homesteading families? Actually, whether this is
a distraction or blessing will depend on the individual situation,
but you can only know that based on your vision. Taking the time to
pray and write out your vision is vital for discerning if an
opportunity is a providential short cut or a distracting detour.
If you've never put to
paper what the vision is for your cottage industry, I'd highly
encourage you to do so. Think about it. Pray about it. And watch
for a near future post when we get into the how-to of writing a vision
statement.
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