Business Reflections Podcast Episode #42 - Creating Your Business Vision and Owning Your Personal Values

Episode Transcript

Welcome to business reflections with your host Meredith Matics and we are here to reflect on the business topics that are affecting you today and how you can better run your business. 

Meredith Matics: Hi guys today I have Brandy Mabra, CEO of Savvy Clover Coaching and Consulting. Hi, Brandy. Welcome to the show. 

Brandy Mabra: Thank you, Meredith. I'm excited to be here. 

Meredith Matics: So let's get a little background on you. What started you to start your own company or what prompted this? 

Brandy Mabra: I think for me, my story is probably very similar to other business owners and entrepreneurs it all started with a whisper, you know, a little voice inside my head, you know, telling me that I'm meant to do more.

You know, I was very blessed to have a really great career in you know, healthcare, building medical clinics, helping, running, leading, managing, and I really gained a lot of knowledge from that, but. [00:01:00] Every position, you know, I just would always feel there has to be more than this.

And I ended up finally following that little voice and, kind of venturing out to see exactly what I was able to do from a business standpoint. And I had talked about starting my own business. I have looked at different like franchises. So the entrepreneur kind of spirit was always kind of underlying there.

And then I was listening to a book and inside of the book, it was talking about coaching. And I had taken coaching classes with my master's degree because I have a master's in Health Administration. And there was a lot of coaching that I would do with like my team members and things. But I did not know that you could have a full blown business oncoaching and different things. So I've ventured down that path and ended up becoming a Certified Professional Coach. Once I got into building my business, which originally started out in career coaching, and realized that my business management and leadership experience that I had [00:02:00] gained from working in the healthcare field was actually very beneficial Beneficial for other business owners and entrepreneurs as they were building their business. So fast forward to now you know, I'm really happy to say that I'm a business and leadership coach and enjoy the work that I'm doing and feel very fulfilled in my business and in my journey. And I no longer have that voice anymore.

You know, now it's just more or less, how can I build a healthy business that makes sense. And where I'm able to make more of an impact to help others. So that's kind of what my journey was. Started one day. 

Meredith Matics: Sounds like, you ended up in a good place. 

Brandy Mabra: Yeah. Yeah. It's amazing. Once you get the fear out of the way and start to venture down that path and all the little things that can happen in between.

But I do not regret one second of my journey and I'm so happy that I came across the book that I did. Denise Duffield Thomas is the author, but yeah, I just, yeah, I'm really excited for where I'm at right now.

[00:03:00] Meredith Matics: Well, we're really excited to have you on in particular, we wanted to talk today about building a business vision.

So before we even get started, maybe just our listeners out there don't even know what is a business vision? Is it just what we think, what we want for our business? Or is it more specific? 

Brandy Mabra: I always say that a business vision, because we are entrepreneurs because we are creating your something out of nothing, I think it's very personalized. I know that there's a lot of information about having a vision statement, a mission statement, and how it should be between three and five sentences. And it should be very concise and you know, all of these things, but really at the end of the day, for me it's about what are you wanting to build for your business?

What do you want it to look like? And who are you wanting to build your business for? You know, I think that you have to come from a personal stance in order for it to mean something. And in order for you to be passionate about what your [00:04:00] building. 

Meredith Matics: Okay. And so how does one go about creating this business vision? Does it come into us in the light?

Brandy Mabra: I think that when you're, when you're getting into that creative space, it really starts with clarity, right? So I always suggest to have fun with the process you know, to really dream big, think big no thought is too big when you're thinking about what you're trying to create, but it starts with clarity and I tell my clients to go to a quiet space, you know, take the time, you know, have a notebook ready to write down your ideas and really think about what is happening today, you know, whether, if you're starting from scratch or if you are further along in your journey, you know, what is happening today?

And then what do you see that vision, maybe one year from now, maybe five years from now, maybe 10 years from now,know. And sometimes yourbusiness vision. Might even change from what's today and maybe even three months from now. I think we experienced that going through a pandemic where everybody's business vision [00:05:00] probably changed a bit.

And so I think just having fun with the process. Incorporating your values, your beliefs you know, making it personal, going back to that personal piece. 

You know, what is your mission distinguishing? That's a lot of the big work is really owning what that vision is and then thinking about how can you really bring that to life? And what do you need in order to bring that vision to life? 

Meredith Matics: So, what I'm hearing is the business vision is a little bit more of like a hybrid between your business mission and your business plan.

Brandy Mabra: I definitely think it's really what a part of the having a business plan is, that's what you're describing. You're describing, you know, what it's, from a different perspective, it might be what your marketing looks like or what your financials look like, or, you know, but I think it's a little bit more personalized.

But ultimately it's what do you see, or how do you want to be viewed in the marketplace? You know, from your perspective, and then also from whoever you're working with, or the customers who are buying from you [00:06:00] or the clients that you're serving, you know, what do they see? And so when you come from that space when you think about really the business vision I think that it's, a blurred line between what you're trying to do in the market and what you want to be known for.

And also  the impact that you're wanting to make as well. 

Meredith Matics: Yeah. I think a lot of people get really scared of the business plan because it's very, I mean, if you Google like business plan format right they're, they're very technical.

Like what percentage of growth do you expect to have in the next year and the next five years? And I like this idea of a business vision, at least kind of as maybe not the appetizer, but maybe not the main course, somewhere in the middle. Am I understanding that right? 

Brandy Mabra: Exactly. Exactly. And I, you know, it's funny what you said about taking the technical out of it. I, I do that with all of my client work because sometimes when you think about things in a formality or you think about the technical aspects of it, then it can actually interfere with the vision that you're [00:07:00] trying to create.

And the feeling of it, because at the end of the day, that's really what people are going to feel as they're working with you or buying from you is the emotion and the feeling, especially as a small business as you're hiring, that's what your team is going to feel.

You know, and so when you come from that place of not being so much formality , then that's when you're able to have fun with it. That's where you're able to really step into the big vision that you have.

And even if you start to look at other big companies like for example, Nike, if you start to look at their vision statements or they have a branding manifesto it looks nothing like you would think where it's very formalized. No, it's just ideas of what they want it to build in the marketplace and what they really want to be known for and what they want to inspire people to do.

And so that's really, the place that I think is the best a place to come from because you're coming from a creative place. Especially as business owners and entrepreneurs. That's our sweet spot, you know, creativity and being able to step into what we really want [00:08:00] to see that we don't see currently.

Meredith Matics: I was going to say that fun part is really important because once we get into building our business, there's a lot of fun with it, but there's a lot of scary elements. At least I've found that in the last couple of years of growing, you know, the real technical stuff of like, do I have enough worker's comp and like, the not fun stuff on the day-to-day, but the sitting down and being like, this is my business.

You know, mymission is, like for instance of my business, my mission is to just make billing easier for providers and make mental health more accessible through billing. But then it's like the bigger mission is like, we want to take on new providers and we want to help them set it up and we want them to build it right . You know, good habits from the beginning. And then you get into like the business plan and it's like, and the one to five years we expect to bring on this percentage of new ones and writing that part is not fun.

But sitting in that middle ground and seeing what your business could be in the marketplace and like seeing, you know, what do you want to get out of it? Is fine. And it's, [00:09:00] it's not something we get to necessarily do in the growth process that often. Cause it's normally really scary and like, do we have enough money for this?

Brandy Mabra: Yeah. Yeah. And that's so true. And I think, you know, from a business standpoint, you always have like that compliance piece and there's the structure piece that's definitely needed. And you need to know youknow, the growth and all of those things, but when you are day one, you know, starting out and thinking about what do I want to build and what does my vision look like?

Like what does my mission look like? Then yeah, I mean, have fun with it. Enjoy the process.  And the other thing I would say is, as your business is growing and as you're evolving, and as things are changing, your mission and your vision is going to change.

So be open to that. I always look at it as your vision is your north star. It should be guiding you for where you're moving towards. And then making sure that as you're taking steps in your business, are you still in alignment with the original vision that you've [00:10:00] created?

Or are you in alignment with the current vision that you have now? And if you come from that standpoint, then it's easier when you're trying to create like a business culture or you're trying to get buy-in for those who are part of your team. And so having those things where you have a mission statement or a vision statement, it kind of serves as a north star and an anchor for your business.

So that way, you know exactly what you're moving towards, and then you can askyourself as things are happening, does this make sense for what we're trying to do?  Is this an alignment with what we're trying to build? And this is an ultimately, is this going to help us move forward with the goals that we have set, whether if that is one year from today or two months from today or five years down the road . But just having it and having a good understanding is, is definitely a good starting point.

Meredith Matics: Yeah. Okay. I have two different directions I want to do with this. But the first direction is how often should we be reviewing? Because you mentioned that, you know, this could change within a year, five years, a week, a month. Who knows? How often should we be reviewing our [00:11:00] business vision? Is there a set time?

Brandy Mabra: I would say for me, I think that, and anytime you're going to be doing something big or any, let's say if you might be developing something new for your business that's always a great time to compare it to your vision statement or your vision, you know, the business vision that you have. And just to check the alignment, I would say at least quarterly, just to think about it.

A lot of times what I see happen is you write a lot of these things at the beginning, especially when it comes for like a business plan or, or like even with the vision statement and the mission statement, and it might even go on your website and then after that, you don't really think about it again.

So I think having something in place where you're looking at it least quarterly and doing a check-in too. And then if you have a team,  bringing your team as part of the process. You know, it should always be reviewed as your onboarding, you know, new team members, as you're bringing people in making sure that they have a good understanding of the culture too, that you're creating.

And so that's an opportunity for you to think about. [00:12:00] Are we still in alignment with this? You know, and I think too, just going back with the pandemic, a lot of people went back and had a check, recheck their vision statements and their business cultures and really their mission you know, just to make sure that things made sense.

And a lot of things changed, you know, just because we were going through a pandemic and a lot of people's business models had to change because of it as well. So I think at least a quarterly basis would be good.

Meredith Matics: Well, and that kind of helped me transition to the other part. Cause I was sitting there at the beginning of that question going like I have two totally separate ways.

I want to go really bad, but you helped me with that little transition, which was, you said to make sure to bring in your team members, but I wanted to go back into, how can we as business owners incorporate our personal goals and aspirations into this business vision. If we have a set of core values, that is really important to us, that we want to bring in as a leader, is there a way to put that into our business vision? 

Brandy Mabra: Absolutely. And it should be, a hundred percent, it should be. You know, that [00:13:00] is your beliefs, the values, you know, and values could be, you know, family or fun or you know, spirituality, whatever that that is for you.

But it absolutely should be part of that vision. You know, that's the core of who you are. And even though you're bringing other people into it, it's still an essence of you. It's a reflection of you.

 And so it either way, it's going to be a reflection of you, especially as you're going into the marketplace. It's the core of you. So of course you should have your core values as, as part of that. And then it might be as you're hiring too. Anytime that you have core values, you in your hiring, people are going to identify with what you're bringing to the table.

And I a hundred percent agree with you. It's not just all about the money and I want to be a millionaire and I want to be rich and famous one day. No, it's more or less like, what is the impact that you want to make? And that's part of your values too. You know, and when you come from that personalized piece, it makes it so much easier to build things because now you're why is bigger, your mission is [00:14:00] bigger and it makes, it makes it easier building your business. And then as you are embracing other people or bringing other people in whether, if it's your customers or if it's your team, then they automatically have that buy-in and then you are automatically developing almost like your own little support team because of the mission and the vision that you have in people's buy-in.

Meredith Matics: Yeah, and does our business vision not just include like our customers, but rather, how we want our vision of our business to grow within our personnel aspect. like, for instance, when I first started my company, it was just me and I started growing and my vision was to, you know, better mental health care by helping providers.

Once I decided to make the transition into having employees. I did feel like there was almost like a subset vision. How do you bring those two together? 

Brandy Mabra: Again, I think it goes back to that clarity piece of what kind of culture are you trying to create?

There's the corporate culture that we know that is very structured and [00:15:00] very sometimes, you know, rigid and there's a lot of policy and procedures. And then there's the small business kind of almost sometimes mom and pop type feel where things feel very not so structured.

So I think that you can have a balance. I think that ultimately it's up to you as the business owner for what you want that to look like. And then as your team is coming into play, they bring in a completely different dynamic. So yeah, you could definitely have a bigger vision of what you have outward facing, but then there's always that business culture that's inside that might feel a little bit different. If that makes sense.

Meredith Matics:  I think it does. I mean, I mean, particularly what I was thinking was once I started bringing on people for my  business in particular was that I wanted to expand to like women who are trying to get into the industry.

So offering like internships and stuff, but that became like a subset of the company wanting to provide better mental health care. Because if there's more people who are able to help [00:16:00] provide better mental health care, then you know, by offering an easier way into the industry, you're offering more people to be able to then, you know, it expands the core, but in like kind of a subset way. 

Brandy Mabra: Yeah. I think what, what I understand, you're what you're trying to say is sometimes we have additional I don't want to call them like subcategories,  additional like kind of wings of our business, you know, outlets of our businesses and things that are happening.

But ultimately everything still ties to that, to that core vision. Right. So even if you are bringing on additional team members, or you're starting an additional revenue stream or your branching off or branching out, a lot of times what you're doing is you're still trying to make that same impact.

And you're still trying to fulfill  that same vision. It's just how you're doing it is different. It looks different. And you're now at this point, utilizing different tools and resources in order to ultimately fulfill the same vision that, that you have, it's just, you're getting creative with the [00:17:00] process.

Meredith Matics: Yeah. So one of my final questions regarding this topic is going to be, and it's probably pretty obvious. Do we write this vision down? 

Brandy Mabra: Oh, absolutely. Yes. 

Meredith Matics: And where do we put it? 

Brandy Mabra: Yeah, I would say, start off, it might just be you writing, physically writing it down, you know, in a notebook and start there.

And then what you can do is once you get clear on what you want things to look like, you can formally type it and type it up, you know, for my mission and vision statement, it's formally typed and it's on where we have like a little hub for me and my team. And so that's there it's for me, it's above my desk.

So that way it's a reminder of what we're creating and what we're working towards. You know, you can put it on your website. So that way, as those who are finding you, they know what you stand for and what, and what you're all about and your business is all about. And then definitely put it in a place where your team has access to it too. So that way you're all going towards the same direction [00:18:00] and you're all moving towards the same direction. Cause ultimately that's really what it's about. And that's where the beauty of us being able to build something it starts to come into play is when everyone's moving towards the same direction.

And then even as people are working with you, you know, they're moving towards the same direction, and your goals are to become their goals too. 

 And then as you're creating things you know, as the CEO of your business and, you know, again, that acts as your anchor, that's your north star. And sometimes, you know, there's could be a million different ideas that we might have, but again, asking yourself if it's right there in front of your face, is this serving, our vision, does this make sense for us to do right now?

The answer might be yes. The answer might be no. So having it right there in front of your face, I find to be very helpful. 

I love that idea. All right, well as we close up, Brandy, what is one piece of advice that you personally have received and want to share with our small business owners? 

For me, the best advice that I ever got was enjoy [00:19:00] the journey.

It was given to me as a plaque and it's actually, it's still above my desk. Every position that I've had, I've always kept it above my desk. And whether your journey is going really smooth or if your journey's a little bumpy. 

And so just to enjoy the journey and just embrace it, because you just never know what tomorrow is going to bring. So I would probably say that's the best advice that I've, that I've gotten. 

Meredith Matics: I like that advice. And where can our listeners who now really want to write and learn about business vision? Where can they find you? 

Brandy Mabra: They can find me out from a social worker media standpoint. I love Instagram. That's where I hang out all the time. So you can find me at Savvy Clover coaching. So Savvy Clover Coaching. And then also my website is www savvy clover.com. So if you go there, then you'll find some really cool resources.

And I have a business health checklist as well, but for the most part, I'm always on instagram 

[00:20:00] Meredith Matics: Well, perfect. Brandy, thank you so much for coming on with us today and sharing some hints and tips on a business visions. 

Brandy Mabra: You're welcome. Thank you so much for having me.

Business Reflections Closing: Please note that these are thoughts and opinions alone. For tax advice, please see your CPA or tax advisor, tax professional for business advice and legal entities. Please see your local business, lawyer, or attorney for advice. And if you'd like to reach out to us for any topics or questions about. Any subject, any episode you can reach us podcast@maticsbilling.com. That's podcast@maticsbilling.com.    

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