What Makes A Big Vision Business Owner: From Self-Employed to Emerging Thoughtpreneur | Ep 2

Hello and welcome to another episode of Big Vision Business Owners. We are delving into the topic of what makes a big vision business owner. We're going to take a deep dive into the minds of visionaries. And uncover the essential qualities of what it takes to be a business owner with a big vision.  I'm Chantelle Dyson, your podcast expert and online visibility coach, helping you to bring your big vision business owner goals to life.

And on today's episode, we're gonna just make sure that you know that you are a big vision business owner and to let you find out what it really means to be a big vision business owner, what it takes to do that. And if you're not quite there yet, some tips on how to start thinking bigger, growing bigger and starting to imagine the possibilities that are there within your business and what you want to achieve. 

Now a lot of people think that business, when you set one up, you just go in it for the money. But there's plenty of us out there that go into business, yes, because it has a financial advantage, but it's not the primary or only goal. It is also about having a big impact on the world, to instill change in what's going on, and to make a difference,  and see what you can do.

With your business, and that is what this podcast is built for, it's built to continue to inspire and support those people, and to help you find one another too, because finding other business owners that are out there trying to make big things happen is an interesting crowd to Be around, and much like anything in life, we want to spend time with people that think in a similar way to us.

And your businesses could be entirely different,  but knowing that people have those big goals, want to change the world in particular ways, motivates you to keep going with yours. Because you're like, if they can do it, then I can do it. And actually, they've got a really great idea, and a model that I hadn't really thought about.

And there's all of that joint, collective knowledge that you can benefit from. Which is why I've set up the Big Vision Business Owners. Facebook community, which you can join for absolutely free, just head to the description and find the link so that you can have a little place to share your business ideas, to be around those other people that are striving to be or already find themselves to be big vision business owners.

Now let's talk first about what it makes a big vision business owner. Obviously, A big vision. Let's be honest. It's not going to be someone that's playing small. You are thinking forward to what the future could hold in so many ways. And there is a personal advantage to you. You are allowed to be able to facilitate  and use the business to create a bigger vision for you,  but you're also probably imagining a bigger vision for the world that you get to live in and a world that you get to make a mark on.

It isn't just about what it means for your life. It's about all the things you can see in the future happening as a result. One of mine is always thinking about what I'm gonna build as a team. This is not just me. This is not Chantel being the front man and being the center of attention. No, no. I can't wait to put together a team, which is already in the making, of people that will just work incredibly well together, and don't get me wrong, there's always going to be challenges with that, and management that I have to come up with, and guidance, and training, etc.

But one of the one things that I was always focused on, even in the last business, and not actually having a team, but my belief was that I wanted to be paying  a good amount above minimum wage. Because I felt that that was only right for what I was probably going to need in the business, which is skilled, competent people that I felt deserve to be rewarded for working hard.

I have a belief around setting up four day weeks. I don't want everyone working five days a week, because one of the things that I value is having the flexibility and not working a full week, even though hours wise I love what I do, so you could probably never stop me anyway. But I want to discourage workaholism, and I might need to remind myself of that, and support people to actually enjoy their time, But I also want to create an environment where work doesn't feel like work.

I want it to feel like it is a team. I want it to feel like we have a goal that we're all working towards and that everyone's a little cog within that. And without each of those cogs, we can't do anyway. We can't achieve what we're setting out to achieve.  Big vision stuff that's not just about me, that places some value for other people.

And I want to attract people into my business that fit that, that work alongside that.  And that's the kind of thing that you want to be doing if you're a big vision business owner. It's not just about the impact. on your customers lives and what you can do for the world, but how you can support your team and how you can create a team in the environment that you're in. 

And these visions are subject to change. The clearer, the better. I know exactly where I want to be working. I've got ideas of who that is. That bit's less clear, obviously, because... People's minds can change whenever they want.  But the clearer that you are, even in the short term, with whatever really long term intention you have, puts you in good stead for acting in the right way.

So you, you're getting clarity on what you want. It's not just, I want to do one single thing. You might have a goal that says it's, I want to...  I want to have helped a million single women. Could have been something I said for the single girls club, and I'm sure I said that at one point. But realistically, whilst that is a big vision, it also needs the steps back from that, and how that's going to make me make decisions today, that's important to remember.

Now these are practical things that are allowing you to understand what it... means to be a big vision business owner, but there's also the characteristics of  the types of people and qualities that these people develop in order to hold on to that vision. and make it happen too.  There's always going to be a sense of innovation within your character, of not accepting that it's just the way that things are done, although let's not reinvent the wheel because sometimes it doesn't need doing, but you also won't just accept that we do it one particular way because you are thinking of new ways to do things.

You've got too many ideas, most of the time, I would say, and You're not afraid to try those ideas out. And being a marketer,  that couldn't be more true because you need hundreds and hundreds of feedback loops, especially in the social media age. We know of principles that work, but they always need testing and trying out in real life.

And that goes beyond. The ideas I've had for courses, the ideas I've had for podcast episodes. This podcast had three different names before it started. And you take those risks and you start going with things until you're prepared to change them and think differently about what you're doing and find quite what's right for what it is that you're looking to do.

And of course there are other skills.  Resilience being one, because when you take those risks and they don't work, or you get setbacks, you have to be able to push through that. Adaptability, because those ideas that you're trying have to respond to whatever else is going on around you and in your industry, and when you take new team members on who also have ideas, you have to adapt to changing what you are thinking about and how maybe their ideas are better or are useful, and you've got to think of ways to build that in, because ultimately that's going to keep people motivated as well, and they get to contribute. 

To the business as well, which also brings me on to the fact that great leadership skills are key for big vision business owners that are going to have success because they realize that their ideas aren't  the only ideas to take, that there is power in numbers and sharing knowledge  Letting people have ownership and contribute to the thing that they're working for.

I don't want to see my employees as employees. I want to see them as team members, and I want to value the contributions that they've got to make. That doesn't mean we'll go with them all, the same way we don't go with all my ideas. We'll try some of them, and some of them won't work, and some of them will.

But I want everyone to feel that they have a say, and could make a difference in this business, which could ultimately have a difference, and make a difference, in other people's lives, in whatever that might be.  At the heart of it, I think a lot of people that have a big vision, business owner mindset  want to operate from an ethical point of view.

Now that could be a social  drive that you've got. Many people in business want to impact the way the world works and influence to change ideas and  That can be said for a lot of people that have a position in business, because people listen to you at a level where they respect what you've done, what you achieve, and what you stand for, and you are able to influence, to change how people think and how people see the world, and you don't have to be the person directly doing that.

For example, there are a number of brands that I love. to associate with, whether that's using their products, and then talking about them here. But for example, Who Gives a Crap toilet brand, wonderfully packaged toilet paper, it's eco friendly, but they  funnel some of their profits into supporting the development of  toilet systems, sanitary systems,  in third world countries, in countries that don't have access to that so easily.

And to me, That's great, because that business was obviously built to  get eco toilet paper out there. It comes at a bit of a premium, which I'm never worried about paying for if the quality is good, and I believe in the brand. And then they do all this thing where they funnel... Their funds into a better cause.

Not something that they do per se necessarily, but something that they know aligns with their business, what it's all about, and then it gives back to the world. I love that. Gusto another brand I absolutely love. They are a B Corp business, which means that they look at sustainability within their company and. 

You see it, they tell you about it, they celebrate, they'll tell you that this has got two times less packaging or plastic packaging than it did before and they tell you their goals and it's that transparency, that sharing, you feel like you're part of it. I feel like I'm part of Gusteau when that happens and  I just want to be part of a brand or create a brand that does that, that takes customers on the journey with them, that stands for bigger causes than just being a business and making money and Chantelle the coach and the single girls club was all about ending loneliness.

That was the driver for it and if I could get it to a profitable situation, which it's not yet, but one day it will be, and that's why I'm changing some of my business models and I'm trying something different, I still think it's got a great social cause and it's got a platform to be monetized and to go from there. 

It needs a different approach being more of a community interest group and the way that it works. But it still aims to end loneliness. With this business, it's all about helping other people to get their message out there so that whatever social cause we might be dealing with, then  we can impact the world together to generate that network and find and allow those people to Actually achieve what they need to achieve, to then be able to give back to the various charities, community groups,  schemes that they want to donate to and be involved with, and create more opportunities for people, lower debt, anything like that. 

That's what I want, I want to help with that and do that, and then... We'll come up with our own one exactly, whether that's allowing people to be trained through the company. I don't know. I mean, I quite like that idea.  Anything that creates opportunities,  and there are plenty of people out there that we can look up to, that have actually changed the world with their innovation, that we should be bearing in mind when we're thinking of this, and you don't have to be these people yet, don't get me wrong.

I'm none of these people. But I can look up to them and appreciate their business acumen, the way that they have made change for the world in more ways than one. Even if you don't like them as people, their personalities, you can't deny what they have done in terms of their business and the way that they are trying to progress the world in some way.

And you're thinking of people like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and of course Steve Jobs, but let's not forget the female entrepreneurs of the world. We've got people like Oprah Winfrey, Dare I say it, Taylor Swift, which I truly believe is an entrepreneur and does fight for change, even if you just think she's a musician.

And then you've got the likes of Ariana Huffington, who created the Huffington Post. All of these people that have done something that have either led to a product or a service that has led to change, or they fight for causes in the background, or they have their interests where they're trying to progress technology, etc.

Anything like that, that can change the world with what it's doing. And there are some ethical issues around some of those that can't be overlooked, but each of them still had  big vision, and you are allowed to make judgment of those people as much as you would like, in whichever particular way.  So when it comes to thinking of  deciding if you're a big vision business owner, or if you want to be one, you have to consider if you're playing too small.

And this moment clicked for me, not long ago, at Tony Dada's First Social Entrepreneur Conference, which took place in London, and  a speaker, Matt Atram, was talking at the time and doing some work on mindset. And he referred to Robert Kiyosaki's Cashflow Quadrant, and that was talking about that there is an employee mindset, a self employed mindset,  a business owner mindset, and an investor mindset.

Probably not. in the order I've just put out there.  I realized that I was somewhere in the self employed to business owner mindset. I was playing a self employed mindset, which meant that I was focused only on myself  in the previous business. I was starting to move into the business owner mindset, but I didn't really know that this was the difference in it.

And  the self employed mindset is that you're going to be the center of it, generally. You're going to upskill yourself. You're probably going to do everything, and that's how that's going to work. Whereas a business owner is somebody that puts a team together. They are not a singular key cog in the business, they are a cog that works together with all the other cogs.

They see the long term vision, but they're trying to create a team that can achieve the service as opposed to being the one to do it all themselves. She says, sat here delivering the podcast.  There has to still be a bra There still has to be a for And all the people I just mentioned are part of that.

But what business owners do is they build something greater than themselves. Whereas someone that's self employed is limited by the number of hours they have because they're working predominantly in their business and then  are limited by 40 hour work weeks, maybe a bit more if you really want to give up more time.

Whereas business owners realize and leverage the power of other people and that they  can lead that group, can motivate that group, and there's a particular system to be built around that,  it's down to more than just you. And so if you're currently sat here thinking, I am a big vision business owner, but it's just me now.

Some big vision business owners can do a lot of things themself, but the first thing that you can start to do is that outsource, to think about what is it that I can do that I genuinely can afford to give somebody else to do that would free me up  from the doing part of my business so that I could do some more of of the tasks that  are of a higher value that are going to see a bit more of a return or are going to let me sort this business out and put the creative juice into it because as business owners, you need space away from being in the business to actually work out.

What you're going to do in the business. You need that relief. You need that time away. Whereas it can be easy when you're in the self employed mindset, that you're working so many hours doing the stuff in your business, that you then don't even get a chance to like, take a bird's eye view and look at it from above.

You might have some short ish term goals, but there's no big vision that's driving what you do. You're doing it to pay the bills, which is fine, because you do need to pay your bills to meet all the commitments you've got. But it stops you from adopting the business owner mindset and growing.  Extra level, bigger, to actually, I need a team, I need people to help me, and I need to make sure the finances work to support that as well.

So when you're considering, like, am I a big vision business owner, or do I want to be one, you need to think about what impact do you want to have with your business. A self employed mindset is not a problem if that's where you want to stay. But you might have listened to this episode thinking, I want to be a big vision business owner, I don't know how to be.

You need to think about how much risk you're prepared to take, because dreaming big is going to come with bigger risks. Because there's a bigger reward, there's a bigger potential for a risk, too. And you can still warm yourself up. You do not have to take the biggest risk in the world to begin with, but it is going to have  bigger gameplay, bigger risks associated with what you're doing. 

And the thing is, once you start to  get the clarity on the vision, to know what it is that you're trying to achieve,  when you're so far in the future of what you want it to be, that informs what you're thinking now. And as opposed to  A self  and as opposed to a self employed mindset where you might be thinking  I'm going to charge this because this is how much I should charge per hour and we still have to think about the market, for example, when you take a step back and become a business owner and you see absolutely all of your outgoings as something that needs to be covered, all of the subscriptions, your time and the time of the other people that you're going to include in this team, that could, for example, start to inform how much you're going to charge because it's no longer Just about  what, what an hour's worth. 

It's not just your time, it's all of the things that need to be taken into account to treat this as a business, to test its viability, and then if it's not viable to do it that way, then you need to come up with a new idea, a new method.  Having a big vision  has motivated me more to just get going with the business and to... 

Put together the right things to make it happen. It's allowed me to see what I want to be able to achieve, and that's not got a specific timescale on it, because I can't judge that. I don't know what's gonna happen in between. But we're talking years down the line. We're not talking next year, we're certainly not talking in the next year at all.

We are looking at something far beyond me, and  knowing that that is the end goal, and that could slightly adjust over time. Like, I've got an idea now, but obviously you've got to pay attention to what goes on in the world, what goes on in the market, and you still need to flip and adapt. But it informs everything. 

Everything I'm doing now, the way I'm thinking, the way that I'm acting. And I can feel even more resistance now to be working in the business. I need to be working on the business, not doing every single little thing. Now that's an interesting one to deal with when You're trying to generate the income. 

You're in that bit of, I need to outsource or get somebody on board to do stuff, but then I need the financial viability to be there. So there is a, an interesting part to be working with at the start there. And so if you're in that same position, I'm in it too. I'm there, but it doesn't stop me from thinking big. 

Now if you're not sure if you're thinking big enough right now, I want to share a little bit of wisdom with you from my good friend Dave Niss, who  is someone that works with people on their business to think bigger, growth mindset. All of that kind of stuff that gets you seeing a little bit bigger. And the way that he put it when we were talking about this concept was,  whatever goal that you've got in your head right now, if you achieved that,  what would be the next thing that you would want to achieve? 

And that's how you can push yourself to start thinking bigger than the way that you're currently planning. That If the goals you had now are absolutely, completely ticked off, what would be the next thing? And then you let that become your motivator and the thing that informs what you do now. Not the first goal that you came up with.

You go to a layer deeper, to the next thing that's on your list. And it's worth sharing it. It's worth living it out now. Because... Without that big vision, you don't really know where you're trying to head to and you can't make the best informed decisions. Whereas if you're just looking to next week, or next month, or next quarter, that's cool.

You should have those goals. You should have many steps and milestones to check your progress and to make sure you're moving in the right direction. But without that in the far distance, What's gonna get you up every day? What's gonna keep you motivated to get to that place with your business, to have that impact on your lifestyle, to have that impact on the people that work with you and for you, and the people that you get to have an influence on further? 

What is it that's gonna make every setback you go through something that keeps you going? Because it's that big vision for me that goes far beyond me and my life.  that means that when it is a bit of a dodgy looking month for funds coming in and out It's gonna be okay, and don't get me wrong, there's a pragmatic side to it and a realistic side to it, but it does it, I've always found that  that cash flow does show up.

There are people that refer to it in their books, I can think of Stephen Bartlett in the Happy Sexy Millionaire book where he talks about things coming in just before he absolutely needed it to.  That's all to do with, in my opinion, the way the universe works. But it's all about seeing that bigger picture, knowing that there's something out there for you.

So...  If you've realised through this podcast that you're not quite playing big enough, then start thinking about what I said there from my good friend Dave Niss, about what would you like to achieve next. Start thinking about then the practicalities of doing that, what that really means for you as a business owner, in that business owner mindset, which I will talk about in more depth going forwards, as opposed to seeing yourself in a self employed mindset.

It's absolutely fine if you've listened to this and realized that you do want to keep in the self employed mindset. You might even still find all of these lessons there. But I am going to talk from my place of a big vision of what I see for the team that I want to build, the company that I want to make, and the impact that I want to have in so many different ways.

And if you're looking for other people to share your vision with, and to get ideas from, and to connect with, then join us. Join the group. It's in its first development here. You're gonna be one of those founding members, essentially, if you're listening at the time of release. It's currently October 2023. 

So, head to the link. Find the Big Vision Business Owner Facebook community and start using it. To share your vision,  tell people what you're about and what you want to do  and start connecting with other people that are just like you and have those big visions as well. I will see you next time for more big vision business owner discussions.

See you then.