024 | Vision Before Strategy: Why Most Businesses Get This Backwards
You don't need another strategy.
You don't necessarily need a better marketing plan, another social media tactic, a new offer, another course, or the latest business trend.
You may simply need to get clearer about where you're actually trying to go.
Because strategy can tell you how to move.
But vision determines the destination.
In this episode of The Optima Method, Saskia shares how building Optima Operations Consulting changed the way she thinks about business strategy, and why defining the business and life you actually want should come before deciding how you're going to build it.
Because:
Vision comes first. Execution comes second.
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Vision Before Strategy: Why Most Businesses Get This Backwards
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6gKSKwYZJDjZucVM3JaCoH?si=b6T2_8cVQJ24uPqv4JTdGA
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Yv_pw6OZke0?si=iaMkdTla3DcHUOf9
What You'll Learn
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why many entrepreneurs don't actually have a strategy problem
Why unclear vision makes it difficult to choose the right strategy
How Saskia experienced strategy overload while building Optima Operations Consulting
Why successful implementations start with the end in mind
Why entrepreneurs often build systems, websites, teams, and content in the wrong order
What a true business vision should define
How your desired lifestyle should influence your business model
Why every opportunity isn't your opportunity
How vision makes saying no easier
Why clarity improves marketing, hiring, delegation, and operations
How vision creates priorities and priorities create systems
Why sustainable success may look different from traditional definitions of business growth
Prefer to Read or Save This Episode?
Download the complete transcript to revisit the questions and framework Saskia uses to connect business vision, strategy, systems, priorities, and the life you're actually trying to build.
Download the Episode Transcript
Put This Episode Into Action
Stop Asking “What Strategy Should I Use?”
Start by asking:
Where am I actually trying to go?
Entrepreneurs are surrounded by strategies.
Start a webinar.
Run paid ads.
Create a high-ticket offer.
Build a low-ticket membership.
Post more content.
Start a podcast.
Build a YouTube channel.
Grow on Instagram.
Create digital products.
Hire a team.
Automate everything.
And many of those strategies work.
But that doesn't mean they're right for your business.
The question isn't:
“Does this strategy work?”
The better question is:
“Does this strategy move me toward the business and life I'm trying to build?”
You can't answer that until the destination is clear.
Strategy Cannot Fix an Unclear Vision
Think about planning a road trip.
You can have:
The best vehicle.
The latest GPS.
A full tank of gas.
Perfect directions.
But if you haven't decided where you're going, none of those things solve the actual problem.
Business works the same way.
Your:
Marketing
Sales
Offers
Technology
Hiring
Processes
Automation
Content
are execution mechanisms.
They're supposed to help you reach a destination.
But entrepreneurs often start building them before defining where the business is supposed to go.
That's how you end up with a business full of activity but lacking direction.
Start With the End in Mind
In large implementations, you don't start by randomly building processes and hoping they eventually create the right result.
You begin with:
What are we trying to accomplish?
Then:
The systems follow.
The governance follows.
The documentation follows.
The technology follows.
Business should work the same way.
VISION → EXECUTION
Not:
EXECUTION → HOPE IT CREATES THE RIGHT BUSINESS
Vision Is More Than a Mission Statement
Your vision isn't a paragraph sitting on your website.
It should answer real questions about what you're building.
Ask yourself:
Who do I want to serve?
Who is the business actually designed to help?
What kind of business do I want to own?
A solopreneur business?
A small team?
An agency?
A large organization?
A digital business?
A consulting practice?
How do I want my life to look?
What should an ordinary Tuesday look like five years from now?
How many hours do I want to work?
Is your goal 20 hours?
30?
40?
60?
Do I want employees?
Or do you want to stay intentionally lean?
Do I want freedom?
What does freedom actually mean to you?
What impact do I want to create?
Who should be better because your business exists?
What am I ultimately building?
Something to sell?
Something to pass down?
Something that provides flexibility?
Something that creates generational impact?
Those answers aren't separate from your strategy.
They determine your strategy.
Every Opportunity Isn't Your Opportunity
This may be one of the hardest parts of entrepreneurship.
Someone else's strategy can be incredibly successful.
And still be completely wrong for you.
Someone tells you:
“You need webinars.”
Another says:
“You need paid ads.”
Another says:
“You need a high-ticket offer.”
Another says:
“You need a membership.”
Another says:
“You need to post three times a day.”
Maybe.
But before adding another strategy, ask:
Does this move me toward my vision, or away from it?
That's your filter.
Because strategy isn't simply deciding what to do.
Strategy is also deciding what NOT to do.
Your Business Should Support Your Life
Your business vision shouldn't stop at revenue.
Ask:
What kind of life am I trying to create through this business?
For Saskia, that means building something sustainable while also being present for:
Soccer games.
School events.
Family dinners.
Vacations.
Her children.
Her marriage.
Her own life outside of work.
The goal isn't to build a business that looks successful from the outside while consuming everything you wanted the business to give you.
The goal is to build a business that supports the life you're trying to create.
Because:
What good is building your dream business if it costs you the life you wanted to build it for?
Redefine What Success Means
Traditional entrepreneurship can make success sound like:
More revenue.
More followers.
More clients.
More employees.
More hours.
More growth.
But what does your version of success look like?
Maybe success means:
Working fewer hours.
Being at your child's soccer game.
Taking a vacation without checking email constantly.
Choosing your clients.
Building recurring revenue.
Creating a small team.
Staying a solopreneur.
Building something your children could eventually inherit.
Having dinner with your family.
Being able to step away.
There isn't one definition.
But you need your definition before you can build the strategy.
5 Questions to Clarify Your Business Vision
Before you write another business plan or change your marketing strategy, answer these five questions:
1. What Does Success Actually Look Like?
Be specific.
Not what Instagram says success looks like.
What does it look like for you?
2. Why Am I Building This Business?
Money matters.
But what is behind the money?
Freedom?
Impact?
Security?
Flexibility?
Legacy?
Creativity?
Ownership?
What are you actually trying to create?
3. Who Am I Trying to Become?
What type of entrepreneur, leader, parent, spouse, or person do you want this business to allow you to become?
4. What Impact Do I Want to Leave?
What should change because your business existed?
Who should benefit?
What should you be known for?
5. What Kind of Lifestyle Am I Designing?
Don't build the business first and hope your life somehow fits around it.
Define the life.
Then design the business accordingly.
Vision Becomes Your Decision Filter
Once your vision becomes clear, decisions become easier.
When you're presented with a new opportunity, ask:
Does this move me toward my vision?
If yes:
Explore it.
If no:
Let it go.
That applies to:
Clients.
Products.
Partnerships.
Platforms.
Content.
Hiring.
Investments.
Technology.
Marketing.
Offers.
Even how you spend your morning.
Vision creates boundaries around what deserves your attention.
Vision Creates the Rest of Your Business
The relationship is simple:
VISION
creates
PRIORITIES
which create
SYSTEMS
which create
CONSISTENCY
which creates
RESULTS
That's how businesses scale intentionally.
Not by constantly working harder.
By becoming clearer about what they're building.
Find the Gap in Your Business Foundation
Vision is the first of the six foundations within the Optima Method:
Vision • Operations • Process • Leadership • Growth • Personal
And when Vision is unclear, problems can cascade into the other foundations.
You may:
Build systems you don't need.
Hire before defining expectations.
Create content without a clear message.
Buy technology before understanding the workflow.
Chase growth that doesn't support the business you actually want.
Before adding another strategy, identify where your foundation needs work.
Take the Free Business Foundation Assessment
In just a few minutes, identify the areas creating the most friction and determine what to strengthen next.
Build Your Vision Before Your Strategy
Once you understand where the gaps are, start strengthening the foundation intentionally.
Inside the Vision Foundation of the Optima Foundation Academy, you can work through the structure behind:
Your business vision
Long-term direction
Priorities
Goals
Planning
Roadmaps
Metrics
So instead of chasing strategies because someone else says you need them, you can begin evaluating opportunities against the business you're actually trying to build.
One Action to Take After This Episode
Don't create another strategy today.
Take 20 quiet minutes and answer:
What does success actually look like?
Why am I building this business?
Who am I trying to become?
What impact do I want to leave?
What kind of lifestyle am I designing?
Then write one sentence:
“I am building a business that __________ so that I can __________.”
Don't worry about making it perfect.
Make it true.
Then look at your current strategies.
Your offers.
Your clients.
Your calendar.
Your marketing.
Your content.
Your workload.
Ask:
Does this move me toward that vision, or away from it?
Because you don't build a successful business by chasing every strategy.
You build it by creating a vision so clear that:
