It’s late January but it’s still hard to believe we’re in 2018. It feels like the months fly by here at Sparkchasers and the next thing we know it will be time for Sun ‘n Fun 2018. We just had a company town hall meeting to begin the rollout of our plans for 2018 and to talk through our Mission, Vision, Passion, and core value statements. I’ve always thought of these statements are super important in the day to day culture, and when working on strategic planning.
Many companies never bother to take a break from the day to day operations to define who they are or to do strategic planning at all. I’ve never found a way to be successful over the long haul without these and they shouldn’t be that hard to figure out for the business owner or leaders:
Mission = Company’s purpose for more mature companies or it might be the Owners intent for early stage companies.
Vision = What is our inspiration with this company? The vision statement is a framework for all strategic planning because that is what you are working towards in the end.
Passion = Why we do what we do in the company. Why do we even bother getting up in the morning and doing this work?
Core Values = The fundamental beliefs of the organization that dictate behavior and serve a framework for employees to know the difference between right and wrong. I often refer them the core values as the lines in the sand which help us decide if you can continue working here.
As we move forward with Sparkchasers, Jenna and I thought we couldn’t go into 2018 with taking the time to define who we are and what we want to be. We’re starting the process of building a 5-year plan and we would struggle during this process without clarity on who we want to be down the road. Our experience has been that if we set a solid foundation and execute on our plan we can grow a business far beyond what most see as possible.
If you’ve read my Blog before, you probably know that I see growth and progress in the general aviation space. Manufacturers are getting some really cool products to market in reasonable time frame and customers seem to be buying and upgrading airplanes. There is so much more that Sparkchasers could do in this space, but for now we’re content with some pretty nice 1-year and 3-year growth numbers that we’ve hit while working on some foundation level items in the company. We’re excited for the bright future we have in front of us once we get through some of this much needed minutiae.
Have you seen our latest Vlog? We’re having fun doing these videos and hope you will check it out!