Have you ever been stuck?
I have.
In fact, a vivid memory from my teenage years includes an Allis Chalmers 6080 and the wet spot in our back 40. I spun the tires, but the constant effort failed to move me forward. I was stuck.
Sometimes, we can feel “stuck” in the progress of our businesses too. We are putting in the hard work, but not really getting ahead. What we really want is to gain traction, so we can get out of the muck and move forward as a team in the direction of our long-term goals.
Some of the top dairy consultants I speak with on the Uplevel Dairy Podcast are borrowing concepts from the book “Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business” by Gino Wichman to assist their dairy farm clients and their leadership teams in grabbing a gear and getting their wheels turning with strategic vision and action.
The book lays out eight questions for clarifying the long-term vision of the business and identifying the most important priorities to direct every-day actions and decision-making so that you and your team can get on the same page, make decisions more effectively, save time and reveal income-generating opportunities.
These are the eight questions, based on Wichman’s framework:
- What are your core values?
- What is your core focus - what are you selling, what is your niche?
- What is your 10-year target - your bigger picture for your business? What are you really working toward?
- What is your 3-year picture? How will your business look 3 years from now?
- What is your marketing strategy, including how do you position your product in the market place and how are you protecting your profitability?
- What is your 1-year plan: the specific targets and SMART goals you want to hit in the next 12 months?
- What are your priorities in the next 90 days, which will get you closer to your 1-year plan goals?
- What are your “rocks” - the issues, the things that could get in the way?
Take the time to sit down and answer these questions for yourself and with your team. It may take time. It may not be perfect the first time. But it will bring up important conversations critical for the future of your dairy to get you unstuck and moving forward faster.
Curious how other dairy producers answer these questions?
Listen to this Uplevel Dairy Podcast, featuring three dairy farmers who shared their vision and how they are gaining traction during the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) Young Cooperators session at the 2023 World Dairy Expo.
Download the Vision/TractionTM Organizer here: https://www.eosworldwide.com/vto
