Jim Casler
Jim Casler
North Coast Ag Advisors
Family Business Planning

231-218-7525

Know Your Numbers. 
Know Your Business.
  • Home
  • Financial Management
  • Succession Planning
  • About
    • Testimonials
    • In The News
  • Contact

What Is At Your Core?

7/19/2014

0 Comments

 

Statement of Core Values or 
Philosophy of Operations Statement

The final component of developing the foundations of the management system for your family business surrounds the beliefs and behaviors that you intend to follow or keep sacred in managing your family farm business. Specifically, a Statement of Core Values or Philosophy of Operations Statement.

In order for your family business to ascend towards its vision, core values must be clearly identified and communicated.  A well-developed Statement of Core Values will make it clear to the reader and your team whether your future plans for growth are reserved and conservative or aggressive, whether your priorities are based on the “here and now” or whether you value “the long term”.  Your Statement of Core Values also answers the question or how members of your family business should behave toward one another and your customers and vendors. 

READ MORE...


Read More
0 Comments

Mission.  Impossible? Nah!

7/12/2014

0 Comments

 

Your mission, if you choose to accept...

Vision-Mission-Core_Values_Statement_Business_Planning_Jim_Casler
Let’s begin with a quick review of the foundational elements of your family business management system; its vision statement, mission statement and core values.  We explored the reason your family farm exists and your “BIG WHY” with your vision statement that is Simple, Clear and Stimulating (SCS link).  

There are two remaining areas to explore and to help you develop the foundation to a long lasting family business and your management system:  Mission Statement and Core Values.  Let's explore mission statements a little further.

It is essential to understand how you are going to realize your family business purpose and attain your vision.  This is the function of your Mission Statement.  Many times, mission statements and vision statements are used interchangeably.  These are two distinct statements that serve two different requirements for your family farm. The mission statement clarifies and explains what the members of the organization will actually do to achieve the purpose and vision.

Carrying out the mission statement on a consistent basis helps your business achieve the purpose and pursue its vision.  I know it might be a little confusing, but your purpose, vision statement and mission statements all build upon each another and point everyone in the same direction.  There is a great amount of synergy that results by giving your team a clear sense about the principal role that they play.


"Outstanding people have one thing in common: An absolute sense of mission."

- Zig Ziglar


From a nuts and bolts standpoint, your mission statement is a clear and concise declaration about your business strategy that describes:

(a) the key products or services to be provided (the what), 
(b) the target market or primary customer (the who), 
(c) the primary business objective to be accomplished (the how) and,
(d) what value your are bringing.  
If your mission statement fails to describe these elements it can help create ambiguity about the basic purpose of your family business and what you hope to accomplish (vision).  Your company’s mission statement will most effective if it is written so your customers understand your purpose and how you provide value to them.
Additionally, and possibly most importantly, your mission statement ought to be the daily driver of action for your team and as such, it provides a “check and balance” for every goal, strategy and action plan that is undertaken.  If a business activity or decision conflicts with the mission statement, either the activity or decision is misguided or the mission statement is incorrect.
"If you have a family mission statement that clarifies what your purpose is, then you use that as the criterion by which you make the decisions."

- Stephen Covey



Your mission statement doesn’t have to look the same as everyone else’s.  Figure out what’s important to you and your clients and go from there.  Here are some examples of clear, concise and simple mission statements:

“At Chateau de Pahrump we grow grapes, make super-premium class wine and provide Northern Michigan hospitality with exemplary service from our one-of-a-kind site on Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula.  As good stewards of resources, our goal is to operate a profitable and ethical business that utilizes new technology and provides enjoyable work conditions with opportunities for advancement and personal growth. “

“Our mission is to transform natural resources into high quality livestock for domestic and foreign customers in a way that will provide a fair rate of return to our owners, a safe and satisfying working environment and be capable of providing income for future generations.”

“Our mission is to help connect people who want to sell a business with people who want to buy a business. We provide business owners and brokers with flexible options for listing their business online. For buyers, we offer helpful tools such as our saved listings feature and customized email alerts to make finding the right business easier.”


After you have developed your family farm’s mission statement, you will be ready for the final part of the foundational elements for your family business, core values. 


0 Comments

What Is Your SCS?

6/26/2014

0 Comments

 

So What Is Your SCS?

You spent some time thinking about thereal reason, or purpose, for your family farm or family business.  Let’s get cracking on the actual vision statement for your family business.  

Your big goal in this process is to create a vision statement that will have real meaning to people…especially your current and future team members…about the future direction of your family farm business.  From a simple, clear, brief vision statement your team members should be able to understand where the business is going and how they fit in.
Family_Farm_Business_Planning_Vision_Statement
Simple - Clear - Stimulating
A meaningful vision statement has the following features:

Simple - Your vision statement does not need to be long. Think about Disney; “To Make People Happy.”.  Fairly simple, eh?  Your challenge is to say a lot with a select few words.  

Clear – The ideal vision statement for your family business ought to be so clear and unambiguous that a total stranger can read it and know exactly what it means – An instant understanding of where you want your business to be in the future and what kind of affect you are trying to have in the world.
“To the person who does not know where he wants to go there is no favorable wind.”

— Seneca

Stimulating – Your vision statement must lay out an image for your family business that is exciting, thought-provoking and inspiring.  If it can be achieved in a year or two, maybe it’s not so challenging and is really just a target or an objective.   Think about Kennedy’s vision of getting a man on the moon.  Not just build a rocket or get a rocket to the moon.  It was a MAN ON THE MOON!  I would bet that was kind of inspiring and motivating for all the people involved in that project.  Obviously you may not have the resources for such a grand vision.  This exaggerated example was simply to show an extreme example of a clear vision statement.

Communication-Skills-Family-Farm-Business-Vision-Statement
Communicate. Communicate. Communicate.
Lastly this week, developing, sharing and communicating your family business vision statement is paramount.  Laying the foundation for an effective team beginning with your vision statement requires that it be rooted in your family business culture with regular communication – maybe even excessive communication.  
The communication and establishment of the vision begins with ownership and senior management and travels to all levels of your family farm business to become a regular, top-of-mind concept for your entire organization.  Once it becomes engrained, your vision becomes the stimulus for innovation, improvement, ingenuity, resourcefulness, effort and order that might propel your family business and the entire team to accomplish great things.   When family farms and family businesses come together around a simple, clear and stimulating vision statement it can make all the difference in almost all areas of your business.


0 Comments

Got Reason?

6/21/2014

0 Comments

 
Reason_For_Business_Existence_Purpose_Vision_Statement
So we talked about “Vision” last week and further explored the notion that your vision statement should answer the question, "Where do I see my business going in the future?”….what is the ultimate state of our family business in the future?

Before we further examine and put down on paper where your family business is going, let’s take a slight detour and first answer the reason why your family business exists in the first place.  You need to know why you exist before you can determine where you are going.  Does that make sense?  I hope so.
Is it that crystal clear to you, your family, employees, community, vendors, etc. why your business exists?  Is everyone on the same page…without hesitation?  I didn’t think so.  This is foundational stuff and takes a little thought and effort to seriously contemplate.

To help get you started, let’s look at the necessary first component required for developing your compelling vision statement for your family farm business.  The reason for your business.  Huh?  Remember, a well-crafted vision statement serves as a guide to help everyone and anyone to understand what business you are really in beyond just the product or service you provide.
The legendary Walt Disney certainly knew the reason for his theme parks when he began and developed a vision statement:  “To make people happy”.  All theme-park operations, people and training are with this idea of bringing happiness to millions of people around the world.

While the Walt Disney theme-park vision is short, it indeed let’s everyone know the reason this business exists.  When you work on creating your vision statement, start with a quick, simple, clear reason for the existence of your family business.  It does not have to be a lengthy and sophisticated statement that sounds all Madison Avenue.  Quite the contrary.  If you cannot do it in a relatively short statement, say 11-22 words, you’re doing it wrong.  Ha.  Think about the basics…the core meaning of your family business.  What do you think of this statement of purpose?


"If you don't know where you're going, it doesn't matter if your alarm doesn't go off in the morning."

- Denis Waitley 
“Enhancing your family’s well-being and the financial health of your business.”

Oh, I like it!   Wait.  It’s already taken.  It’s the purpose for my business advisory services.  Ha.  It’s pretty clear, short and sweet…don’t you agree?

So, what business are you really in and why does your family business exist?  Try not to just rush through this exercise for the sake of checking it off some list of things to do.  This is a core element in what will become your vision statement:  the foundation upon which your entire family-business operations, policies, decision-making, investments, etc. are all derived from.  Once you have clarified, on paper, the core reason for your family business’s existence, you will be ahead of 70% of your industry peers and developing a stronger foundation for your continually successful family business or family farm.


0 Comments

Vision? Who has time for vision? 

3/29/2014

0 Comments

 

"Vision? Who has time for vision? I'm busy running a business!" 

During a recent conversation, a farmer client business owner expressed these exact same words.  These are probably the most ironic statements a business owner could ever make.

When you or someone in your business begins the process of planning for the future of their family business, it is important to thoughtfully consider the goals for the plan and the business as a whole.  
Far too often, families enter into the succession planning process from a single issue frame of mind, such as estate tax avoidance or what documents to we need to execute. 

Well hold on cowboy!  This approach usually leads to an incomplete plan, or a plan that fails to recognize the needs and desires of ALL key members of the business. A more formalized process of setting and prioritizing goals for the farm succession plan can help ensure that the resulting plan best fits the unique needs of the business-owning family. 
Vision, Mission and Goals are a big part of the ongoing succession planning process.  They provide direction in developing a plan.  The process of establishing both family and business vision, mission and setting goals can help owners, managers and family members understand their priorities better.  A well-developed set of vision, mission and goals becomes the basis for many decisions that are made in a business or farm succession plan.
Reduce your plan to writing.  The moment you complete this, you will have definitely given concrete form to the intangible desire.
- Napoleon Hill
 For detailed way of thinking about goals and helping you prioritize, send me an email requesting the Goals Worksheet.  I promise:  
  • It’s hard work,
  • Requires you to dedicate a solid 2-3 hours to the process,
  • Is possibly something you may have never done before and,
  • Is usually worth the effort.

0 Comments

    Categories

    All
    Agriculture
    Benchmarking
    Best Practices
    Business Planning
    Challenges
    Communication
    Conflict Resolution
    Core Values
    Delegation
    Dysfunction
    Education
    Family Business
    Family Farms
    Family Meetings
    FarmFutures.com
    Farm Management
    Farm Pictures
    Financial Management
    Generation Gap
    Goals
    Harvesting
    Humor
    Improvements
    Interviews
    Jim Casler
    Job Descriptions
    Leadership
    Lessons
    Long Term Planning
    Management Systems
    Management Transition
    Michigan
    Mission
    Newsletter
    North Coast Ag
    Operating Philosophies
    Operations Manual
    Outside Business
    Personal Accountability
    Pictures
    Podcasts
    Policy Creation
    Press
    Project
    Project Planning
    Quotes
    Responsibility
    Roles
    Standard Operating Procedures
    Strategic Planning
    Strategy
    Succession Planning
    Teamwork
    Testimonials
    Thanksgiving
    Thought Of The Day
    Transition Planning
    Traverse City
    Video
    Vineyards
    Vision
    Wine
    Winery Benchmark Programs


    Reader Feedback

    Archives

    June 2020
    August 2016
    July 2016
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014

    RSS Feed



    Author
    Picture
    Jim Casler
    Tweets by @JimCasler
Services
Family Business Planning
Financial Management
Succession Planning
Real Estate

Testimonials
Newsletter
About
Contact Jim

Know Your Numbers.
Know Your Business.
​


​Contact Jim
PO Box 2, Kaleva, MI 49645
231-218-7525
email
Copyright  2016 - 2023
Sitemap
Jim Casler - agriculture - family-business - family farm - financial management  - consultant  - advisor - succession, business and transition planning - real estate - Michigan