Set out a blueprint for your ambitions

Work on your business blueprint to ensure your venture is big on ambition, writes Manar Al Hinai.

My friend is launching a multi-brand boutique in the UAE and is in the process of signing with different designers to work on an exclusive collection for her store. But what frustrated her was that many of the well-known upcoming abaya or kaftan designers in the UAE, whose collections she was looking forward to carrying in the boutique, did not have a long-term vision or strategy planned. “When I asked them to share their vision for the next year, they’d say they didn’t have one, and are going with the flow,” she told me.

I agree with my friend. Many of the designers I meet say they design and sell whatever trends their customers are into these days. They have not developed a business plan, nor do they have an accountant. They also do not know where their business journey will take them next year.

As a result, when I visit the different pop-up events in the Emirates, I find extremely similar designs and creations across many collections and sometimes at the same events. It seems there is no differentiating factor between them except for the business name plastered above the booth. They are all clones of each other.

The conversation with my friend took me back a few years to when I was discussing establishing my marketing and branding consultancy with my mentor. The day we met I was excited, energetic and full of ideas of what I wanted to achieve, who I wanted to do business with and what my office space would look like. He smiled, told me to slow down, and then said while it all sounded great, what was my long-term plan? Where did I see myself in five to 10 years? What did I want to build year-on-year?

I confess I was taken aback. Five years? I could not think past the first year. I was only thinking of my first couple of projects at that stage, let alone anything further down the line.

He then told me how he visualises every aspect of his life, something I also did, but never for my career. I do, however, constantly work on my visualisation list for my personal life. But my mentor had it all planned out. When he graduated from university, he sat down and worked on a blueprint for his career. He visualised every aspect of it, from which cities he would like to gain experience from to his 10-year plan. By the time he was in his early thirties, he had already achieved everything he had written down in his blueprint.

He then thought: “Now what do I do?” and thus started working on his next 10-year plan. By doing so, he kept his aspirations in check and was constantly developing. As a result he has gone on to beat his own expectations; he became a board member and managed some of the region’s leading entities.

What he said struck a chord with me. Even when I had achieved a fraction of the items on my personal visualisation list, I felt a great sense of achievement. Some entrepreneurs often limit themselves and their potential, and just think about the now, disregarding what they could achieve in a year or more had they properly planned and strategised.

After our meeting, I worked on my own career blueprint. I am very proud that as a result of that process, my consultancy continues to grow and develop and is taking me on exciting new adventures.

I constantly add to that list, with each goal and ambition more crazy than the previous one. My mentor has set me in motion and I now have endless ambition.

Before you launch your business, work on your business blueprint. Start with the first three years and build from there. To make the exercise more exciting, also involve your team and have a quarterly meeting to see what you have all achieved so far. As much as I love spontaneity, a bit of career planning does no harm. In fact, it sets everything in the right direction.

Manar Al Hinai is an award-winning Emirati writer who manages a branding and marketing consultancy in Abu Dhabi. Twitter: @manar_alhinai.

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