STRATEGIC VISION: How and Why!

November 20th, 2007 · No Comments

Last night I attended a small presentation by Paul Brainerd at the University of Washington, Bothell Campus. I was very impressed. Paul talked about his foundation, The Brainerd Foundation, and most importantly how they go about allocating the 2-3 million in grants they give out each year. The Brainerd Foundation specializes in place based conservation. Place based means they find a place, geographic, that is environmentally important and viable for change and try to develop the “sustainability” of the community in that place.

Sustainability, what is it? Well it is really a pretty broad term encompassing socio-economic-politico-cultural community. Everything is so connected. No community is an island. Paul spent considerable time describing the research they do to find an area that is both important and viable. Once they find this place they invest money in other non-profit organizations that work to institute change in the community. They aren’t throwing money at communities that aren’t willing to change. Rather, they are finding communities that are on the brink of change and helping to move them in the right direction. You can learn more about Paul and what they do on his website.

What I really got out of it was the concept of a Strategic Communication Plan; the outcome of the research and how they go about implementing their vision. I am going to walk through this process and then insert examples of how, in my own business as a Seattle real estate agent, this applies.

First they created their vision of helping to create sustainable communities through grants to non-profits. My vision is to create a sustainable business in Real Estate that is education based and helps first time buyers into a home. By building my business on education and being 100% client centered, it will be based on positive relationships and eventually self supporting through referrals from satisfied clients.

They researched the possible geographic areas for environmental, social, economic, political, and even media presence and form. I have researched the Seattle real estate market for education, marketing, client, market share, and interest. Finding a definite need for a client centered specialist that works with first time buyers and second time move ups.

Understanding that they only have 2-3 million dollars to allocate to specific non-profits they search for the greatest impact from their investment. What a business would think of as Return on Investment or ROI. Understanding that the scarcest resource that I have at my disposal is time; have to find where to most effectively spend my efforts toward building relationship and providing education and consultation. My business is built on First Time Home Buying Seminars and other Financial Planning Seminars in addition to many other educational programs I am involved in, like my blog www.GuideToSeattleRealEstate.com.

Once they have found a target for their place based conservation, they spend their resources on non-profits that can affect change. I asked him how they best affected change in a community and shockingly enough is was by building relationship. If the right 5-6% of the population is influenced, then the rest will generally follow. People that seek out education before making important decisions are also typically the same people that others turn to for advice and direction. So by spending my efforts building relationship with the right 5-6%, others will follow and create a business that is itself sustainable.

Of course once they have spent their money they check back and attempt to measure the results. Typically 2-3 years later. They maintain a 15-20% failure rate, if they are not pushing the envelope enough then they are not effectively leveraging their funds. Just like playing the stock market. The larger the risk the greater the possible return. As I have been developing my business model and forming my strategic vision I have accepted a much higher risk level. I think that as an entrepreneur the risk level must be more along the lines of 60-80%. If I am not totally pushing the limits, I am not learning and I will not have the chance for the return that I am looking for. By risk I mean the ROI on the time I spend on specific task, not how I work with clients once I establish that relationship.

I have many books that have vocabulary sections that have phrases in them like “Strategic Communication Plan” and many others, but when I hear about the correct implementation and how these terms are used I really begin to understand what they mean and how to effectively use them in my business. Without great examples like these, they are just vocabulary words and have little impact on my business.