Right now you probably just want to build a business–any business–that makes money. Maybe you’re a bit more fussy; maybe you want to know that this business will provide value and be useful to it’s customers or that it will help to save the world in some way. That’s great – these are all legitimate reasons to build a business. But before you start (or before you go too far), it’s important to consider what you really want from your business, or will want from it in the future.

Once your business is performing at it’s peak, what do you want it to look like? Do you want to be working 20 hour days building and building until you finally sell out – only to start the whole process again? Or do you want to build a business that will provide you with recurring income for the rest of your life, work on it only when you want to and be location independent? Everyone has different desires from their business and it’s important to recognize your own.

Remember that your priorities might change in the future. Lots of business owners really love working on their business, and they involve themselves in their business so much that they are practically inseparable from their business. But then something comes up. Maybe they realise that they want to spend more time with their loved ones, or maybe they have an irresistible buy out proposal and they need to separate themselves from their business.

This can be very difficult, often frustrating and sometimes impossible. Don’t be the entrepreneur who ‘becomes’ her business. In order to maintain flexibility, always consider the business to be a separate entity (as it is – unless you are actually self-employed which is a different thing altogether).

Planning Your Ideal Business Part One

If you already have a business idea, start here – if not, skip to the next set of questions:

In it’s prime what will your business look like?
Why will your business be the best in it’s industry?
How many customers will you have?
How many employees will you have?
What will the business’ turnover be?

If you don’t yet have a business idea, answering these questions will help you to filter out business ideas that occur to you in future that won’t fit with your ideal lifestyle.

Planning Your Ideal Business Part Two

What will your business’ profits be?
What will your personal income be?
How many hours a week will you need to work on it?
How many hours a week would you like to work on it?
Will you be able to travel whenever you want for as long as you want or will you be tied down?

Create a Clear Vision of What You Want

Our minds are capable of visualization for a reason. When you wake up, you briefly visualize what you’re going to have for breakfast before you make it. You don’t have to actually put soy-sauce on your cornflakes and eat it to know that it’s not going to taste very nice. Your imagination does that part for you. Exercising your imagination: consciously visualizing the outcome of possible actions before you take them and paying attention to your feelings before you take those actions on autopilot “because they make sense” will save you a lot of time and grief.

The best exercise that you can do to make sure that the business that you grow is a blessing and not a burden, is to close your eyes and imagine owning your business. You can leave some details blurry–like what the business actually does if you don’t yet have a business idea. What does it feel like owning your business as you imagine it? Do you have a niggling feeling that something isn’t quite right? Try to pinpoint it and address it.