A vision statement is a written declaration clarifying your business’s meaning and purpose for stakeholders, especially employees. It describes the desired long-term results of your company’s efforts. For example, an early Microsoft vision statement was “a computer on every desk and in every home.”
“A company vision statement reveals, at the highest levels, what an organization most hopes to be and achieve in the long term,” said Katie Trauth Taylor, owner and CEO of Untold Content, a writing consultancy. “It serves a somewhat lofty purpose – to harness all the company’s foresight into one impactful statement.”
A vision statement matters because it outlines the common goal of everyone in the company. Businesses that are working toward a higher aspiration are more appealing to current and future employees.
A vision statement can affect a company’s long-term success, so take the time to craft one that synthesizes your ambition and mobilizes your staff.
Most of today’s millionaires weren’t born into their wealth, research shows. A study published by Wealth-X found that around 68 percent of those with a net worth of $30 million or more made it themselves. Further, a second study by Fidelity Investments found that 88 percent of all millionaires are self-made, meaning they did not inherit their wealth.
For self-made millionaires, coming into wealth isn’t always a simple process — many of them worked hard to achieve financial success and then used their smarts and savviness to put their new wealth in the right places. What do some of these self-made millionaires have in common, and what lessons can you learn for your own investment strategy?
How millionaires get rich
The Fidelity study showed that when considering their financial future, 30 percent of the millionaires surveyed said they were concerned with preserving their wealth, while 20 percent said they were focused on growing their fortune. This forms the basis of some basic strategies if you’re hoping to join the millionaire ranks.
“Today’s millionaires are multidimensional, and to really understand them, you need to look not only at their outlook but also at their path to wealth and their financial goals for the future,” said Sanjiv Mirchandani, former president of National Financial, a Fidelity Investments company.
Millionaires suggest several paths to building your wealth. Here are a few that you can learn for yourself:
Invest in different places and avenues
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Diversifying your investments helps manage risk by ensuring all your money is not at risk if a particular investment goes south.
Have multiple streams of income
Many self-made millionaires have money coming in from several places, including their salaries, dividends from investments, income from rental properties and investments they have made in other business enterprises, to name a few examples. If one income stream slows down, there’s another that can take its place. Much of this is called passive income, or money being earned without actively spending time and effort in the enterprise.
Reduce expenses
Before becoming wealthy, many millionaires created a habit of limiting spending. They devised a plan for the money they earned and strategically evaluated every aspect of their finances. Such an approach should start with cutting costs and eliminating any unnecessary debt that drains income and prevents accounts from growing.
