Your mentor or consultant tells you that you need a vision, but you have no idea where to start. You do not even know why.

Let me simplify things. Vision is all about knowing what you want your commercial dream to look like in about 5-10 years. It gives focus to your initial decision making.

In the space of 36 hours, I was given three wonderful examples of this exercise, while touring around Israel this week.

About 30 minutes north of Tel Aviv is Utopia Orchid Park. Now you may not expect a small tropical paradise to be located on an old kibbutz, but that is what I found.

Once through the obligatory (?) shopping area, we came out to a mock equatorial waterfall. Orchids, carnivorous plants, butterfly enclosure, cacti and more. Simple, but an effective piece of escapism from the hassles of city life.

And here’s my point. This park was created from nothing. Somebody must have had an idea, and knew what they wanted to put together. The paths around the park fitted together effortlessly, as we moved from theme to theme. Vision, and you can see how they want to develop the place further.

From Kibbutz Bahan, we motored northwards, coming out in the Galilee, just below Safed. We stopped at a modern shopping centre. If you looked carefully, you can still see the old buildings from 130 years ago, made from black volcanic rocks.

And occupying barely 25 sq meters of one of the ancient structures is an innocuous-looking pizza parlour, “Siciliano Pizza”. No website. Just a small sign outside. Don’t ask me why, something encouraged me to go in.

45 minutes later, I left with a very satisfied stomach – possibly the best pizza I have ever had. Not greasy nor overburdened by spicy tomato paste. It was light and very tasty. The table cloths were clean – even looked like something out of a mock Italian gangster film. And the multiple “pregos” from the staff sounded genuine. 

Simple and effective – this guy knows what he is doing and how he wants to appeal to customers.

10 minutes later, I had made it to our boutique hotel, “House in the Galilee” (BayitBagalil). If the pictures on the website look nice, they do not do the place justice.

The hotel is located on the edge of a forest. Everything seems to have been thought through in detail – the Arabic floor tiling, the short distance of the outdoor pool from the hotel itself, an excellent chef menu, a spa offering unique treatments, and much more. And staff that offer you a smiley good morning.

You left feeling wonderful and relaxed, wondering why more people cannot create such an effective business model.

Your turn.