Hello! Developing exponential growth means staying the course. The great thing about exponential growth is that suddenly everything explodes and you find yourself propelled into another world where it feels like all the doors are opening. But it’s important to keep your eyes fixed on what you’re called to do, and to stay the course. That’s why you need a VPT (Vision-Timing-Planning)! What is a VPT? I’ve taken it from DCPI, Dynamic Church Planting International, an international church planting training organization (more info? here). These principles also apply to charities and businesses. A Vision-Timing-Planning helps you put legs to a dream and stay focused on your vision, moving step by step to build a solid, lasting foundation.
How to prepare a VPT?
Step 1: Prayerful preparation
Prayer is an essential element, let’s not forget who the Boss is. Indeed, “There are many plans in the heart of man, But it is the Lord’s purpose that is fulfilled. ” . Spending time listening to him, will enable you to effectively find the following essential elements for your growth:
1. A statement of your unique vision
2. The model you will use
3. Your project philosophy
4. Your target
5. Your name, logo and motto
6. Your growth path: how will you get your target to where you want them to be?
7. How many team members and what skills will you need?
8. What is your strategy?
9. How will you support your family and your project financially?
10. What is your long-term plan for reproducing/multiplying your project?
Step 2: draw up a schedule and timing including
1. A prenatal period: the crucial time of preparation for your project, which involves a period between you and God, you and your team, your team and the parent organization (which accompanies you). 2. The birth: the launch, when your project will see the light of day, and even afterwards, people should know about it. How will you launch your project? How will you plan the first few weeks? How will you create the initial impact?
3. A post-natal period: once you’ve launched your project, you need to maintain it and ensure its continuity. How will you develop it? What’s the next step? What are the short-, medium- and long-term prospects? Who will you be working with?
4. Timing with objectives, dates and flexibility: set the main directions, a schedule and an agenda (there are several methods for this: GANTT, PERT for example). I also recommend that you set the 3 major tasks for each week, along with the 3 greatest challenges associated with them, and pass them on to your mentor or someone you trust. The aim isn’t necessarily to get feedback, but to keep yourself accountable, which will encourage you to put it into action and enable you to get support and help if you run into major difficulties.
Step 3: Budgeting
To do this, go back to your VPT, look at the whole picture and create a first draft budget. This won’t be definitive, but it will give you an idea of the project and the size of the funds needed to implement it. Don’t forget one thing at this point: God will never give you a vision that relies on your abilities, which will always exceed them, but God is the owner of all wealth and He provides the vision. With vision comes provision! I’d also advise you to draw up a financial dashboard showing your schedule and the income and expenditure it involves, which you’ll set up on a monthly basis so that you can keep track of it. It’s vital to keep track of both budgeted and actual figures, and to explain any discrepancies, as these are sources of progress each year towards a clearer, cleaner budget. We’re talking about your growth here, so remember to include in this process the key elements that will enable you to develop your spiritual maturity, your aptitudes and deepen your knowledge of your predispositions. The sum of all three will contribute to your optimal effectiveness. In this process you will experience different seasons, and next time we’ll talk about the different seasons we can experience and how to move from one to another. In the meantime, you can also follow us and share this article on social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and so enjoy our news. If you haven’t already done so, be sure to sign up by clicking on “I subscribe!” at the end of this article. Our Facebook page has changed: it’s now ExponenCiel. I’ll let you follow all our news by liking our page.
See you soon,
You are wonderful! Joachim Fontaine
Coach | Consultant | Trainer
