How To Write A Vision Statement For Your Business That Actually Inspires

Running a business is not easy- numerous stakeholders, team members, and clients have ideas on priorities, focus areas, and where the business should go.

They need a guiding light to stay inspired and closely aligned and channel their energies toward taking the business to the next level. An important job of a leader is to set a clear and compelling vision for the organization. This part is super important as it allows everyone to be on the same page when envisioning the future.

Making a vision statement means looking at a forward-looking view of your organization and clearly articulating a desired state for the business. In this forward-looking view, leaders often frame how they intend to differentiate the business from the competitors and drive their business priorities in an inspiring and relatable manner.

Let’s understand how we make an impactful vision statement embodying your ethics, values, and intentions. Also, we will review examples of vision statements from a few successful companies.

The Purpose Of A Vision Statement

A vision statement shouldn’t become a self-fulfilling prophecy with sky-high and romantic expectations. It is supposed to be a compass, directing your company and its people in the right direction to work towards a common goal or the company’s vision.

The main purpose of the vision statement is to set a broader strategic plan for your firm. It has to focus on your entire team, codifying expectations so each stakeholder knows what to work towards and finding ways to get there. In a way, the vision statement inspires the organization and gives people a strong sense of purpose and ambition.

How To Write A Good Vision Statement

Before you start writing your vision statement, there are three items you should keep in mind –

1. Involve – Rather than making it a top-down process, creating a vision statement should involve people at different levels, not just the leadership. It ensures that your entire team is aligned with the vision, having a personal stake and input into its creation.

2. Brainstorm – Ensure you brainstorm by including multiple perspectives, ideas, aspirations, and goals. This is also when you try to identify your change impact and USP.

3. Write and iterate – Create sample iterations from your brainstorming sessions. Don’t get hung up on creating the perfect statement immediately. Writing and rewriting statements with multiple objectives, ideas, and perspectives will ensure the best, most concise, impactful vision statement possible.

The building blocks are to create the right vision statement for your organization based on the best practices we have learned from our users.

Building Block 1 – Start with the end

To start with, start with the end in mind. This is often confused with what your company does today operationally. For instance, a publishing house prints books, but the intended outcome may be to educate people in their area of expertise and focus. There is a distinction between the two aspects, and you need to make it clear that you are mindful of what business you are really in.

Building Block 2 – State your USP

One of the main goals of a good vision statement is to present the differentiating factor your firm has against competitors. The question here is what part of your service or product makes you unique. It is extremely important to make note of this so the vision builds on this uniqueness.

Building Block 3 – Quantify

Your vision statement should have a quantifiable end goal. A common problem with vision statements is that they’re too vague and work in abstraction. You must clearly define your goals and how your company intends to follow them. Of course, that’s not to say you need to be hyper-specific about your goals. It just means that you should always be working towards an identifiable result; otherwise, you risk not having proper direction in your work processes.

Building Block 4 – Relevant To The Real World

This is the final checkpoint for a good vision statement. Remember, you are an organization that intends to either solve a problem or cover a gap in the market. That means your objectives should align with the real world. So, make your vision statement with an understanding of the real world, and ensure you paint an identifiable and understandable image for your clients, teams, and stakeholders so they can visualize your firm’s vision for the future.

Vision Statement Checklist

When writing your vision statement, following the steps above, you should be able to write the right statement for your organization. However, if you’re unsure if your vision statement is effective, we have a checklist that allows you to take a macro-level look at your statement to see if it’s impactful and well-written.

Is it concise? Have you written your goals, expectations, and future direction in the most concise way possible? If not, shorten it and remove any redundancies, repetitions, and useless words that are not needed to convey the same meaning.

Is it clear? Can someone unfamiliar with your company understand your values and objectives? Also, are there parts that are contradictory? Make sure you optimize your statement to reflect these aspects, too.

Does it have a definite time horizon? If not, define the approximate or broad-scope time horizon in which you anticipate your firm to have reached the objectives of that vision statement. This is also when you think your organization would’ve grown enough to warrant a rethink about the vision statement.

Is it stable? Is it something that communicates stability or becomes irrelevant with changing trends, technology, and society? If it is, simplify your goals to make them less susceptible to environmental changes.

Is it challenging enough? If your vision statement is too simplistic, you’re effectively curbing enthusiasm and innovation by following the simplest possible path, which can soon stagnate. It should have a goal that takes effort and dedication but is not so ambitious that it’s practically impossible.

Is it inspiring? The best vision statements inspire and motivate everyone involved in your firm’s functioning.

Vision Statement Examples

Here is a list of vision statement examples of highly inspiring and impactful businesses worldwide. These vision statement examples showcase the best practices in writing the vision statement.

Disney

To entertain, inform, and inspire people around the globe through the power of unparalleled storytelling, reflecting the iconic brands, creative minds, and innovative technologies that make ours the world’s premier entertainment company.

Amazon

Our vision is to be Earth’s most customer-centric company and build a place where people can find and discover anything they want to buy online.

To create the perfect Vision Statement for your organization that you can display, share, and visualize for all stakeholders, you can use some of our expertly built vision and mission statement templates that utilize vision science and storytelling to provide the right base for your company’s Vision Statement.

Some Of Our Best Templates For Vision Statement Examples Include –

Vision PowerPoint Template

Product Vision Template

Mission Vision Template

Check out many more vision statement templates examples to showcase your vision statement. Also, check out OKR Examples that also help define business goals or objectives and measure key results.