If we became this one thing, we would know we are successful and completely satisfied.

A Harvard study that looked across 20 industries showed that companies with a shared vision statement and a strong corporate culture based on shared values saw four times the revenue and seven times the job creation – stock prices grew twelve times faster and profits 750% higher2.

• Qualitative (how good it is) and quantitative (measurable). 

• Motivating and enticing to get people focused.

• Short, simple (no jargon), specific and aligned to our business values – the values we want our people to exhibit as they perform their job.

• Ambitious enough to be exciting but not unachievable.

If we think of our vision statement as the compass that prevents us from getting lost at sea, it will help us tunnel our vision towards the outcomes that matter the most to our business.

Every single thing that we include in our strategic planning and that we implement in our business from this point onwards can be measured against the vision.

• Cover 5-10 years or more into the future

• Be emotional and motivating for all employees and partners to understand and rally around

• Describe the dream we have, what we feel, hear, think, say or do

• Be written/said in plain words and may already be a common phrase within the company

• Say a lot in a few words

• Be a balance between aspiration (stretch) and reality (achievement)

• Be both extrinsic (based on external reward) and intrinsic (because it pleases us to do so).

• It’s not a positioning statement

• It's not a mission statement

• It shouldn’t be something we’ve already achieved

• It’s not the ‘how’ – not a strategic statement

• We need to be single-minded, keep tightening it, and not include everything!

While mission statements among similar businesses may be similar, vision statements should be genuinely different. So although a vision statement is not meant to be a positioning statement (how we position ourselves against competitors), maybe we want to be more inspirational.

Step 1 – The outcome

Step 2 – The twist

Step 3 – The quantification

Step 4 – The human connection

What is it we actually do? 

 At Blue Bay, we develop 360° brands. However, if we were to define this as an outcome, what we actually do is solve brand managers’ problems/challenges.

Many design agencies develop well-rounded brands, so what is it that we do differently to everyone else to make brand managers’ lives easier? Our unique selling point?

  We help to facilitate positive change from within the business. We don’t just do design, or advertising, or copywriting, or marketing or strategy. We do it all. But we handle only a few clients at a time, and we become part of their business. So much so that we become strategic advisors, coaching the business to make the move towards becoming a B Corporation.

Who are we actually talking to? Everyone? Or specific people within specific types of businesses?

 We’re actually very selective about who we work with. It’s not the industry category so much as the ethics, values and culture of an organisation that we look for.

This is a bonus, not a necessity, but it does make for a vision statement that people connect to. We’re looking for something that conjures up a solid mental image.

- A greater chance of success for every brand we touch.

- We put more time in the hands of the brand managers we work with.

- The brands we work with meet their full potential.

  Our vision is to facilitate positive change in the world by helping ethical brands meet their full potential and succeed.

Need help writing your vision statement? Let's talk.