Do you have a vision statement for your company already? If you do, that's great! But if you don't, or you'd like to tweak yours a bit, this blog post is just for you.
But before we address why you need a vision, let's talk about what a vision is.
What is a Vision?
Your vision describes what your company wants to achieve in the future. It is the highest aspiration you wish to attain and so it is important to know what that is, so that you can begin to figure out how you want to get there!
Why do you need a vision statement?
Having a well crafted and documented vision is important because it describes what your company wants to achieve in the future. A vision guides your day-to-day decisions and activities that you embark on. Now those activities must be relevant to achieving the goals, strategies and tactics that lead to your vision. The tactics form the basis for the standard operating procedures (SOPs), which are simply a documentation of processes.
It's the highest aspiration you wish to attain, so it is important to know what this is, so that you can begin to figure out how you want to achieve it!
Your vision affects pretty much every decision your business makes - from the goals you set, to your recruitment procedures, down to driving your business culture and so on.
For instance, if you are in the process of recruiting new employees, it's important to create your vision before you begin as it should guide your hiring process. This is because it brings clarity to the skills and experiences you'll need to look for in the people you would hire in order to get you to this Vision.
Creating your vision doesn't have to be overwhelming. You can do this by asking yourself certain questions that will point to what you want in a vision.
Let's have a case study to demonstrate. TJ Logistics is a bike courier service in Lagos. We will assume they are trying to create a vision statement with the following questions:
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What do you want to be known for? What does your business do?
TJ Logistics would like to be known as a logistics firm that provides reliable and cost-effective same-day delivery services for businesses and individuals in Lagos.
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What would you like your business to become?
TJ Logistics would like to become a premium logistics provider in Lagos. Customers won't have to go anywhere else because their services would be world-class and super affordable.
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What would you like your business to strive for? What reputation? What level of excellence?
For example, would you like to become "The best in" …or "A leader in..." your industry? It could be whatever you like or you deem fit.
TJ Logistics would like to be the most affordable and reliable. His company will go over and beyond to ensure that when customers want efficient, reliable and affordable services, they think of TJ Logistics.
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Who is your customer?
Their customers are corporate businesses and individuals.
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Where would you like your business to get to in future?
They would eventually like to expand nationally, beyond Lagos.
Once you've answered these questions, you will then identify the keywords that stand out from the answers. For TJ Logistics, these words have been emboldened. Played around with, they finally settled on "To be the most reliable, cost-effective, same-day logistics provider for businesses and individuals in Lagos and beyond".
Not bad right?
Now come up with your own Vision statement.
Don't worry, it doesn't have to be perfect at your first attempt. It will become clearer as you go along and you can always come back to it later, to improve on it.
For now, you'll have something to work with.
