Business purpose

Writing your vision

What is a vision?

A short statement that communicates the long-term purpose of your business.

It describes the desired future state for your business, the impact it aims to make on the world, and what it hopes to achieve.

A good vision should be clear, concise and memorable. It should capture the essence of what your business is aiming to achieve.

What should you consider when writing your vision?

• Ambition – Where your business wants to be if it achieved all its goals. This should be challenging and inspiring.
• Your focus area – Make sure your vision is really relevant to the market or markets you work in.
• Customers – Who are your target customers and what do they want or need from your product or service?
• What makes you unique – What makes your business stand out from its competitors?
• Purpose/Impact – The positive change that your business wants to make.

Three top tips for your vision:

1. Think long term – Your vision should be ambitious. Think about where you want your business to be in 5-10 years.
2. Be optimistic – Your vision should be realistic, but detail what would happen if you achieved all your goals.
3. Keep it simple – Write in plain, simple language. This will make it easier to remember and share with others.

Writing your mission

What is a mission?

Your vision is all about your future. It answers the questions of where you want to be and why.

Your mission should say what your purpose is right now. It answers the questions of what you do now and why you do it. It is how you’ll achieve your long-term vision.

For example:

• Vision Statement – “To become the world's leading provider of sustainable energy solutions.”
• Mission Statement – “To create high-quality solar panels that allow our customers to reduce their carbon footprint and achieve energy independence.”

Start by answering these questions:

• Purpose – Why was your business set up? What does it aim to achieve?
• Ambition – If your business achieved all its goals, what would happen?
• Your focus area – What market or markets are you working in?
• Customers – Who are your target customers and what do they want from your product or service?
• What makes you unique – What makes your business stand out from its competitors?
• Purpose/Impact – What positive change does your business want to make in society?

Your unique selling point (USP)

What is a USP?

Your business can have one or many USPs. A USP is a benefit that sets you apart from other businesses in your market.

It might be a feature of a product, or a part of how you operate or your brand. The key point is that it acts as a reason for a customer to select you over another business. Compare yourself to other businesses that work in your target market or markets. These are your competitors.

Why have a USP?

Being clear on what unique benefits you can bring to your customer helps you to stand out.

You can use your USPs to make business decisions.

You should aim to make choices that protect and market your USP. This means creating a marketing and sales strategy that uses your USPs to appeal to your target market.

What aspects of your products and services can be a USP:

• The price.
• The quality.
• How easy it is to purchase and use them.
• How innovative their features are.
• The customer service you offer.

Create USPs for your target customer

There are two factors that contribute to an effective USP. The first we have covered – being unique. The second is your ability to sell your target customer what they want, the way they want it.

To make sure you are set up to do this, we’ll next help you define your target market. You can do this using ‘personas’. These are fictional depictions of the types of customer you are trying to sell to.

Personas will help you focus on your customer’s needs. You can then start to narrow down what you can offer them that’s unique.

To build your personas, write down:

• Basic details about your customers – This might include their age, where they live, what their income is, and any relevant views or beliefs.
• What kind of lifestyle do they lead? – Is your service aimed at food lovers, thrill seekers, busy parents, office workers? When are they typically online, or how do they use technology throughout their day?
• What do they enjoy and do? – What are their interests, and how do they connect to your business?
• How do they want to connect with you and others? – Are you talking to them on a channel that works for them?

Tips:

• You may have more than one persona – You can do this activity as many times as you need to cover the different types of people you want to target.
• Use analytics and data – This helps to get a clearer idea of who visits your pages and sites, and what they like.

Turn personas into USPs

Once you’ve put these personas together, you should have a better idea of how you can meet their needs. For each of the personas you create, think about how your business might do this.

Once you’ve done this, you should:

Goals should be SMART

SMART is an acronym that gives you a framework for setting and achieving goals. SMART gives you a clear idea of what goals should look like, so your goals can be more consistent and effective.

SMART stands for:

1. Specific
2. Measurable
3. Achievable
4. Relevant
5. Time-bound

Let's take a closer look at what each of these mean. Select each one to find out more.

Recap

In this lesson, you learned how to:

• Craft your vision, mission and goals.
• Develop your customer personas.
• Find one or more USPs.
• Turn your purpose into a brand identity.

If you haven’t already, you should take some time to create:

• Your vision.
• Your mission.
• One or more USPs.
• Short, medium and long-term goals.
• Your purpose-led brand identity.