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Startup Library

1. Define my startup purpose

Why do you need a Vision statement?

A vision statement is used by founders to share with customers, employees, investors, advisors or anyone else interested in the business what the company is ultimately trying to achieve. It is about inspiring people to jump on the company bandwagon. A good vision statement captures the “raison d’etre” of a startup, or in other words, its purpose.

(The Mission Statement, on the other hand is about describing the service or product offered, to whom and where, that will enable the company to achieve the above purpose.)

Here is a blurb from an article from the folks at MaRS in Toronto on vision statements:

Vision statements in corporate culture
Make your vision statement a simple phrase that is easy to remember and understand. It should convey the desired view of your company and its underlying beliefs and values. The vision statement should also be inspirational and provide insight into how the company conducts business. It is more about a “feeling” that will grab stakeholders, rather than a nuts-and-bolts objective.

Example of a Vision statement
For example, an organization promoting literacy or selling books might have as their vision statement, “To create a world where every child reads.”

A Vision statement would not say: “We will teach five million people in North America to read by 2025.” That would be a Mission statement.

Source

Get started writing your vision and mission statements

Many entrepreneurs struggle when they start trying to put their direction and intent for their company to paper when they write their vision and mission statements with their teams. Here’s a simple cheat to help you get to “good enough” with your vision and mission — just answer the questions below as a starting point:

Vision/Purpose Statement
What you are ultimately trying to achieve?

Mission Statement
What service or product are you offering, to whom and where, to achieve your purpose?

Template
Use this template to write your vision and mission statement

Don’t spend too much time wordsmithing these statements at the beginning.

Depending on where you are in your startup journey and in your life journey, and depending on your depth of understanding of the customer and market need when you write these statements, just know you will likely be revising them anyway — to reflect the evolving story on your company’s true purpose and path to delivering on that.