Defining Your Strategic Intent
Any successful business—large or small—didn’t achieve success on good ideas alone. Succeeding in the business world requires what professors Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad term “strategic intent.” Strategic intent, they explain, is a business’ long-term, far-reaching goal. In order to determine your business’ strategic intent, you must not only consider what you want in the next five or ten years, but what you want to accomplish in a 50 year timeframe.
Your Company's Vision Statement
Many great business ideas turn into failures because the first and most important step in starting a business is overlooked: clearly defining its vision. The vision is the reason why you are starting your business. Unlike the mission statement, which states the specific goals of the company, the vision statement describes the greater, unquantifiable benefit your company will have for its customers and their lives.
Writing a Mission Statement
A mission statement lets those who come in contact with your company know the function and purposes of the organization in a few inspirational and clear sentences. The process of developing a the mission statement helps entrepreneurs reconnect with goals of the organization, and helps build consensus and alignment among staff.
