Think about the future of your business.

• Where do you want it to go?
• What will it look like?
• How will it be perceived by customers, employees, shareholders, competitors and analysts?

Vision - What It Is & Why You Need One - If you can answer these questions, you're on your way to creating a powerful vision for your firm. A company vision is critical to any organization that wants a clear direction for its business.

Vision is one of the most misunderstood business concepts. Many companies confuse vision with mission. Here's the difference.

• A company vision articulates what you want for your business - what it will look like in the future, how big it will grow, how it will be perceived by the outside world.
• A company mission clarifies how you will get there - the value you'll offer, the products or services you'll provide and the way you'll deliver them.

Without a clear vision, a company simply gets through each day with nothing specific to reach for. The organization floats along aimlessly. Employees become disenfranchised, customers drift, and management gets frustrated.

With a clear, successfully communicated vision that everyone embraces, management has a clear focus when making decisions about the company and employees feel they are part of something bigger than their individual positions. A shared vision provides a starting point for all the company's decisions for strategic planning, operations, marketing, technology and finance.

Visions are as varied as the companies that create them. Some focus on the competition, others center on product and services still others on community contributions. Some visions articulate an ambitious goal, while others specify market share. Here are some examples of effective vision statements.

• "Year after year, Westin and its people will be regarded as the best and most sought after hotel and resort management group in North America." -Westin Hotels
• "Land a man on the moon and safely return him to earth by the end of this decade." -President John F. Kennedy
• "Become #1 or #2 in every market we serve and revolutionize this company to have the speed and agility of a small enterprise." -General Electric

Developing a vision takes time and effort. Don't waste that investment by keeping your vision a secret. Tell the world and get people excited about it!

GE's Jack Welch is one of the business world's greatest visionaries. His vision was to make GE "the world's most competitive enterprise." For Welch, true leadership comes from a clear vision and the ability to spark others to perform extraordinarily.

Start internally with management and employees. Find out what they think of the vision and how they believe they can contribute to making it a reality. Ignite their passion for the vision so they get excited about working toward it. When people feel invested in a larger purpose, their individual roles become more meaningful.

Communicate your vision externally as well, in sales communications, on your web site, during public speaking events. Prospects, customers and analysts are drawn to firms they believe are going somewhere. Be one of those firms!

"You've got to think about big things while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction." - Alvin Toffler

Developing business strategies that align with your vision