What Is a Vision Statement? + 21 Top Examples (2024) - Shopify (2024)

A vision statement is an aspirational statement made by a company that outlines long-term goals. A successful vision statement inspires employees and steers an organization’s efforts.

An inspiring vision statement motivates both employees and customers to be invested in their company’s journey toward achieving its desired plans. And inspired employees inspire customers, who can then inspire even more customers, helping make a business’s vision a reality.

Bottom line? Your vision statement is important when starting a business.

Ahead,take a look at some vision statement examples and strategies to inspire a vision statement for your business.

What is a vision statement?

A vision statement provides a brief description of a company’s long-term goals. It’s typically ambitious and communicates how the company plans to make a difference in the world. Think of it as a roadmap for making decisions that align with your company’s philosophy and objectives.

A good vision statement helps you:

• Inspire teams and keep them focused
• Connect with customers in niche markets
• Make smarter decisions
• Attract top talent

A vision statement is usually paired with a mission statement to guide planning. It doesn’t have a set length. You can craft a one-sentence statement or write a three-page document discussing the company’s future.

The goal of a vision statement is to differentiate yourself from competitors and focus efforts on achieving your objectives.

Vision statement vs. mission statement

A vision statement and a mission statement are a company’s purposes, goals, and core values. They’re similar and oftentimes confused, but there are some differences:

21 vision statement examples

Your vision statement is unique to your company, but it’s useful to see how popular brands express their future goals. Here are 21 examples:

1. Tesla

Vision statement: To create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles.

Tesla’s statement is focused on changing the car industry by fueling cars with sustainable energy. It’s a sweeping goal, and one that motivated Tesla to build one of the best car batteries ever created.

2. Abysse

Vision statement: Produce less, produce well.

Abysse is a swimwear brand with a commitment to sustainability and quality, inspiring a respect for and connection with nature. The brand has high standards for its manufacturing processes, focusing on conscious materials and practices and integration with the local community where it’s headquartered in Tahiti.

3. Amazon

Vision statement: To be Earth’s most customer-centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.

This statement communicates that Amazon wants to provide customers with anything they might want. Its aim is to build the company to be so expansive that any Amazon customer will never need to shop anywhere else again. This ambition to become every person’s one-stop shop has turned Amazon into the leading global ecommerce market.

4. United By Blue

Vision statement: A world without waste.

Sustainable goods brand United By Blue is another example of a brand with an environmentally conscious vision statement. United By Blue cleans up one pound of trash from the world’s waterways for every product purchased, in effort to support its vision.

5. Warby Parker

Vision statement: We believe that buying glasses should be easy and fun. It should leave you happy and good-looking, with money in your pocket. We also believe that everyone has the right to see.

Warby Parker started with the grand vision of innovating eyewear through social media. The brand used social media to advertise its products and raise awareness of the need for glasses and exams for people without access to these services.

Warby Parker’s vision statement conveys its belief that shopping for glasses shouldn’t be difficult or expensive and that everyone should be able to see. To that aim, it started the buy a pair, give a pair initiative. Every pair of glasses you purchase from Warby Parker will provide eye exams and glasses to those who wouldn’t otherwise have access to them.

6. SEPTEMBER

Vision statement: To be every woman’s first choice for confident and comfortable swimwear.

While Abysse leans into its conscious initiatives, SEPTEMBER has a different vision for its swimwear brand: to be approachable, comfortable, and the go-to bathing suit for women. Its products feature timeless designs for all body shapes and sizes.

7. Disney

Vision statement: To be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information.

Disney’s statement declares its goal is to be the place people turn to for content. The vision statement is simple and provides the company with the direction it needs.

To that end, Disney has news and entertainment content makers like ESPN, ABC News, FOX News, and Marvel under its umbrella.

8. RAEN

Vision statement: To create essential modern classics while constantly evolving and being inventive.

RAEN is a sunglasses brand with a vision of creating products that strike the perfect balance of innovation and timelessness. It constantly tries new designs with high-quality materials, including optics manufactured by Zeiss. Every piece is made by hand and intended to deliver comfort, style, and durability.

9. Coca-Cola

Vision statement: To craft the brands and choice of drinks that people love.

Coca-Cola has chosen a globally appealing vision statement. True to its word, Coca-Cola has become the world’s leading soft drink brand. It has a presence in more than 200 countries and owns more than 200 other brands—like Vitaminwater, Fanta, Honest Tea, and AdeS soy-based beverages.

10. Rhythm

Vision statement: To pave our own way as a leading alternative surf, swim and lifestyle brand in a market dominated by large commercial surf brands. To design premium products that are made for a coastal lifestyle and bring the brand story to life through products captured in an authentic, creative and realistic light.

Rhythm makes surf, swim, and streetwear for fashion-minded people who live at the beach and love to enjoy the ocean. Though this market is already saturated with brands like Billabong and Roxy, Rhythm had a specific vision to create its own distinctive identity with unique products.

11. Nike

Vision statement: Do everything possible to expand human potential.

Nike’s vision statement shows its commitment to making people better. It invests in scientific and technological advances in gear and clothing. It also has programs supporting sustainability and inclusivity, and bringing awareness to social issues.

12. Kotn

Vision statement: To create a world of timeless designs that honor the people who make them and the places they’re made.

Apparel brand Kotn is on a mission to change the way things are made in ways that are better for the planet and for people. Its first item? A classic t-shirt. Since then, Rami Helali has grown this vision into a certified B Corporation voted Best for the World, with the fourth-highest B Impact Score of apparel brands in North America. It actively invests in job creation, infrastructure, systems, and education to alleviate poverty and create growth for the communities in which it operates.

13. Nordstrom

Vision statement: To serve our customers better, to always be relevant in their lives, and to form lifelong relationships.

Nordstrom’s statement centers on serving its customers for a lifetime. Its vision shows the company values its customers first and foremost and believes in high-quality service and constant improvement for the sake of those customers.

14. Nude by Nature

Vision statement: In a world where everyone is striving for good—good food, good health, a good night’s sleep—make-up should be good for us too.

Australia-based cosmetics brand Nude by Nature doesn’t believe we should stop short of our commitment to clean, good-for-you ingredients when it comes to makeup. Just like health-conscious people are mindful of what they eat and do, they should be equally concerned about the ingredients in the products they put on their skin. Nude by Nature’s products are safe and clean, supporting its vision.

15. IKEA

Vision statement: To create a better everyday life for the many people.

IKEA’s statement shows its focus is the betterment of everyone’s life. As a company, it uses this vision statement to direct its ethics and what it calls the IKEA point of view.

The IKEA point of view includes initiatives on making its products in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way. It also includes the support of human rights and animal rights.

16. Dirty Labs

Vision statement: To make conventional, petroleum-based cleaning obsolete by using advanced bio renewable alternatives.

Laundry care brand Dirty Labs was created by scientists who saw a need to go against the status quo when it comes to detergent. When they set out to formulate their own laundry cleaner, most other brands sold petrochemical-based cleaners.

17. Southwest Airlines

Vision statement: To be the world’s most loved, most efficient, and most profitable airline.

Southwest’s vision statement makes it obvious that it wants to be a different kind of airline. While other airlines marketed themselves as exclusive and luxurious, Southwest promoted a company culture of love and acceptance. It even debuted with a love-themed marketing campaign and chose LUV as its stock market ticker symbol.

18. Rowan

Vision statement: To transform the pet coat-care industry with products using safe, premium-sourced ingredients.

Rowan makes and sells products to keep pets’ coats clean, fresh, and healthy. Free of toxic ingredients, Rowan’s founders saw a gap in the market, as most pet care products used cheap, ineffective, or potentially harmful ingredients. They worked with certified veterinarians to create a safe and effective product line.

19. Patagonia

Vision statement: To use all of its resources to defend life on Earth.

Patagonia’s vision statement shows it’s in it for the long haul in protecting the Earth. It even commits “all of its resources” to the cause. Patagonia makes it clear our well-being is directly connected to that of the planet.

You can see Patagonia’s commitment to this vision statement by the 1% tax it imposes on itself. The brand takes 1% of all sales and donates it to environmental nonprofits. It also actively supports environmental activists.

20. Chubbies

Vision statement: To create the most well-rounded, custom-built-for-the-weekend apparel on the planet and, not only that, a brand built by, and for, our community and 100% centered on that Friday at 5pm feeling.

Chubbies coined its “Friday at 5pm feeling” through distinctive branding, while taking advantage of a gap in the market for men’s shorts. Its vision involves creating a relatable menswear brand that strikes the perfect balance between business and fun, without going too far to either end of the spectrum. It’s built a sizeable customer base and tons of brand recognition.

21. Microsoft

Vision statement: To help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential.

Microsoft’s inspiring vision statement seeks to support people. You can see its intention isn’t about business, it’s about people and giving those people the tools to be their best selves.

With this aim, Microsoft has numerous initiatives. It’s a big supporter of inclusivity, diversity, environmental issues, and corporate responsibility. And to put its money where its mouth is, it offers free health care to all employees, including vision and dental.

Components of a vision statement

• Aimed at the future
• Shows ambition
• Defines your direction
• Reflects company values
• Inspires customers

Aimed at the future

Your vision statement is a clear big-picture template for you and your stakeholders. It shouldn’t be about your current objectives or short-term goals—leave that to your mission statement. It should describe something more significant.

A good example of this is the nonprofit Oxfam. Oxfam’s vision statement is to be “a self-organized people actively creating a just democratic and sustainable world where power and resources are shared, everyone lives in dignity, and poverty and inequality are no more.”

This is a very future-oriented goal. It not only seeks to alleviate individual poverty, Oxfam wants to change the way the world works so that poverty is completely eradicated.

Much like Oxfam, don’t be afraid to dream big with your vision statement. Remember, this is the long-term picture for your company, so it’s a good thing if that ideal is far reaching.

Shows ambition

A vision statement presents how your company is looking to grow and achieve more than just staying in business. If you don’t have a goal to aspire to, it will be difficult for your business to have any focused growth.

Defines your direction

It’s hard to get anywhere if you don’t even know which direction you want to head toward. Nailing down the projection you have for your ecommerce business enables you to make the right decisions to keep it on track as you grow. Decisions like what partnerships you make, whether or not you decide to make any collaborative initiatives, how and where you will expand—all of this will be guided by your vision statement.

Reflects company values

Vericast conducted a study in 2021 that showed 45% of consumers are more likely to pay more for the same product if the company is socially or environmentally conscious.

In other words, your company values matter to your customers. Your vision statement makes evident what your company prioritizes and what sort of company culture you bring to your employees.

Inspires customers

Your vision statement is a motivating factor for your customers and employees. The best statements inspire people and make them identify with your vision statement as if it were their own. That way your customers and employees become your allies in helping you achieve that dream.

How to write a vision statement

1. Identify your goals
2. Demonstrate your process
3. Get feedback
4. Provide a specific vision

1. Identify your goals

Your vision statement is not a strategic document like your business plan. It’s a clear vision that identifies your goals. Remember, these are not short-term goals.

Your vision statement goals should be:

• Long term (at least five to 10 years in the future)
• Aligned with your business values and short-term goals
• Focused on success
• Written in uncluttered, concise, jargon-free language
• Inspiring

2. Demonstrate your purpose

Once you pinpoint your goal, show what you’ll do to achieve it. In essence, how committed are you to achieving your vision?

Let’s look again at Tesla: it wants to change the car industry by transitioning it to electric cars. This establishes its purpose is to revolutionize the car industry, and it’s going to do that by producing electric cars that make you want to give up your gas-guzzling vehicle.

3. Get feedback

After you’ve done the brainstorming and drafted your vision statement, ask around for feedback. Your employees are the first group of people to ask. From there, ask friends, family, your social media following—anyone who you trust to share their honest opinion.

Some questions to ask are:

• Is the vision clear?
• Do you feel inspired by this company’s vision?
• Is it memorable?
• According to the vision statement, what do you think the purpose of this company is?

After you’ve gotten feedback, make adjustments and try again. Repeat this process as many times as you need until your vision is being communicated effectively.

4. Provide a specific vision

One business mistake new entrepreneurs encounter is not having a specific purpose. Remember, you’re projecting five to 10 years in your future. So your vision can change and be adjusted as your business grows, but the point is to think about what you want things to look like.

If you’re vague, it’ll be harder to take concrete steps toward achievement. It’s much better to be specific and then pivot if things change.

For example, take Patagonia. Initially, the brand focused on sustainability. But as the company grew, Patagonia pivoted its vision and mission statements to be more active in saving the Earth. And now, it commits all of its resources to save life on this planet.

Create the vision for your business today

Your company’s vision statement is an important aspect of your business and will aid you in achieving your long-term goals. It’ll keep you directed on the right path and inspire both your customers and your employees.

Don’t be intimidated. With the tips and examples we’ve provided above, you’re well on your way to crafting a great vision statement and starting a successful business.