Many companies spring up all the time but what makes some successful while the other falter? It’s believed that a company that has a clear vision and mission tends to be more successful because they know exactly where they want to go.

A simple vision should be timeless and exemplify your company’s core values. Take HP’s for example: “To view change in the market as an opportunity to grow; to use our profits and our ability to develop and produce innovative products, services and solutions that satisfy emerging customer needs.”

Notice that they don’t specifically name products or programs but just that they aim to “satisfy customer needs” by using their ability to “develop and produce innovative products”. A vision should withstand the test of time while upholding what the founders want to achieve. Check out how this article for how to handle bad reviews.

Find out what your core values are as well. Your set of core values should be no more than 5 separate ideals, more than that would create confusion within and outside your company. Coming up with five words to describe your company may be very difficult. An exercise you can do is the Mars trip.

The mission is to build a clone of your company in Mars but you can only put five people on your team in the spaceship. Who would you choose? When you choose the “who” you can find the “why” which will help you discover your core values. For example, Pam would go board because she brings integrity and honesty while Jim has a seat because he’s innovative. Do this and then ask yourself why over and over again why you chose them, the more you ask the more you can dwindle down the options! Knowing what you stand for will help the success of your business.

Values, mission statements and core values should be upholding even your market doesn’t agree with you. They are ideals you should stand by. If the market you’re in doesn’t like them, don’t change for the market, change the market you’re in. Take a look at this article about Airbnb and their fight for what they believe in.