the Vision

i dunno why i'm fired up about the vision, but it's what i see to be the #1 pitfall of most startup companies in the surf/snow/skate industry today. the deal is that to develop a successful brand, there must be a vision. if one doesn't have the vision of what their company will become, or how it'll affect their world, then how can they believe that they will build a successful company? will power? sounds almost like common knowledge: must have a vision. but a lot of people don't realize it. i just happened to recently run into a representative of a local san diego "company". i asked him 3 questions that i think every brand should be able to answer with confidence, and here's how it went:

me: what/who is your target market?
him: the action sports groups.
(that's very vague. surf? snow? skate? mx? they're all different with low chances of cross over success. better to choose 1.)

me: what does [company name] produce?
him: some t-shirts, hoodies, stuff like that. all sorts of stuff, actually. and we throw parties.
me: is it a clothing company?
him: not really, we're just into action sports and chicks.
(if a company doesn't produce a good or service, then how does it earn revenue? and why do americans overuse the word 'actually'? but back on point, if you don't know what your company produces, then how will the consumer?)

me: what is [company's name] competitive advantage?
him: well, we have bartenders sporting our t-shirts. that good representation.

at this point, i was over it. if you're gonna start a company, you'd better have a vision. it provides focus and credibility. time for me to back it up? automaton appeals to the snowboard market by producing high-quality and perfomance freestyle snowboards with a brand to match. Snowboarding Saves Lives! but Auto's competitive advantage is for me to know only...