Today on our advent calendar journey we venture deeper into Gaming Corps’ strategic platform – the business blueprint of the company. This time focusing on vision.
The first entry presenting our strategic platform focused on business idea. We made that the starting point since the business idea is very much rooted in the now, outlining the very fundamentals of a commercial entity: the offer. For most budding entrepreneurs, big or small, a company starts right there, with a clear idea of what to sell and to whom. For Gaming Corps the business idea was also they only key ingredient that was kept from the old organization when the new strategic platform was put in place. To move Gaming Corps forward, the management team set out a while back to define the existing business idea further and also outline a vision and a brand identity. The result was the Gaming Corps’ strategic platform which relays what we do, where we come from, where we are going, how we want to be perceived, what we stand for, what we promise our stakeholders and who those stakeholders are. The platform is a tool on which we will form our daily strategic efforts to move the company forward, and a tool on which we build communication towards all stakeholders.
Once you know what it is that you are doing, it is important to explore and then define where you are going. Where do you want to take your company? What is the overall goal of the business? Why are you making this effort? Knowing where a company is headed and having that goal pointed out is very important; internally for morale, joint purpose and coordination, and externally for sending the message to your stakeholders that this is our chosen path. “Stay with us and this is where we aim to end up, join us on the journey towards this goal!” In short, this is where the vision comes in play. As with the business idea, we want to share what we at Gaming Corps mean by the concept of vision, to provide clarity.
A vision is an overall goal statement that shows the direction in which a company is heading. It is grand and contains the company’s dreams for the future. A vision must be clearly formulated in the future tense – if focused on the now or the past it is not a vision. However, to make it reasonable for someone to work towards, it should be attainable (of course by hard work and determination) within approximately five to ten years. That is long enough to enable a truly successful journey, but not so far off that the road seems too long. Hence – balance. In the same way balance is needed in content. A vision must be grand and substantial to serve a purpose, if it is something narrowly defined that can be achieved within say 6 months by making a substantial acquisition, it is not a vision but a goal. However, the vision must still be plausible. If your current business is providing auto repairs in a small town, having a vision that says you want to be among the top 10 ice cream wholesalers in your country, is not very plausible. Hence the vision should be grand and difficult to achieve, but still relevant and plausible. An impossible or disconnected vision is useless. Finally – a vision must be engaging and aspirational – it must represent a future that employees and other stakeholders actually want to be part of, or want to see happen. A technically correct vision is useless if it is not also attractive in some measure.
Many of you know the journey of Gaming Corps, a difficult one the past few years. After having left an uncertain position behind, a brave and ambitious vision emerged for Gaming Corps that is based on a strong will to make a difference in the industry and build a company that is successful over time. We act on two highly competitive markets – iGaming and Gaming – where choices are endless. And there are also many large, extraordinarily successful companies in dominant positions. Early on we concluded that a vision focused only on achieving a certain market share (a common base for visions) was something that could not provide both a plausible and attractive vision at this point in time. And in the end, the people who now drive this company forward all want something – we want to create something, make a difference, and through that be financially successful. When looking at the iGaming business we see that there is a lot of room for innovation and gamification; the supply is enormous but the diversity between products is not. Gaming Corps wants to make a difference to the iGaming industry over time by making evolved products that stand out and eventually start setting a precedent with our offer. We want to be an agent for moving iGaming closer to Gaming both in the actual products but also in how the business is perceived. In the Gaming industry we see opportunities in assuming certain niche positions where over time we can carve out a standing for Gaming Corps and through that have an impact on the industry. From this and other insights and objectives, the following vision emerged:
Gaming Corps vision is to be recognized worldwide as a prime mover in the evolution of the Gaming and iGaming industries.
The key word here is prime mover, a concept we will return to in the following calendar entry, together with defining the parts of the vision further.
What our vision means in depth for our planning will of course emerge over time for those who follow us. But this we hope gives you a good enough glimpse to feel engaged and inspired to start the journey with us. Race you to the mountaintop!
