Mission Statement · Scope · Component
The definition
Which customers, which need, which means — the three answers that fix the scope in both directions.
The deliverable
What it is
Abell’s three questions keep a business definition from failing in either direction. Answering only the means produces marketing myopia; answering only the need produces a scope that permits anything.
The answers are strategic decisions rather than descriptions, and they should be recognisable as decisions someone could have made differently.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
The customer group
Which customers the business serves.
3 attributes: Group · Defined by · Durable
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Define by the need and the means will be replaceable. Define by the means and the business will be.
The other components in scope
The boundary
What is deliberately out of scope, including the tempting adjacent things — because the useful half of a scope is what it excludes.
LearnThe revenue check
Where the money actually comes from, held against the stated scope — because where they differ, the statement is the thing that is wrong.
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