Do You Have A Mission Statement For Your Business?

By John Simmons

Do you have a mission statement for your business?
 
If so, is it a subset of your personal mission in life (or the mission of the owner/founder)?
 
If you are a creative business, does it tie into your creative purposes… and are those purposes reflected in the mission statement?
 
If you couldn't answer "YES!" to all the above, you need to carve out some time right away and attend to it.
 
Why? Because a mission statement that truly reflects the mission of the owner/founder and the purpose for being in business is the footing in the foundation for success in a business. 

Don't Do This

Now, I'm not talking about statements like, "Our mission is to provide goods and services that people want and need in order to sustain ready cash flow and succeed in a competitive environment while giving exemplary customer service."
 
Another one not to do is: "To provide one stop progressive economic development services through partnerships on behalf of shareholders and the community."
 
Those are not mission statements. They are generic descriptions of how the business hopes to make money and stay in business.
 
Can you imagine being in one of those businesses and being inspired to work hard in the business? Yet, a proper mission statement should do just that. In fact, the mission statement for your business should inspire you (and any employees you have) to your best efforts. It should sustain you when you are tired and just want to go play. It should remind you why you get up to work in the business each day.
 
Whether or not you like Google, their mission is a pretty good example: "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." While Google is a huge company now, their mission statement still reflects the passion and mission of the two founders.

Does it Inspire You?

Now you may not be terribly inspired by Google's mission statement, but that's okay because another thing a good mission statement does is to winnow out the employees who aren't a good fit... those who don't have the same passion for its aims. But there are some people (around 10,000 of them) who definitely do (Google's employees.)
 
Need help developing the mission statement for your business? (Or even more fundamental, the mission statement for YOU?) Watch for our upcoming workshops on developing your mission statement.
 
Can't wait? Contact the Mentor for a personalized planning session that will get you started on the right road.