A while back I was shopping for a new car. In the show room one dealer had a plaque over their door that read,”Our mission is to become the most profitable [brand] dealer in Northern California.” Uh oh! What does that tell you? ( I wonder if they are charging too much.) That ‘mission statement’ is more of a goal statement better suited to hanging in the employee lounge area — out of sight of any customers!
A mission statement is a short statement of how you conduct business so that you achieve your vision and goals—you might even think of it as a rallying cry to inspire participation by everyone to a greater purpose. Better to say, “Our mission is to be [brand] dealer in Northern California with the most happy customers.”
I talk about “vision” in another blog, but suffice it to say that a vision is akin to Walt Disney pointing to an orange grove and describing the Matterhorn ride, the monorail, TomorrowLand, etc. We all see an orange grove… Walt has a vision of DisneyLand. Back to mission statements…
Writing the Mission Statement
Your mission statement should be one you can sum up in one or two sentences or a short paragraph or two. Fred R. David, a prominent strategist, in his book, Strategic Management, suggests these as questions a mission statement should answer.
- Customer – Who are and who will be your customers?
- Product – What are your company’s major products or services?
- Markets – Where does your company compete?
- Technology – What is your company’s basic technology?
- Survival, growth, and profitability – What is your company’s commitment towards economic objectives?
- Philosophy – What are the basic beliefs, values, aspirations, and philosophical priorities of your company?
- Self-concept – What are your company’s major strengths and competitive/technological advantages?
- Public image – What is your company’s public image and standing in the community?
- Employees – What is your company’s attitude toward its employees?
Some companies communicate their mission in just a sentence or two.
As an example, here is JIAN’s three-sentence Mission Statement: JIAN’s mission is to be the #1 provider of tools for the education and successful business management of businesses worldwide, with a commitment to quality that creates powerful opportunities for our employees and customers to fulfill their visions. The foundation of JIAN’s success is built upon using our own products and services to organize our ideas into plans of action. We are an energetic, high spirited and fun organization of extraordinary relationships grounded in integrity.
My favorite for JIAN: Build tools, minimize BS, and help people succeed. This is actually in keeping with Guy Kawasaki’s idea of “Make Mantra” a short reason-for-being that all of your people can remember as their daily purpose for showing up and making a meaningful contribution.
A growing number of larger or more progressive organizations go further than just issuing a Mission Statement. They add statements on company philosophy and/or company guiding principles to expand on their mission statement.
Whatever the length or format of your statement, it should be collaborative and every word should count. A Mission Statement should be both highly descriptive and inspirational. It should be broad enough to cover a range of strategies and objectives, while calling attention to your top priorities.
Immediately following your Mission Statement, you may also want to include a sentence or two answering the following question: How would achieving your mission benefit your company economically, and by implication, your investor or lender? This answer could significantly assist with their buy-in to your plan.
Do’s & Don’ts for Writing Your Vision & Mission
Here are some thoughts for you to bear in mind while writing this part of your business plan:
- Keep your Mission Statement real. Don’t promise more than you can deliver. If the vision is clearly achievable, rather than self-serving fluff, you can more readily develop a concerted team effort and build enough momentum to make it happen.
- Be sure your team concurs on all points. This helps ensure that everyone sees the company the same way, and is committed to achieving the same things for the business.
- Your Mission statement can be used in other presentations when the full plan would not be suitable. For example, you may want to use this section as the basis of a live presentation to generate key employee interest in your company or to generate distributor interest in your product.
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