Newsletter
October 2021 Newsletter
The Power of a Mission Statement for your Small Business
Mission statements aren’t just for large corporations. A mission statement encompasses the core of your business, why you do what you do and how it benefits the lives of both your staff and clientele. It’s the essence of your company values, objectives and what drives your passion for what you do. Clearly defining this in just a few sentences has the power to align staff, empower senior members and attract success.
What is a mission statement?
“A mission statement is a short statement of why an organisation exists, what its overall goal is, identifying the goal of its operations: what kind of product or service it provides, its primary customers or market, and its geographical region of operation”
- Wikipedia
Why have a mission statement?
A mission statement is an essential tool for any business (small or large) to align staff in working towards common goals. A mission statement will set the foundation for a business plan, be used in HR materials as well as branding guidelines which may be seen by internal staff, consumers and investors. It is valuable for identifying unique elements of the business, as well as the who, what and why of the business as it presently stands.
The Benefits of Writing a Mission Statement:
Team Alignment & Empowerment
When establishing your missing statement, use this as an opportunity to involve employees across your business. This can be an effective strategy session which empowers and motivates your employees to be part of an essential business building process. Ask yourself and your team why they show up to work each day, what they do best and how they help their customers.
Define & Communicate Your Goals
Write your mission statement with your business goals in mind. What do you strive for? What is success for your business, its employees and clientele, and what makes your business unique? Openly communicating these driving factors is powerful for the business’ identity and adds a professional element to documentation, internal handbooks and communications where it is considered to add value.
Tips:
- Your mission statement is a professional and formal statement.
- Keep it clear and concise and to the point.
- Avoid buzzwords and empty phrases that don’t resonate with your business.
- Your mission statement does not have to be lengthy to have a great impact.
Be sure to factor in components that relate specifically to your business, its services, and your goals. Keep it genuine and factual for how your business stands today.
Examples of clear and concise mission statements from market leaders:
“To connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.”
- LinkedIn
“To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices.”
- Amazon
Mission Statement or Vision Statement?
Although they seem similar, these two statements are different. A vision statement is a futuristic idea of how the business will evolve and what goals it will achieve.
“A vision statement is an inspirational statement of an idealistic emotional future of a company or group. Vision describes the basic human emotion that a founder intends to be experienced by the people the organisation interacts with, it grounds the group so it can actualize some existential impact on the world.”
- Wikipedia
Consider involving your team in a brainstorming session at your next team meeting. Establishing the objective of the business and business goals has shown to be highly effective for aligning and motivating staff toward a common goal. Once you have established a clear and professional mission statement, consider developing a vision statement to further propel your business towards unified success.