Your Company Mission Statement In 15 Words Or Less

by Mark McClure
 
Writing a company mission statement can be low on the priority list for many beginning small business entrepreneurs who are more concerned with survival issues like cash flow and making sales. However, some eventually figure out that there is a difference between running and owning a business. From that point they make regular time ti review the strategic areas of the business that guide its growth and progress.
 
This article look at the company mission statement as a key element of the business plan and gives some tips on how to begin creating it.
 
Start with the end in Mind!
This is well known advice that is less well carried out! What it implies is the creation of a simple vision statement for your business. If your greatest dreams and hopes for the business came true, where would your business be in 5 years time?
 
I call this the 'blue-sky' approach because you really can apply all of your imagination's faculties to come up with a mind stretching vision for where you want to be. There don't have to be numbers and measurements in it but there should definitely be passion and excitement.
 
Why does your business exist?
This is the core of your mission statement and, when done properly, really answers the question of why do customers buy what you are selling?
 
Your Mission statement should focus on what the customer experience or value will be when interacting with your business products or services.
 
It must also identify what the driver(s) are for you to be starting such a business in the first place.
 
For example, consider the mission statement of Google.com:
 
"To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."
 
It is clear what the benefit to the end customer (you and me) is if Google live true to that mission statement. And it is also possible to detect some of the buzz and excitement that drew the 2 Founders into starting such a business in the first place. They were originally about searching and indexing, but now their game has gotten a whole lot bigger.
 
Take this challenge:
 
Read this article on creating a mission statement: Mission Statement Article
 
Then use Google's mission statement as a learning template for your own. Don't copy! Instead, notice how there are two components to it:
 
a) To organize the world's information
This is the technical buzz and cutting edge knowledge creation that probably drives Google staff and vendors to trail blaze the way they have been doing.
 
b) make it universally accessible and useful
This is the value they are adding to the customer experience.
 
Initially your efforts might result in two long sentences.
 
Don't worry. Just join them together with 'and'.
 
Then, over time, you will be able to edit and pare down to a single sentence.
 
The shorter the better!
 
About the author:
Discover How To Create Incredible Yet Reachable Goals - in this FREE 14-page report: Goal Setting Report
 
Mark McClure is a Tokyo-based 'change-the-game' career coach. Goal Setting Articles