What is a mission statement?
Every business needs a mission statement, to serve as a blueprint for business planning and decision-making. A mission statement that clearly states the business’ purpose and goals will inspire your people to pull together as a team to accomplish that purpose, and will give management and stakeholders a means of measuring its success.
A well-crafted mission statement clearly defines the purpose for which the company, organization or enterprise was founded, sets out its goals, and sets the path for a course of action to achieve that vision.
How should I craft the mission statement for my business?
Your company’s mission statement should tell the world why your company exists. Before you can write your mission statement, you must answer the following questions:
- Who do we serve?
- What is our purpose?
- What are our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats?
- With our expertise and resources, are we in the right business? If not, what business should we be in?
- What is important to us?
- What do we stand for?
- What are our core values?
When you’ve answered those questions, you’ll be ready to put together your organization’s mission statement.
What should the mission statement look like?
The 3 steps to writing a mission statement are:
- Describe what the company does.
- Describe how it does what it does.
- Describe why the company does what it does.
For instance, if your company manufactures and imports hand-woven baskets, mats and similar products, your mission statement could be:
XYC Company’s mission is to manufacture and import the best quality hand-woven grass products using environmentally safe and sustainable methods, while promoting local business opportunities for the people of [Country].
Why is the mission statement important?
Once the mission statement has been finalized, ensure that everyone in your organization knows it by heart. It should be the driving force behind everything the company and its employees, management and stakeholders do.
Image by Dirk Wouters from Pixabay
