SIBB Action 1.2 - Create Mission Statement

SIBB Action 1.2 – Create Mission Statement

All right. Now you’ve got your vision statement. The vision tells you what you want to reach with your business. But how about your business mission?

A lot of people confuse the vision and the mission statements. Some even think they are the same – but there is of course an important difference.

The business vision tells you WHAT goal your business wants to achieve!

The business mission tells you WHY you want to reach that goal!

It is the reason for the business’ existence.

Many companies, both new and existing, sometimes struggle to write a mission statement. A mission statement can be a very strong motivational statement for staff and employees and can also be a strong marketing and branding tool to customers.

Some excellent examples of mission statements that hit the mark immediately are:

Walt Disney: “To make people happy.”
Merck: “To preserve and improve human life.”
Wal-Mart: “To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same thing as rich people.”

To write a one-sentence or one-paragraph mission statement, could betoo complicated. A bulleted mission statement is easier, but may not accomplish what you want. Key statements that can be used to build a mission statement are:

Statement of Purpose. What inspirational purpose appeals to higher values in both your employees and customers?
Statement of Strategy. What is your business strategy, and how does it appeal to your employees and customers?
Statement of Value. Identify values that form a link to the organization’s strategy that employees can be proud of.
Statement of Behavioral Standards. How does employee behavior relate to customer perception and value?
Statement of Character. What is the organizational culture?

Certainly it is impossible to include all of these in a short mission statement, such as Disney’s, but the perception of their mission statement certainly encompasses the ideas. If you do a bulleted mission statement, the above statements are easier to address individually. It’s up to you!

So, when you are preparing your Mission Statement remember to make it clear and succinct, incorporating socially meaningful and measurable criteria and consider approaching it from a grand scale.

3 Keys to a Meaningful Mission Statement

Pass the Mother Test: A mission statement must be a concise paragraph describing what your company does and for whom. Show your mission to your mother, if she does not understand it, start again.
Self-Igniting: Your mission is for you and your business. It does not have to be an earth moving statement. It can be whatever inspires you.
Value Alignment: Forget the money. A meaningful mission goes beyond the dollars and cents. If your small business is creative, focus your mission on creativity. Try to be what your core competency is.

So the Mission Statement for my business is:

To share my experiences in order to help people succeed!

Tags: Business Building, business mission, cashmap, internet business, mission statement, process documentation, process maps, SIBB, smart

Technorati Tags: Business Building, business mission, cashmap, internet business, mission statement, process documentation, process maps, SIBB, smart

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This entry was posted on Saturday, November 8th, 2008 at 7:46 pm and is filed under Business Building, Cashmaps, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.