YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS MISSION STATEMENT

A good business mission statement is necessary to help keep any business on track.

However, with all the other things to keep you busy, when starting a new business, have you ever got the time to think of a mission statement?

Well you had better make the time, early in your business life, if you are to make your life easier and save time later.

What is a Business Mission Statement?

To be brief, it states your businesses’ core purpose, what you have based your business on.

What are your goals and what lies behind these goals? It tells the world how you intend to relate to your customers, employees, suppliers and your community.

A well thought out, researched and planned statement will help your company stop drifting; it will help you remain focused if used in all transactions.

You need to put at least a day’s work into preparing and writing up your mission statement. This is the minimum research time needed, even if the final business mission statements are only a few sentences long.

No statement need ever be longer than a page which, I think, is still a ¾ page too long!

Producing good mission statements is not complicated, so let’s get to it!

When and how to prepare your Statement

The when is easy, once you have found and decided on your business niche! In other words it should be one of the first steps that you carry out when starting your business.

I have always thought that one’s mission statement should be worked on and included as part of your business plan. If you have however been in business for years, without a business mission statement, do one now, it’s never too late and it will improve your business for the future.

The how of any mission statement depends on the business itself? Look at the following possible inclusions before deciding on your final statement.

• What business are we in?
• What are our business goals?
• Why are they our goals?
• What do we want our stakeholders to think of our business?
• What products or services will we offer?
• How will we price?
• What standard of quality will be accepted?
• How will we relate to all our stakeholders?
• What will make our products and services outstanding?
• How will we treat our suppliers to help ensure that they survive?
• Who are our competitors and how can we do better?
• What we are doing, will it help our customers?

Design your business mission statement for you and your people to follow.

When writing it up it must be:-

1. Short, one sentence in some cases is adequate.
2. Believable.
3. It must be written for and by the people who will have to use it. You cannot go out and buy a mission statement for your business!
4. It can be changed if your circumstances or goals change. Only to make it better though!
5. It must keep you focused on your goals.
6. If it is just words on paper to be hung on the wall, don’t waste your time.
7. It must cover the whole business and its people.
8. Your objectives must be clearly stated and have meaning.

Once agreed on and finalized, get it around to all concerned. Put it on your desks, walls, brochures, business cards and even maybe on your invoices and orders.

Everyone in your business should know it by heart.

It must become part of every day business life for you and your employees. Never loose sight of it!

Your business mission statement is the foundation stone of your business, so build yourself a strong one.

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