What is it about some brands that make us want to buy them again and again? What about them makes us choose them above other possibilities in terms of time, money, or effort? Is it the cost? Perhaps it's for the sake of convenience? Is it something else entirely? We engage with companies and organizations that do more than just provide a product or service. They show that they have an aim and a mission that we can get behind. This may be seen in how businesses interact with customers, help organizations and communities, and develop their goods. And a well-written mission statement is the best approach for a business owner to demonstrate this purpose.
What is a Mission Statement?
A mission statement is a brief, action-oriented statement that explains your company's aim. It often comprises generic definitions of your organization, its fundamental purpose, and its goals and highlights what your firm provides for consumers, employees, and owners. A mission statement, in a nutshell, outlines what you do and why you do it. Depending on the focus of your organization, your mission statement could be much broader. They explain how you serve not only your customers and staff but also your neighborhood and the rest of the globe. Some companies go so far as to create a vision statement that encapsulates this bigger goal.
The Advantages of Having a Mission Statement
A mission statement can help in many things, including providing direction, measuring achievement, uniting employees, recruiting, ensuring accountability, and inspiring customers. Let's discuss each of these advantages in more depth.
1. A Mission Statement Serves as a Guide
A strong feeling of direction is provided by having and adopting a mission statement in your firm. You can use it to establish long-term decisions, plans, and strategies for your firm, ensuring that each one aligns with your overall objectives. A mission statement also safeguards you from getting caught up in the minute details of day-to-day operations, allowing you to focus on the big picture while retaining your company's integrity.
2. A Mission Statement is a Tool for Measuring Success
Measurement may and should be done using a mission statement. It's critical to return to your business plan to measure success as it grows. Your mission is your company's main purpose, so if every decision, product, service, action, experience, or other aspects of your brand is in line with it, you're successful.
3. Teams are Brought Together by a Mission Statement
A mission statement acts as a terrific compass for your team to follow. It can help your team members stay unified, motivated, and focused on their goals.
4. A Mission Statement aids recruitment.
By integrating everything in your purpose, your mission statement informs potential employees about company values, culture, and beliefs. When you and your team present, implement and live by a clear mission that they can get behind, a job seeker is far more likely to choose your company over another.
5. Accountability is Ensured through a Mission Statement
Your staff and the rest of the world will know your goals if you have a public mission statement, and you will be held responsible for them.
Because your colleagues and clients will all be aware of the services you claim to provide, every action you make must be in line with that objective and contribute to it in some way to retain the integrity of your brand and achieve your overall goal.
6. Customers are Motivated by a Mission Statement
You're on to a winner when your company has a mission that customers understand, believe in, and support. Customers are considerably more likely to choose your brand over one with which they don't connect if they can relate to your objective and believe in what you're attempting to accomplish.
How to Write a Mission Statement?
Your opportunity to describe the company's aims, ethics, culture, and decision-making standards is to create your company's initial mission statement or write a new or revised one. The daily grind of business can get in the way, and a quick refresher with the mission statement for business will help you recall what's really important: the organization's purpose.
a. Begin with a Market-defining Narrative
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website
A really good market-defining story communicates the need, demand, or the so-called "why to buy" (if you enjoy jargon). It identifies the "buyer persona," or intended customer. And it establishes how your company differs from the competition, if not entirely unique. It makes it easier to think about what a company isn't and what it doesn't do.
Consider a genuine individual deciding to purchase what you're selling. What is their motivation for wanting it? What drew them to your business? What is it that it does for them? The more specific the narrative, the better. Remember this when writing your mission statement: "The more concrete, the better."
b. Describe What Your Company Performs for its Clients
Start by explaining what you do for others in your mission statement. Use your market-defining story to determine what makes your company unique to your target customer. Don't undervalue your company: You don't have to cure disease or end global warming to make a difference. Offering dependable auto repair, for instance, condensed down to your specialization in your neighborhood with your own set of policies, is a good thing. Offering outstanding slow cuisine in your area at a premium price, emphasizing organic and local ingredients, is also a good idea.
c. Describe What Your Company Does for its Workers
Businesses that are excellent for their employees are more likely to survive. Employee retention is more cost-effective than turnover. The culture of a company is essential. People need to be rewarded and motivated. The company mission statements might specify your company's services to its personnel.
d. Mention What the Company Does to Benefit its Stockholder
Management's purpose, we were taught in business school, is to increase the stock's value. Stock shares represent stock ownership. Some may argue that a business exists solely to improve the financial situation of its owners, and this may be true. However, only a tiny percentage of organizations are concerned with business buzzwords like "share value" and "return on investment." Some of the best company mission statements include, or at least imply, a far broader notion of mission that has, or at least indicates, the ownership mission.
e. Talk, Digest, Break it up, Polish it up, Evaluate it, and Revise it
Good company mission statements serve several purposes, specify goals, and are long-lasting. So, go ahead and edit. This is a practical step. Begin by creating a complete mission statement for internal usage and a customer-facing portion for wide distribution. That's not unusual. Many businesses have mission statements divided into sections and grouped by type or aim. Use bullet points or sections if it's more convenient for you. Many organizations combine purpose, motto, and vision, and many others redefine them to match their setting, contributing to the confusion. Despite the official definition, what a corporation does for customers is typically called vision. Remember that form follows function in a business mission statement, as in all corporate writing. Make it work for you and your company. Alternatively, don't do it at all. It's quite acceptable to refer to it as a vision. It'll work for both staff and customers.
Examples of Mission Statements
Here are a few mission statement examples from businesses who have used Strikingly to create their website. Strikingly as a website builder allows you to insert and update any text at any time without having to write a single line of code. Many of our users include their goal statement in their home page's slider or main image, while others include it in their 'About Us' section.
∙ Heaven Shakes
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website
∙ Pretty Olive Interiors
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website
∙ Against the Grain
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website
Including a Mission Section on a Strikingly Website
Image is taken from Strikingly
Strikingly is a website builder that allows even the most inexperienced user to create gorgeous, easy-to-navigate web pages. By following these instructions, you can create a contact form on a website you create on our platform.
- Select 'Add New Section' from your Strikingly editor.
- Choose 'Text' from the drop-down menu. Then, from the drop-down option, select 'Plain Text.'
- Include a title and a mission and vision statement.
- Save the document.
If you use Strikingly to build a website, you may include your goal statement prominently at the top, just below your logo and menu bar. It will help your internal team stay focused on your major goals by clarifying what your company is all about to your audience.
Conclusion
As you can see from these examples, a great business mission statement doesn't have to be complicated or lengthy. The importance of an organization is stated in a mission statement. Your business mission statement should clearly express your company's mission and allow customers to identify with the brand. By design, it directs the actions of staff and attracts customers by providing guidance and communicating the company's goals. When done correctly, mission and vision statements can be extremely effective. They may bring an entire organization's efforts together and serve as a signpost that keeps everyone focused on the things that matter.
Clarity is the cornerstone of outstanding mission statements. Remember that a mission statement is the "what," "how," and "why,". While a vision statement is the "what," "how," and "why." Furthermore, no matter how big or small your company is, having a solid mission and vision statement can help you succeed. Create your business mission statement by following these simple steps to impact your staff, investors, and consumers.
