Let’s assume you have started a business, have the basic processes in place, and planning to scale up. While devising the business strategies, you need to plan both short-term and long-term goals. For example, you planned to convince the top investors to get the capital and launch your brand as a short-term business goal. Similarly, you have planned to open e-commerce platforms for online shopping as a future option. You also need to have an inspiring vision.
However, achieving success is not possible if you cannot offer something solid to motivate your employees and convince the customers. There are so many other competitors in the market that you need to beat to succeed. So, why your target audience will come to your shop rather than go to the already established brands?
One of the key reasons why you need a mission statement for your business regardless of the industry is branding. Often business owners ask “what does a mission statement do”, and their curiosity is completely justified because very few are aware of its importance and role in the long run.
Why is a mission statement important? Mission statements talk about the business goals, business approach, people and partners, values, and purposes, their importance cannot be undermined. Besides, we have also talked about some tips that will help you form an impactful and strong mission statement for your company.
Before discussing the importance of a mission statement, let’s first understand what this statement is. Basically, a mission statement defines the key company goals, organizational values, and the company spirit.
For example:
“Our mission is to be Earth’s most customer-centric company. This is what unites Amazonians across teams and geographies as we are all striving to delight our customers and make their lives easier, one innovative product, service, and idea at a time” – Amazon
From this strong mission statement of Amazon, it is evident how the company has described its goals, purpose, the reason for its existence, and its vision within a small paragraph. Analyzing this statement, we can understand the following facts:
Amazon wants to be a customer-centric company, rather than the first company whose existence is for customers.
It is the love for customers who have unified every employee working at Amazon from all countries.
They are delighted and passionate about making the lives of their customers much easier.
Amazon considers itself to be an innovative idea, service, and product simultaneously.
Therefore, a strong mission statement describes what the company is about, the target audience, its purpose and goals, company values, primary customers, corporate culture, and future plans.
How does a mission statement work?
Now that you have understood what a mission statement is, let’s have a glimpse at “what does a mission statement do” for any kind of organization. Considering the audience’s perspective, he or she won’t know about your company’s ethics, purpose, and so on. Similarly, your employees won’t have proper clarity about the goals of the company, the kind of works it will handle, and how the operations will be carried out.
A mission statement serves as concise information about all these facts along with your company. In the section below, we have talked about the ways a mission statement works.
A mission statement describes the purpose for which the company is working.
It helps in motivating the employees to achieve the set company goals.
An impactful statement will help you convince your target audience about your products or services.
With a mission statement, one can introduce clarity in the business operations effortlessly.
A mission statement forms an integral part of the company’s marketing and sales policies.
It also establishes the biodata of the concerned business, thereby helping to create brand awareness.
Benefits And Drawbacks Of Having A Mission Statement
Benefits of Mission Statement
To understand the purpose of mission statements, we have discussed the top advantages of having one for your company.
Offers a particular direction
The mission statement provides the right direction to the business so that any mess or chaos can be avoided. You will gain more clarity and therefore, decision-making processes will become much easier. You will know what needs to be done for taking your business to its zenith.
Motivates and inspires employees
With an inspirational mission statement, you can easily motivate or influence the employees working under the flagship of your company. They will understand what is expected from them, and the mission statement’s words will always remind them of their responsibilities towards the organization.
Describes the business operations
A properly curated mission statement will describe the overall business operations like 24X7 availability, immediate customer responses, and more. This not only helps the audience understand the passion your company has but also boots confidence in the employees.
Create awareness in the audience
A mission statement will help you in increasing awareness about your services or products. It will convince the audience about the goodwill of your company’s services or the top-notch quality of the products. Moreover, it will play an integral role in driving more traffic to your business as a reliable and honest relationship can be established with ease.
Describes the cause of existence
One of the major benefits of having a strong mission statement for your company is a clear description of the business’s existence. Through this statement, you can tell your audience why this company has been launched in the market and how unique it is from other competitors.
Challenges with a mission statement
Despite having so many advantages, we cannot ignore some of the challenges that one might face with the mission statement. Before you curate the same for your company, we think it will be best to know how a mission statement can prove to be detrimental to your business.
Many companies change their mission statements too often, like every two to three years. With so many different statements, both employees and customers are bound to get confused.
If your business fails to provide services just the way they are mentioned in the mission statement, it will raise questions on your integrity and business’s credibility.
Sometimes, the mission statements are minuscule and therefore, no one can actually decipher the message behind them. This further leads to ignorant behaviors in the target audience.
How to write a mission statement?
We have already discussed why a mission statement is important, and you also have a pretty good idea about its flaws or challenges. Now, your job will be to create a statement for your company, and to do so, you can follow these below-discussed tips.
i. First, you need to keep the mission statement to the point and short. It shouldn’t be an essay because no one likes to read something big and then spend energy in understanding what the statement is trying to reveal.
ii. Always write the mission statement by thinking about the future of your company. For instance, if you want to open up multiple branches in nearby cities, do mention this future plan in a generalized manner.
iii. You do need to keep it short, but not limited. Do not miss any of the key elements that form a powerful mission statement- reasonability, inspiration, specification, and value.
iv. Always make sure to include statements that reveal accountability, the sense of responsibility, and passion towards the organization’s growth.
Examples of winning mission statements
In this section, we will talk about some of the most famous mission statements of different companies worldwide. This will give you an idea about the impact this simple statement can have and how it covers all the core values and company principles.
Etsy
“To reimagine commerce in ways that build a more fulfilling and lasting world. We are building a human, authentic and community-centric global and local marketplace.”
UBER
“Uber is evolving the way the world moves. By seamlessly connecting riders to drivers through our apps, we make cities more accessible, opening up more possibilities for riders and more business for drivers.”
Tesla
“Our goal when we created Tesla a decade ago was the same as it is today: to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bringing compelling mass-market electric cars to market as soon as possible.”
Forbes
“To deliver information on the people, ideas, and technologies changing the world to our community of affluent business decision-makers.”
Cisco
“Shape the future of the Internet by creating unprecedented value and opportunity for our customers, employees, investors, and ecosystem partners.”
American Red Cross
“To prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.”
MoMa
“To collect, preserve, study, exhibit, and stimulate appreciation for and advance knowledge of works of art that collectively represent the broadest spectrum of human achievement at the highest level of quality, all in the service of the public and in accordance with the highest professional standards.”
Virgin America
“Virgin America is a California-based airline that is on a mission to make flying good again, with brand-new planes, attractive fares, top-notch service, and a host of fun, innovative amenities that are reinventing domestic air travel.”
L’Oréal
“Offering all women and men worldwide the best of cosmetics innovation in terms of quality, efficacy, and safety”
Patagonia
“Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”
Conclusion
A mission statement is not just the conglomeration of a couple of lines describing the purpose of the business or its goals. Rather, it’s a conjugation of everything a business is about. It is the source of understanding future goals, present achievements, cause of existence, business operations, and the very idea behind the creation of the company.
