We talked in our last blog about how a business needs to have a solid foundation that starts with a clear vision. Building on this foundation you also need to create an effective mission statement that helps you with business decisions and ensures that you keep on the right track to achieving your vision.
How many times have you seen businesses or business owners deviate from what they were originally intended to deliver and fail. Equally how many times have you seen business that stay true to their vision and mission and don’t deviate from this and endure long lasting success.
The key points of a mission statement should include the following;
· Company’s Values
· What the business does
· How the company accomplishes it
· The company’s intentions for the clients
· The company’s ideal client
Look out for great mission statements by other companies and how you feel about that company when you read their mission statement. A great example for me is the Whole Foods mission –
“Whole Foods Market is a dynamic leader in the quality food business. We are a mission-driven company that aims to set the standards of excellence for food retailers. We are building a business in which high standards permeate all aspects of our company. Quality is a state of mind at Whole Foods Market.”
You can read the full details here – https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/our-mission-values
You can tell from this statement that any decisions based around customers, suppliers and stakeholders will only work when they stay true to this mission.
So what does your mission statement say about your business? How have you defined it?
I want you to write down three things that you provide to your client and what benefit your clients receive from that. Also write down what your values are and what you want to be known for.
From this create a mission statement that follows a structure like the Whole Foods or as per the below:
“By providing something that results in a (customer benefit) in a defined way (how it is achieved – operational strategy) that is inspiring”
Following lots of discussion and the rebrand from Referral Institute to Asentiv, our new mission statement is as follows:
“By providing dynamic business consulting, compassionate coaching and unique relationship marketing strategies, Asentiv creates communities of like-minded entrepreneurs, generating amazing business and a spectacular life!”
For me, this means that as I am building the business I will only base decisions on whether or not the activity will lead me closer to this goal.
I would love to hear what you decide on your mission statement so please do share them with me.
And no, this message will not self-destruct after 10 seconds.