Writing a mission statement to manage business operations

Writing a mission statement is like writing an introduction on why the business operates.

A mission statement for a business tells the reader how and why that business functions. It conveys the business purpose. The mission statement can be brief – maybe only a few sentences in a paragraph. Yet it conveys a tremendous amount of information in that brief amount of space.

The mission statement for a business articulates the vision of the owner and the executive management team. The mission statement is part of the overall business plan; yet it can also shine as a stand-alone declaration reminding senior staff and new employees the purpose for the company.

A study in the greater Washington, DC area found that 60 percent of small businesses surveyed had no written plans.

What is a mission statement?

The mission statement answers the first question of any business venture: What business is it in and what is its reason for being? Establishing this purpose in black and white must come first in order to provide a sense of direction to the company.

This statement comes from Charles Toftoy and Joydeep Chatterjee of George Washington University and the document The Value of Mission Statements for Small Businesses.

. Functionally, this is what a mission statement should do for a business:

A mission statement should define:

1. what the organization is and what it aspires to be,

2. be limited enough to exclude flawed projects and broad enough to encompass creative growth

3. distinguish a given organization structure from its peers,

4. serve as a framework for assessing

current and future activities,

5. be sufficiently clear and concise for being understood by

employees throughout the organization.

Write a mission statement in plain English so it is easily remembered throughout the company.

Use the mission statement as a guide and review it each year to make sure the business is sticking to its core competence.

Practice writing a mission statement

Here’s how a sample mission statement might read for a home construction company offering affordable yet quality-built homes:

“XYZ Builders exists so homeowners can achieve the dream of owning a house and enjoy the peace of mind that quality construction offers.”

While this isn’t a perfect mission statement yet it shows why the company exists, the target customer and how the company benefits the customer. The target customer could be defined as either “young” homeowners or “empty nest” homeowners who are “downsizing”.

Play around with it.

How about a mission statement for an individually-owned lawn care company. Big deal, right? “We cut your grass.” Really? What do they really do?

“ABC Lawn Care keeps neighborhoods attractive by offering full service lawn maintenance on a regular schedule and offers expert solutions for problem lawns.”

Okay. Maybe not a great mission statement but you get the idea. Now let’s say the owner of ABC Lawn Care has no education. However, he or she knows how to research and connect with people who do have an education on the science behind healthy grass. So if a homeowner is having problems then ABC can connect them with the right resources.

Have fun writing the mission statement and use it as a guide to make your business is offering the value it promises to the right customers.