A well-written mission statement serves as a framework to guide both employees and customers. It should set your company apart from competitors but not limit its business purpose. Let’s review the components of a powerful mission statement and some helpful examples.
What Should a Mission Statement Accomplish?
First and foremost, a mission statement should explain why your business exists and what makes it special. It should establish the identity of your business and provide decision-making guidelines for you and your team.
Take LinkedIn’s mission statement, for example:
“Connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.”
- Why does LinkedIn exist? It connects professionals from all around the world.
- What makes LinkedIn special? It makes professionals more productive and successful.
This succinct example shows how a mission statement can guide the business without limiting it. If the statement focused solely on filling open jobs – what LinkedIn was originally known for – management might not have decided to add LinkedIn Learning to the platform. But adding learning opportunities supports its mission to make professionals more productive and successful. LinkedIn’s mission statement is broad enough to support new ideas for growth but targeted enough to support what the business does today.
Four Key Elements of a Mission Statement
Anyone who reads your mission statement should get a glimpse of your business’s vision and values. To help with that, consider these important elements.
1. Purpose
Be clear about the purpose of your business. Don’t be overly broad or provide too many details.
2. Value
Customers and employees should believe that your mission statement is relevant to them. After reading it, they should be left with the notion that your business adds value to their lives.
3. Inspiration
Ask yourself if your mission statement builds an emotional connection with people. Give your mission statement a little edge and personality and aim for something that’s inspiring, energizing, and memorable. It should compel others to want to come work for you and do business with you.
4. Plausibility
Veer away from statements that are hard to quantify or that aren’t plausible. For example, a hair salon shouldn’t promise to cure all ailments, but it can promise to help people feel great about how they look and it can survey customers to measure results.
Let your mission statement strengthen your brand identity. Your mission statement should reflect not just what your business does, but also what it’s working toward.
Tips for Writing Your Company Mission Statement
To write a strong company mission statement, consider the following suggestions.
Be succinct.
Your mission statement should be simple and easy to understand. A strong mission statement should be no longer than four sentences but could be as short as a sentence fragment. The target audience is wide, so the statement should be concise enough to get your point across without losing the reader’s attention. Communicate your company’s best qualities in clear and direct terms, avoiding buzzwords and jargon.
Make it attainable, but not too limiting.
Remember, your mission statement should show growth potential but be plausible. You don’t have to conquer the world, but you might want to expand your business beyond your local neighborhood. Try not to use language that limits your scope.
Be unique and informative.
Your company should be identifiable by your mission statement. It should be as unique as your business and provide inspiration. Let your mission statement strengthen your brand identity. Your mission statement should reflect not just what your business does, but also what it’s working toward.
Ask employees’ opinions.
Mission statements help employees see the positive aspects of their jobs and can motivate them to work together toward the company’s shared goals and objectives. You want your employees to feel that what they do impacts the success of the company, now and in the future. So, include them in the creation of your mission statement by asking for their feedback and ideas. Understanding how employees view the company and its purpose might provide useful information as well.
Display proudly.
Feature the mission statement prominently in your workplace and on your company website. You want to be able to refer to it easily when new ideas are being considered. Incorporate it into your marketing strategy because it differentiates you from your competitors.
Don’t be afraid to change it.
Things change – this is true in life and business. If your company has significantly changed focus, it’s important to update your mission statement to reflect that. However, completely changing it multiple times could show a lack of company culture or identity. Be sure to keep track of where and how you use your mission statement so that you can update all instances when you make a change.
Don’t feel you have to start from scratch.
There are plenty of examples that you can start with to help generate the right mission statement for your business.
Examples of Strong Mission Statements
Here are some powerful mission statements to give you inspiration.
Honest Tea: To create and promote great-tasting, healthy, organic beverages. We strive to grow our business with the same honesty and integrity we use to craft our recipes, with sustainability and great taste for all.
What makes it great? The first sentence clearly explains Honest Tea’s purpose, and the second sentence defines what makes the company special: honesty, integrity, and sustainability.
Nordstrom: We exist to help our customers feel good and look their best. Since starting as a shoe store in 1901, how to best serve customers has been at the center of every decision we make.
What makes it great? It shows that customers are of paramount importance and offers a sense of the value Nordstrom can provide to people’s lives. It also serves as a guide to employees about what is expected of them.
You might think the above examples come from companies that can afford to spend a lot of time and money to craft the perfect mission statement. But that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. Here are some generic examples to get you started:
[Company name’s] goal is simple: We aim to be the foremost supplier of [product/service offered] in the [general area]. From our earliest years in the business, we have focused on quality and innovation, making us the go-to source for quality [product/service offered] in the greater [city name] area. Over the next few years, we expect to add even more [type of customers] to our clientele.
[Company name] is a leading provider of innovative [product/service offered], catering to other small businesses. We focus primarily on providing [product/service offered] that enable our clients to [accomplish this task]. We continue to offer a hybrid work environment because we know that when our team members can define their own work schedules, they provide the best service for our clients.
The Takeaway
Many of the best companies have a powerful mission statement that describes the purpose of their business and shares a vision of its future. A mission statement should succinctly define what makes your business unique, why customers should want to do business with you, and why people should want to work for you. If done right, a mission statement can help drive your business strategy, align your employees with your company vision, and drive value for your customers.
Photo: Getty Images
