Your Mission Should You Choose to Accept It

When we hear the word mission, we often think of the second part of the phrase Impossible. Maybe we visualize a self-destructing tape with an encoded message or maybe people dressed in black fatigues carrying night goggles. Well lets stretch our imaginations further and think of another phrase . . . Mission Statement. Did anyone think of that? If you are a business owner, I hope it came to mind. Little thought may be given to such an important concept. A Mission Statement can be critical to the success of the business because it provides the focus and core Fundamental principals in the way you run your operation.

Traditionally, a Mission Statement was a long wordy document that sat on a shelf as a dusty book end because no one looked at it or could understand it. The Business Solution's (and many others) is a short, to the point statement that tells customers and employees what business the company is in. If you have developed an accurate Mission Statement and are confronted with a major decision, you could look to that statement to see if the pending decision is consistent with your business's focus.

The Mission Statement should form the foundation of the business. It captures the essence of general goals and objectives, but it is not a detailed document. For the details of how a Mission Statement will be carried through, a company will have policy and procedure manuals, past practice, and organizational culture to follow. For example, Fed Ex's Mission Statement is "Get It There". Straight and to the point. Anyone reading the Mission Statement knows that the number one goal is to get the parcel there. How they will achieve this goal will be found in computers, manuals and in employee's themselves.

A well thought out Mission Statement can prevent what I call "business of the week phenomena". "Business of the week phenomena" is when a company jumps from one business opportunity to another, without fully excelling at one business before changing to another business opportunity. There is no focus, no aim. This would be the business that jumps on the computer band wagon because computers are "hot", then jump on to the internet because it's "hot" then jumps on to . . . Get the point? The Mission Statement should give a clear direction as to what business opportunities will complement the present business rather than replacing. A big screen hit was at the theatres lately. This movie was called Jerry McQuire. Aside from the story of a man with insecurity of commitment and the tangled love story that goes along with that, lied a story of an employee that worked for a large company with no clear mission. He took it upon himself to write this agency's Mission Statement. Although his superiors did not accept this Mission Statement as their own, Jerry McQuire was passionate about it's meaning and struck up his own company aiming and focusing on the Mission Statement he created. This statement guided him in his business dealings and created a successful and lucrative company. Yes it's the movies and they always have to have a happy ending, but the concept of a business with focus and direction was key in this picture.

It is also important to communicate the Mission Statement to your company (management and employees) and your customers so that everyone will know what the company is doing. Mission Statements should be visible to all and practiced daily. It should be displayed with pride in the store, in the office, staff room, on company vehicles, on letterhead, and business cards. A company should go to great lengths to ensure that their customers and potential customers know their Mission Statement. If your customers know and understand your Mission Statement and thus what business you are in, this knowledge can lead to increased sales.

The following is examples of Mission Statements. Our Mission Statement is "Helping businesses succeed in a competitive market". Disney World's mission "to make guests happy". Are you ready to write yours?

Tips to create your own Mission Statement

It should not be difficult to create your Mission Statement if you know who you are, what you want, and how you should behave. If you don't know what business you are in, how will your customers? Start by looking at the core values of your business. What does your company stand for? What is the most important aspect of your business? Talk to your employees, customers and suppliers to find out what they think is the most important aspect of your business. Look at the history of your company to see what you have been most successful at doing, will this be a viable market in the future? After you have gathered the above data you should notice patterns that will lead to determining how your Mission Statement should read.

Now take a blank piece of paper and brain storm to come up with multiple company Mission Statements. Write down any idea, regardless of its worth, and continue until you exhaust all possible ideas. Look at the various Mission Statements, which ones best describe your business and leads to you being profitable? A mission that does not lead to profitability obviously will lead a company into bankruptcy, so be careful in selecting your statement. Now take the short list of possible Mission Statements and look to the future of your company. Which Mission Statements will still be profitable in five, ten, or twenty years in your industry? After going through the above process you should be down to just one statement. Take the final Mission Statement and try to get it down to a simple and precise statement. Your goal should be a Mission Statement with about five words.

While Mission Statements may seem to belong to large organizations, they do provide the focus your company may have been looking for. With out a mission, where is your company going? Impossible? . . . I think not.