(ThyBlackMan.com) Your company mission statement is one of the most important statements that you can write. In a few simple words, a mission statement is supposed to identify what your company stands for, its vision for the future and its goals. Within just a few short and simple sentences, you can create the foundation of your business plan and offer a clear reflection of your company’s underlying philosophies, objectives and goals. If you’re a person of firm convictions, you may feel like writing your mission statement will be a breeze. Developing an effective mission statement, however, is much more difficult than it may seem at first. Being able to brainstorm great ideas will lead to lightening this load and can be done simply by following several important steps.
Carefully Examine the Actual Business
Before you develop a mission statement for your business, you need to take the time to carefully examine the actual business itself. This is going to dictate the kind of people that your business attracts and thus is going to control who does business with you. For example, some companies that are geared toward athletes are not going to get much business from couch potatoes. It’s a lack of interest, regardless of how good the product is. Identify the business structure type as well as its target audience and key demographic. The overall image you want to establish for your business
and the message that needs to be conveyed to your customers should also be taken into consideration. Think about how you will be able to stand out amongst your competitors and the steps you will take to build relationships with suppliers and clients.
Focus on the “Why” and Not the “What”
Businesses are in the game of selling products. This is true of all businesses. However, you don’t want to be too focused on what exactly you are selling. People are emotional creatures and you need to focus on why they need to make the choice to go with your product or service. They may have numerous outlets for the product at their fingertips already. It is fairly easy to become so focused on what you offer to your customers when developing this aspect of your business plan that you lose sight of exactly why you offer those products and services in the first place. That should be the primary foundation of your mission statement. Your customers, clients, investors and anyone else who reads this statement needs to be made aware of exactly why you do what you do instead of just learning about the products and services that allow you to do it.
Enjoy the Creative Aspect of the Process
Even if you’re not much of a writer, you can appreciate the work that goes into crafting a mission statement. Avoid rushing too quickly into formalizing the content and tone of your mission statement. The basic concept of a brainstorming session should be to get out as many creative ideas and thoughts as possible. Regardless of how silly an idea might seem, do not close the door too soon on your creative inclinations. Keep the points you researched early in the creative process in the forefront of your mind in order to ensure your ideas are relevant. It is recommended to record all of your ideas on paper, according to Entrepreneur, especially when working with a group.
Identify the Desired Term for the Statement
A key step that is often overlooked during the process of writing a mission statement is deciding whether to create a short-term or a long-term statement. Your final choice will guide what direction you take in your writing. While a short-term statement allows you to focus more on specific goals and deadlines, a long-term statement gives you the opportunity to be vague with your word choice because it will allow you to establish a consistent statement that will never change regardless of how your company grows in the future, according to Inc.
Review Ideas Thoroughly and Revise Accordingly
Once you have embraced the creative process and recorded all your ideas on paper, now is the time to dissect each one in order to develop a solid statement from those ideas and thoughts. Avoid using too many words within the statement by keeping in mind that less is more. Keep it short and sweet, taking the steps necessary during the revision process to eliminate any signs of fluff or repetitiveness. Avoid becoming too attached to one particular idea or concept, especially when collaborating with other people in a group.
Accept the fact that not all ideas will survive the brainstorming process. Remember, the objective of this process is to find the perfect idea to develop into an effective mission statement, and following these steps will help you to do just that.
Staff Writer; Greg Jones