Tips for Developing a Mission Statement
Developing a company mission statement can be a tricky and time-consuming task. So what is the best way for companies to get the best value from it? This blog post will help you navigate through the minefield of writing your mission statement.
Make sure it's scalable
Your mission statement is one of the cornerstones of your company. When you first decide to start a company, create a mission statement that will scale and apply to your business, no matter how much it grows. Don't fall into the problem of rushing through it and then posting it live before it's ready. You need to think of every aspect of your company and what will happen to it when it grows and adapts with the time.
Ask the right questions
When you're creating your mission statement you need to make sure you're asking the right questions of yourself and the company.
Questions such as: Why did I start the company? What are the values of the company? Who are the customers of the company? What problems are you solving for the customers? What is the philosophy of the company?
The questions listed above are a good starting point for writing a mission statement and will start to get you on the right track.
Define your core values
If you're not sure what your company's core values are, then it'll be almost impossible to create a mission statement that will hold up over the course of the company's life. Come up with a list of values that are most important to your company and narrow them down as much as possible. Without going through this process, you will create content blindly and for the wrong audience.
Consult your team
If you just create a company statement and spring it on your team, you may find that they are unwilling to follow through with it. Consult with your team throughout the process and take any feedback on board. This way the mission statement that you come up with will reflect the company as a whole and the whole team will feel willing to get behind it.
Understand the value you create
For any company to succeed, it has to create enough value for someone else to want to pay for services. A good place to start when considering this is writing down the value you are trying to create, identify your customers and identify what those customers will be expecting from you. When you put the customer first in this way, you can see how your mission statement will start to take shape.
Don't make it static
Just like your business plan, your mission statement may need to be added to over time as the business evolves. You need to adhere to the principles guiding the company as you created it, but you also need to be able to grow alongside it.
Summing up
Your mission statement should take you a while to think about and write, but should be able to last the life of the company. Just remember to have input from sources that you trust so that you can have a full overview of your company and its defining values.
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