Writing a Mission Statement

Writing a Business Plan

© Ugur Akinci

Writing a mission statement is a crucial part of any business plan by way of introducing in a nutshell what the company is all about.

A mission statement is also the long-term "guiding light" of a business entity. It helps keep the company activities on an even keel and keeps it focused on its main goal.

A mission statement expresses a lot more than just the product and the service that it offers. It's a short paragraph consisting of two to six sentences that emphasizes the MACRO and UNIVERSAL BENEFITS the company's activities fosters. It talks about the VALUES that guide the daily activities and strategic planning of the company.

Like the constitution of a country, a company's mission statement becomes main source of reference when questions arise about a company's ultimate direction and "purpose in life." To use a biological analogy, it is the "DNA" of a business entity. Without such a statement a company can easily flounder by chasing contradictory goals and going off on a tangent after every questionable direction. It provides the focused energy and principled discipline that a firm needs to grow and move ahead forward along its chosen line of business.

It is closely related to the Vision Statement and usually it is interchangeable with it.

Here is the basic structure of a mission statement:

For example:

(1) "Our mission is to SERVE [VERB] the BEST BURGERS [OBJECT] anywhere."

Here the TARGETED DEMOGRAPHIC GROUP [TDG] is implied -- it's "everyone."

(2) "Our mission is to MAKE SURE [VERB] EVERY CHILD [TDG] GAINS ACCESS [SECONDARY VERB] to a COMPUTER [OBJECT]."

Here are some real-life examples of brief mission statements:

• Coca Cola
• Rite Aid
• University of Notre Dame
• One Laptop Per Child
• Bayer
• Harvard University
• Screen Actors Guild
• United States Secret Service

Sometimes a mission statement covers not only the product/service and main activity of the company but other related factors like the company's approach to its customers and community relations as well.

Here are the example of such expanded mission statements:

• Starbucks
• AirTran Airways
• New York Public Library

Some mission statements even include a philosophical meditation on the nature of capitalism:

• Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream

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