Creating a mission statement for a business, particularly when you are a solo-preneur, seems like a wasted effort for a lot of people. I know when I was first asked to create one as part of a coaching program I was in, I resisted. I didn’t know what to say. It took me weeks to get on with it. When I finally got it written, it felt right, but then I put it away in a drawer and forgot about it.
At that time my business was entirely based on copywriting – creating marketing materials for other people’s businesses. But I was struggling. I wasn’t attracting as many clients as I knew I could. I was having trouble staying motivated to market myself. Things just weren’t right.
Then I got a call from the local college about teaching a writing course part time. I decided to give it a try and discovered I love teaching. It energizes me in a way I hadn’t expected. I started thinking about ways to add teaching to my business. Then I decided I shouldn’t because teaching was moving me away from my core business – copywriting.
I continued on like this for a while until one day I opened that drawer and “discovered” the mission statement I’d written half a year previous. It read, “To use my writing and speaking skills to tell stories that excite, inspire and teach people.”
I was floored. Here I was fighting this impulse to teach when all along I’d had it included as part of my mission. In fact, what I had been considering my “core” business wasn’t really covered by my mission statement at all. I was focusing on all the wrong things.
This epiphany was the start of a major shift in me and my business. I continued teaching part time at the college but I began running workshops on the side. I started writing a book and began this blog. I set a goal to add speaking gigs to my business – in fact I’m speaking at a business women’s forum tomorrow. And I began making plans to create courses I could deliver on-line (stay tuned, I’ve got some exciting things coming up in March).
All this came about because I wrote a mission statement for my business and finally decided to use it to guide my planning and decision making.
How to Create A Mission Statement
First, read some other mission statements to get ideas. I like Starbucks’ mission statement. Google‘s is good too. Notice how they have a short and to the point mission statement and then a page of description that fills in some more details. My mission statement is just the one sentence for now, but I can see the benefit of expanding it to make it more robust.
Now ask yourself some questions and write down the answers. What do you do that is effortless and natural, like breathing? What do you love to do so much that time flies when you do it? What accomplishments are you really proud of? Don’t worry about whether these are things you are doing in your business right now; anything that rings true to you, even things from your distant past, can be included in these answers.
Now review your core values. See yesterday’s post if you don’t know what these values are for you. Using your values and your answers to the above questions, create a mission for yourself and your business.
Other things to consider:
- Your mission statement is about you, not what others have said or what others think you should say. Make it personal, incorporate your values, and make sure you actually believe it.
- Don’t “box” yourself in by being too specific. A mission statement should be able to last for years and allow for change and growth in your business. For example, a massage therapist isn’t likely to start selling weed killers or snowmobiles. However, she might expand into vitamins or back supports. Make your mission statement focused enough to keep out products and services that have nothing to do with you and your values but broad enough to allow you to grow.
- Keep it short. Sure you can expand and add descriptions and modifiers like Starbucks and Google, but the core part of your mission statement should be short and sweet.
- What’s your desired public image? How do you want others to think of you and your business? Keep this in mind while drafting your mission statement.
Use It, Don’t Lose It
Once you complete a mission statement, don’t make the mistake I made. This is not a theoretical exercise to be put aside when completed. Your mission statement is a tool to guide you – and your employees – in the day-to-day running of your business and in your long term planning. Keep you mission statement when you, and your staff, can see it on a daily basis.
Andrea J. Stenberg
