Business Mission Statement and Vision Statement
Setting the foundations for the purpose of your operations.
Overview
Business mission statements and vision statements are short descriptions of a business or organization that articulates the goals, objectives, and values of an organization; this is an important tool for making decisions and plans about a business. An organization can have one complete statement that describes its mission and values or two separate mission and vision statements.
Business Mission Statement vs Vision Statement
The mission is what the company is and what they do; vision is what they hope to be.
Mission statements are more action-oriented and serve to describe the purpose of a company or organization. It expresses the business’s functions and objectives. Having a developed mission statement is necessary to create an accurate vision statement.
The vision statement describes where you want your company to go. It provides insight into a business’s values. An understanding of both of these statements is necessary for developing your company’s brand.
Necessary Elements
What Goes in a Quality Business Mission Statement?
A good mission statement should be one nice sentence at the most. The mission statement should consider the long-term future of the organization and not be limiting. Employees should be asked what they think of the statement and the organization shouldn’t be afraid to alter the statement if circumstances change.
3 Major Components for a Business Mission Statement
According to Professor Chris Bart, notable authority of organizational mission and vision statements, a mission statement consists of three essential components:
Great Examples of Business Mission Statements
AMI
"The purpose of Arizona Microcredit Initiative is to empower underserved entrepreneurs to start or expand businesses through business instruction, consulting services, and microloans.”
“To connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.”
Amazon
“We strive to offer our customers the lowest possible prices, the best available selection, and the utmost convenience.”
What Goes in a Quality Business Vision Statement?
A good vision statement should also be short like a mission statement. The statement is an optimistic outlook about the current state of the organization as well as the future objectives. The vision statement is goal-setting and it should be what the entire organization’s work is looking to create. It should be inspiring.
Common Traits of Business Vision Statements
Great Examples of Business Vision Statements
AMI
“An Arizona where neither a challenging background nor lack of resources can stand in the way of a passionate, entrepreneurial spirit.”
Apple
“To make the best products on earth, and to leave the world better than we found it.”
Shopify
“Make commerce better for everyone, so businesses can focus on what they do best: building and selling their products.”
Decision Making Based on Statements
A mission statement should be the ethos of what your company does, and thus should be emphasized in the actions that the company takes within its culture.
Whenever there are decisions that you as a leader of an organization are making, the company’s mission statement should align with the actions the organization is taking.
The 3 Steps To Take When Decision-Making
Step 1
Ask yourself, Why Are You Making The Decision? Understand what the short and long-term implications of the decision are.
Step 2
After evaluating the implications of your decision, ensure that that your decision fits your Vision and Mission Statement.
Step 3
Ensure that your decision makes business sense. Ask yourself, will this be a net benefit for my net profit in the long-term? If the answer is no, re-evaluate the decision because the long-term profitability of your business will allow you to sustain your business.
Great Example
Tomm’s Shoes has the goal of ensuring that every person that needs a shoe can get a shoe. This mission statement is embedded into the ethos of the company and that is why for every pair of shoes a person purchases from Tom’s, another shoe is made for a person in need. Toms was able to do this because they could afford it and they deemed it as a business decision that would increase their long-term profitability.
Create Your Business Mission Statement and Vision Statement
Business Mission Statement
Below begin brainstorming what your mission statement might be. Think about the three major components of a mission statement and what those are in your business. Feel free to refer back to the page about what a quality mission statement looks like.
Business Vision Statement
Below begin brainstorming what your vision statement might be. Go over the 6 common traits and reflect on what values your business holds. Again, feel free to refer back to the page about what a quality vision statement looks like.
A strong business mission statement and vision statement is crucial to the foundation of a company as they lay out the business's goals, objectives, and values. By providing a clear direction for the company, organized mission and vision statements ease the decision making process. From the primary factors of strong mission and vision statements we provided above, you are now ready to construct your own! You may also want to build a strong business plan to provide more direction for the company - click here for a guide to business plan writing.
Arizona Microcredit Initiative (AMI) has consulting and microloan support for yourself and your business. If you have any more questions, you can schedule an appointment today through https://www.azmicrocredit.org/schedule-a-consultation-1 or reach out to us at info@azmicrocredit.org.
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