Business Plan Mission and Vision.

A Mission Statement is the heart of your business plan. It is a short presentation of your purpose for being in business and the values that drive you and your company.

Usually three to five sentences, in the average business plan, but can sometimes be as short as one sentence in length. It presents the values that set the performance standards and direction of your business.

It's best to keep it brief. Management guru, Peter Drucker, says the mission should "fit on a T-shirt," but length is less important than clearly communicating purpose and values.

Steven Covey, author of, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, refers to crafting a mission statement as "connecting with your own unique purpose and the profound satisfaction that comes in fulfilling it." If you don't feel a little pride and excitement about what you are doing, when you read your business plan mission statement, you probably need to rewrite it.

3M corporation - "To solve unsolved problems innovatively"

San Francisco YMCA - "To enhance the lives of all people through programs designed to develop spirit, mind and body."

Google - "To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."

Now, for the Vision Statement. Lots of people confuse the Mission and Vision statements.

Your mission states what you are in business to accomplish and the values that drive your decisons. Your vision statement explains where you will go by living your mission.

This is where you get to dream. Where you get to visualize the checks rolling in to a home based interenet business, or moving out of your home into a commercial location. You get to see the three, or twenty-three, delivery vans in your mind's eye. Imagine the company picnic - with you family and closest friends, or a staff of hundreds enjoying your success. See it, and then write it down. Don't forget what Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge".

Mistakes People Often Make when Creating a Mission and Vision

1. Not being customer focused. Yes, your mission is a statement of your reasons for being in business, but every business must focus on its target customers. You know that, so make your mission reflect your interest and concern for your customer and his, or her needs.

2. Using hackneyed phrases like, "best quality", "best customer service", or "highest quality at lowest prices". Honestly, when you see those terms in a business mission statement don't you just know it was thought up by a bunch of old business guys in a back room to "sell"? Be original. Be honest. People can see through dishonesty and condescending attitudes and they react badly to them.

3. Too long. remember Peter Drucker's comment. If you can't say it in three, at the most five sentences, it's because you aren't really clear on who you are and what you want to accomplish as a business.

Back