Mission Statement

Mission Statement

Every organization or business has a mission, a purpose, a reason for being. The mission statement should be a clear and succinct representation of the company's purpose for existence. It should incorporate socially meaningful and measurable criteria addressing concepts such as the moral/ethical position of the company, the public image, the target market, products/services, the geographic domain and expectations of growth and profitability. At the very least, your organization's mission statement should answer three key questions:

- What principles or beliefs guide our work?
- What are the opportunities or needs that we exist to address?
- What are we doing to address these needs and opportunities?

A Mission Statement should be a one-sentence/two-sentence, clear, concise statement that says who the company is, what it does, for whom and where.

The intent of the Mission Statement should be the first consideration for any employee/business representative who is evaluating any strategic decision. The statement can range from a very simple to a very complex set of ideas.

A Mission Statement can be changed over time. It does not have to be static. It is actually good to revisit the Mission Statement over time and to adjust it to the different times in society, culture and business.

Here are some Mission Statements of other companies and organizations:

Mary Kay Cosmetics
"To give unlimited opportunity to women."

Food & Drug Administration
"The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation. The FDA is also responsible for advancing the public health by helping to speed innovations that make medicines and foods more effective, safer, and more affordable; and helping the public get the accurate, science-based information they need to use medicines and foods to improve their health."

North Carolina - Secretary of State
"To serve and protect citizens, the business community and governmental agencies by facilitating business activities, by providing accurate and timely information and by preserving documents and records."

Sun Microsystems
"Solve complex network computing problems for governments, enterprises, and service providers"

Walt Disney
"To make people happy."

So, from these different kind of Mission Statements you can see that most of the items mentioned above have been implemented in one way or the other. Make sure your business has a Mission Statement that you can identify yourself with. Make sure your employees know your Mission Statement and understand the purpose of it.