When you start a company, you might have certain aims and goals in mind but they may not be written down. However, it’s always a good idea to come up with a mission statement right from the beginning. This will help to keep you and your employees on track. It will also help to keep your customers in the loop. It will become a part of your brand.
If your company starts out with a certain aim and that aim changes as you go along, it’s also possible to change your mission statement. Here are some questions you should ask yourself to come up with a mission statement, either right at the beginning, when you start the company, or later on, when it has grown past its initial goals:
Why Are You Starting the Company?
The most simple way to come up with your mission statement is to ask yourself why you are starting the company. If you’re the only owner, then it’s up to you to jot down your thoughts about this issue. If you’re starting the company with a partner, then the two of you can do so in conjunction.
What gap in the market are you trying to fill? Are you creating a new product which will improve people’s lives in a different way? Most companies are started to fill a certain gap—a need that the customer has that isn’t being fulfilled. Additionally, the goal is also to improve people’s lives in some way. You just have to be specific about how you’re going to do this.
What Makes You Different?
This is yet another question you’ll have to ask yourself. You know that your product or service is different in some way. You’re focusing on a certain thing which your competitors might not be focusing on. Ask yourself what that thing is.
What makes your product or service stand out? What makes you unique? What makes you special? In what way are you going above and beyond what’s generally expected? It’s important to include this in your mission statement so that your potential customers have a reason to pick you and not someone else.
So a mission statement is both, a statement of why your company has been set up as well as a declaration of uniqueness. It’s a statement of what makes you you. As the French would say, it’s your raison d’être.
