

If you’re an entrepreneur building a small business, you already know that it takes more than just spreadsheets, financial projections and a marketing push; it also takes passion, dedication and attention to details.
But long-term success requires even more.
The purpose of a mission statement is to provide a short summary of the business’ purpose and focus. It can be complex or succinct, but it should never be more than one paragraph (and in many cases, more than one sentence).
It’s OK to expound upon the overall mission once you’ve articulated its message, but the idea is for the mission statement to be simple enough to stand on its own. Although not essential, many mission statements identify the type of business they are, the products or services they sell, and/or the target market and customer base they’re seeking.
Think of your vision statement as a glimpse into your business’s future. While the mission describes your company’s focus and what it does, the vision for your company is its direction and identifies what you want it to become. The purpose of your vision statement is to pinpoint the goals and outcomes your business was created to achieve and outline how it will get there.
Your vision statement is important both internally and externally. It’s both aspirational and inspirational. For your team, it lays out the picture of what the future looks like for your business and inspires them to help get it there. For your customers, it provides a picture of what your company is working toward and invites them along for the ride.
When crafting your vision statement, you and your team will want to ask some important questions about the future. Here some to get you started:
The vision statement will become a key component of your business’s future identity, so you want to make sure it’s vague enough to serve as an ideal, but specific enough that it motivates people to want to do business with you.
Your business’s values describe the morals, ethics and ideals that are important to your company. There are usually more than one or two, and they usually help to flesh out your mission and vision statements.
Many brands will use acronyms to make sure their values are memorable and shareable. For example, Avon Worldwide’s values are embodied in the word, BIRTH, which stands for Belief, Integrity, Respect, Trust and Humility. Other companies will choose to keep their corporate values internal, opting to only share them with the team or its leaders.
Whatever approach you take, the values you choose to associate your business with will drive how you make decisions and determine the kind of culture you want to create. Your mission and vision answer the question, “Why?” but your values answer the question, “How?”
Whether your business is well established or just starting up, if you don’t have mission and vision statements or a set of values to help guide decision-making, it’ll be difficult for your company to thrive over the long-term. Fortunately, a SCORE mentor can walk you through the process, identify what’s important to you and help your business grow. Reach out to a mentor today to get started!
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Funded, in part, through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.