There are millions of businesses in the world. To be successful with your own business, the question you have to ask yourself is, "What’s the point?"
If you don’t have a well-defined purpose or objective for how your brand can serve its audience, you’re not going to get very far. That’s where a brand mission statement comes in. Your brand mission statement should clearly state why you exist. It should be exciting and meaningful for both your customers and your employees.
Mission statements aren’t just for not-for-profit organizations. Every brand and business should have a mission. It’s your WHY (Why do you exist?) and your HOW (How do you fulfill that purpose?). Without a mission, your organization’s objective might get blurry or off track, especially as you scale to add more staff, locations, or offerings. It’s important that everyone (employees, customers, etc.) knows what your business is about. Any gray area and they’re already off to check out your competitor.
Here are some questions to ask yourself as you’re defining your mission statement:
What is your vision?
What problem are you solving?
Who are you serving?
What are you creating or providing?
Where are you located?
Why were you founded?
What are your values?
How would you describe your employees?
What’s your unique value proposition?
Be careful your mission statement doesn’t simply list out your products or services. Why do those products and services matter? Who are they for? And why are you offering them?
Remember your mission should be inspiring, relatively simple, and unique to your brand. Here are some great mission statements from brands you’re familiar with:
Google “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
Patagonia “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”
Nike "Create ground-breaking sports innovations, and make our products sustainably, build a creative and diverse global team, and make a positive impact in communities where we live and work."
Facebook “To give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.”
Ralph Lauren "To inspire the dream of a better life through authenticity and timeless style."
Spotify "To unlock the potential of human creativity by giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by these creators."
L’Oréal "Offering all women and men worldwide the best of cosmetics innovation in terms of quality, efficacy, and safety to satisfy all their desires and all their beauty needs in their infinite diversity."
Once you’ve drafted a mission statement, run it by others in your organization. Don’t forget that your mission statement is like your north star, guiding and centering your team along your journey. It needs to resonate, inspire, focus, and define what your brand is all about.
