12 Powerful Mission Statement Examples | Free Template

A mission statement summarizes what the company does for its clients, human resources, and owners.

Formally;

A company’s mission statement is a simple action-oriented statement that outlines what a company does, its purpose, and what positive impact it wants to have. Besides, it includes a general description of the organization, including its core function and its goals-both short-term and long-term.

Personal Mission Statement- an Overview

A personal mission statement can be broader based on a company’s focus on business. The mission statement will typically explain how the company serves its customers and employees, the community, and the world. For company owners and business owners, creating a personal mission statement is a great way to outline your company’s objective and values such that the public understands your business function in general.

An organization’s personal mission statement is crucial because it outlines who a company is, what the company intends to achieve both in the short and long run, and why its efforts matter. The mission statement also provides the organization’s employees with a set of values and moral guidelines to abide by and gives the community and general public a greater understanding of the organization’s goals, values, and purpose.

Vision Statement

A vision statement is a summary statement that outlines the current and future objectives of an organization. It can be defined as a vision for the direction of a company and what it aspires to be.

A company’s vision statement serves as a guide to help the company make decisions that align with its philosophy and declared set of goals.

Mission statement vs vision statement

A mission statement defines a company’s business, objectives, and approach to reach the declared objectives. On the other hand, a vision statement generally describes the desired future position of the company. In simpler terms, a mission statement serves as the roadmap to achieve a company’s vision statement, whereas a vision statement serves as the guiding light for the aspirations of a company’s business.

The elements of both the mission statement and vision statements are often combined to form a statement of a company’s purposes, goals, and values. However, in other instances, the two statements are used interchangeably.

Key Elements in a Mission Statement

Typically, a mission statement comprises three key elements: goals, values, and purpose.

The following is a general outlook into the key elements in a mission statement:

Goals

Company goals are usually outlined in the personal mission statement. Company goals refer to what the company intends to achieve. This helps to unify an organization by providing employees with a roadmap for achieving business success. This provides a better structure and promotes a more efficient and productive workplace.

Values

A great personal mission statement outlines the company’s core values, work ethics, and culture. This defines what the company believes in and how the employees are expected to behave- with each other, with customers and suppliers, and with other stakeholders. Values provide a moral direction for the organization that guides decision-making and identifies a standard for assessing actions. It also enables the public to know what type of behavior they can expect from the company.

Purpose

An organization’s personal mission statement outlines its contribution to the greater public and its reason for existing. This allows company owners to explain why they do certain things and the impact of what they do. This element of the mission statement helps the company’s audience better understand what sets it apart from other organizations.

How to Write a Personal Mission Statement

When drafting a personal Mission Statement, make sure to create a clear and concise statement that addresses all the three key elements in a great mission statement.

Have a look at the steps for writing a great personal mission statement as explained in this section:

A market-defining story

The first step of writing an effective personal mission statement involves creating a market-defining story that explains the need or why to buy. A good market-defining story defines the company’s target buyer persona and sets apart a specific company from all the other companies in the same industry. Writing a great market-defining story simplifies thinking about what a business isn’t and what it does not do.

While a good market-defining story isn’t literally part of the mission statement, it is an important thing to keep in mind while writing the mission statement as it helps one come up with a concrete story about what a business does and what it doesn’t do.

The company’s purpose

After coming up with a concrete story about the company, it is time to write the actual mission statement. Start by stating the core reason for the company’s existence. For example, a dairy store’s purpose may be to sell milk products to customers.

The company’s purpose should emphasize how the company is different from its competitors. One can achieve this by outlining the company’s specialty, which allows the buyer persona to see its contribution to society. When customers know how a company is different from its competitors, it can help them decide who they want to purchase from or work with.

What the company offers

An effective mission statement should highlight the good that the business does for its customers, employees, and owners. While writing this section, do not undervalue the business based on what the company does. The impact doesn’t have to be big.

For example:

Stopping global climate change. It can be offering trustworthy products or services or even providing great customer care and after-sales services, including doing installations for your customers.

If the business is doing good for the greater world, be sure to include that information in the mission statement. However, claims about being good for the greater public need to be meaningful and distinguishable from competitors. These claims also need to be true.

What the company offers its employees

For a company or business to last in the market, it has to be good to its employees. Retaining employees in the organization is better for the bottom line than turnover. For this to happen, the company culture matters, and so is employee reward, recognition, and motivation. Therefore, the company’s mission statement must outline what the business offers to its employees.

While writing this section, qualities like fairness, diversity, empowerment, fair compensation, training, respect for ideas and creativity, etc., should be incorporated. Stating this in the company’s personal mission statement is good for all the involved parties as it serves as a reminder for owners, supervisors, and employees; and as a lever for self-enforcement.

What the business does for its owners

Although an unusual element of most mission statements, including what the business does for its owners, is crucial in creating an effective mission statement. Typically, most mission statements are outward-facing, only aimed at customers and nobody else.

However, to develop a great mission statement, one needs to incorporate a broader sense of mission that includes ownership. If, for example, the business aims to improve its owners’ financial position or offer a certain percentage of return on investment over time, be sure to include this statement in the company’s mission statement.

How the company accomplishes its goals

The next step involves expressing how the company accomplishes its task by highlighting its general operations. In most cases, this encompasses listing the company’s core values and beliefs. The most common examples of company core values include providing equal access to resources, providing quality products or services to clients, integrity, and accountability.

Reason for the company’s actions

An effective personal mission statement needs to include the organization’s passion and why the organization does certain things. While writing this part, one needs to refocus on the company’s purpose and the reason for its existence. This helps to reignite the company’s spirit and its intended positive impact on society. The most common reason for a company’s action may be to improve people’s living standards or enhance a healthier quality of living among clients and society.

Summary and revision

An effective mission statement serves several functions, defines a company’s objectives, and remains relevant to the company’s mission for a long time.

Thus, consider developing a personal mission statement for use within the company and using a different customer-facing subset for general publication. Many companies are now employing this technique, having segmented personal mission statements with sections set aside and categorized by specific goals. If this works out for the company, consider using bullet points or sub-sections. While developing the company’s personal mission statement, remember form follows function, just like in any other form of business writing.

While reviewing and editing the final copy of the mission statement, be keen not to include the buzzwords and hype that every other company claims in their mission statements. Leave out any unnecessary and ambiguous information and only include content that precisely suits the business’ purpose or information that can serve as long-term rules and reminders. Remember to use unique phrases only.

Tip: It is a great idea to read other company’s mission statements and see how they have worded theirs. However, when writing the mission statement, refine it accordingly such that it is specific to your company and not some other company. Remember, customers or even employees can detect a lie.

To develop a clear and concise mission statement, it is imperative to review it and check for grammar or common spelling mistakes. Alternatively, one can present the draft copy to objective friends or even employees and ask for their frank opinions. Actively listen to their opinions and avoid arguing or trying to convince them. Depending on the quality of the first draft, one may need to rephrase or edit it for further clarity and understanding.

After writing the final copy, it is also important to periodically revise the mission statement to ensure that it still holds true over time. The primary reason for revising the mission statement over time is because the company may have achieved its previous goals, or perhaps the company culture might have shifted, thus the need for a new personal mission statement that aligns with the company’s future goals, values, or purpose.

Tips for Writing a Mission Statement

 When crafting a personal mission statement for a company, the following tips can be very beneficial:

• Be concise: a great mission statement need not be too wordy. Keep it to a maximum of 100 words or less, if possible, to quickly present your company. While writing it, use direct statements and strong action verbs that emphasize the positive impact that the company wants to achieve.
• Think long-term: a good mission statement needs to be inclusive of the company’s future. It shouldn’t focus on short-term goals, even though company culture and goals tend to shift over time. Thus, when writing a mission statement for a company, make sure it reflects on long-term goals
• Acquire feedback: before coming up with a mission statement for your company, consider discussing it with the employees. The employee’s feedback about the mission statement can help you improve it, or they can provide useful insights that you had not previously thought of. This helps you to come up with a personal mission statement that works for everyone, leading to business success.
• Don’t make it sound generic, stale, and useless: Let it define the business so well that it feels like a strategy. Besides, avoid making the mission statement too limiting because the company might expand at some point.
• Change the company’s personal mission statement: Frequently, things change in the business world. If the mission statement is no longer representing the company, it is probably time for a rewrite.

Download Free Templates

Here are free customized templates:

Personal Mission Statement Examples

While writing a personal mission statement, consider its structure and your choice of words.

Here are some well-crafted examples that you can use to help you craft a quality company’s mission statement;

Example 1: Mission Statement for a dairy products store
To manufacture, distribute and vend the finest quality all-natural milk products in a wide range of innovative flavours made naturally from us to you.

Example 2: Mission statement for a grocery store
To market and distribute great products to our customers with incomparable service

Example 3: Mission Statement for a clothing store
To design and deliver authentic, outdoor, and high-value clothes for our active consumers of all ages.

Example 4: Mission Statement for Fashion company
To create an apparel company that offers superior design, quality clothing brands, and value to the customer. We will accomplish this by remaining dedicated to offering great service and real value to all our consumers and business partners. We strive to provide a pleasant, fair and diverse environment, allowing our associates to grow in their careers and experience constant improvements in their lifestyle.

Example 5: Personal Mission Statement for an Airline company
To provide superior customer service by engaging customers with a positive attitude that showcases our company’s passion and values.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)