Why is a Mission Statement Important?

A mission statement is to your school, church, business, personal life, etc. what language is to communication. In fact, the purpose of a mission statement is to communicate to yourself, staff, and the world what to expect. Because, after all, sooner or later you get what you expect.

If you have a carwash, you are in the business of cleaning cars. But so are fifty other carwash businesses. People have choices. You want them to choose you. To help them make the choice, you need to give them some information that speaks to what they can expect at your carwash.

For example, are you the lowest cost, the best service, the ideal location, the one where everyone is courteous or dresses in a snazzy uniform?

What is a mission statement and why is it important?

Remember, it’s not necessary to be super unique to craft a good mission statement. Many successful organizations have very simple mission statements. Some companies simply use bullet points or a short paragraph followed by a statement of values or other explanatory material.

There’s no right or wrong way to present your organization’s mission statement. The importance of a mission statement is two-fold. First, having a stated mission and vision provides a common sense of purpose and goals internally. The second reason mission and vision statements are important ties back to helping funders, participants, or customers understand what to expect or why they should come to you for help or service.

Tackle these five steps to quickly get a purpose for your mission or vision statement

1. List mission-critical ideas.
2. Agree on these ideas.
3. Fill in each idea with specific language.
4. Discuss if you need additional explanatory statements.
5. Fill in the additional explanatory statements.

What is a Mission Statement?

The mission defines the present condition of the organization. A mission should answer three key questions: what we do, who we do it for, and how we do it.

Some of the samples of vision statements by category, include the following (just click to go direct to the specific library)

• Schools
• Financial Services
• Accounting
• Church
• Community Group
• Consumer Services
• Construction
• Food and Beverage
• Health Care

Here’s a sample MISSION, VISION, AND VALUES approach:

Mallick Mechanical Contractors is committed to building solutions and relationships that last a lifetime throughout Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Washington, DC. Our vision is to be the premier commercial mechanical and plumbing contractor for high performance clients. We are dedicated to providing quality workmanship, customer satisfaction, and building long lasting relationships with contractors, owners, suppliers, subcontractors, and employees.

We have a Mission and Vision Statement Guide that you can download for $5 here.

The importance of a mission statement becomes clear if you and your team ask some of these key questions:

1. Do we have a strategic plan?
2. Why are we in business?
3. What will our business look like in the future?
4. What does our business do differently than others?
5. What does this business mean to me personally?
6. What’s our company culture and style?
7. How are we special and unique as a company?

Keep your mission statement positive and the vision statement future-oriented. Use action verbs! Here are a few:

assist

believe

create

endeavor

ensure

improve

maximize

promote

provide

pursue

recognize

seek

strive

uphold

 Use positive nouns:

customer satisfaction

diversity

enrichment

excellence

growth

opportunity