Imagine a potential customer clicking onto your website for the first time. They found you via Instagram, and fell in love with your product and aesthetics. But by the time they head to your website, they’re realising that they don’t really know who you are, and where you stand on key issues that are important to them.
So they leave your website and end up making a purchase of the same things you sell, on a competitor’s website.
This can and does happen to businesses all the time, especially small businesses! Even our team members have found that in our mission to be more conscious and ethical consumers, we’ve had to click away from some lovely-looking homewares or athletic gear because we know next to nothing about that brand’s values and approach to business.
That’s where a clear and concise mission statement comes into play. A mission statement can be as short as a sentence or as long as a 4-line paragraph, but the key purpose is this: it summarises the aims and values of your business.
So if you don’t yet have a mission statement, you need one ASAP! We’re here to help – read on to discover exactly why a mission statement is important, and how you can write an impactful and inspiring mission statement for your business.
Words: Adriana Thani
Why a mission statement is so important
- It clearly describes your purpose
All your stakeholders – from suppliers and partners, to customers and mass media – will find value in having clarity around your business purpose. You never know who might come across your business, and they may very well have zero idea about who you are. You can make sure they get to know your purpose early on in their interactions with you by providing them with a mission statement. - It’s helps you focus your strategies
A clear mission statement can help you target your business processes and strategies, including all the content you produce for your business. The words you use in mission statements are meant to inspire action, and this can help you target your efforts where it counts. - It shapes your brand identity
Developing a mission statement allows you to create a solid identity around who you are as a business. This, in turn, helps you keep things consistent across all your channels, showcasing a unified brand identity that people will recognise the instant they see your logo or brand colours. - It helps you build a community around your brand
When your mission statement accurately describes your business, it allows like-minded people – and potential customers – to discover you and become a part of your community. This is especially true on social media, where you can connect directly with your audience and create that loyal community around what you have to offer!
How to write a mission statement
We’re providing step-by-step instructions to help you form the perfect mission statement for your brand. We’ll be using a make-believe organic skincare line based in Australia as an example, just to make things a little easier to understand and apply to your biz. Let’s call it Content Savvy Organic Skincare, because one can dream, right?
1. Do your research
Before you even start writing your mission statement, spend a day looking at your competitors’ mission statements for inspiration. It’s also a good idea to have a look at larger companies, even if they’re from a different industry.
Let us be clear here: you’re not going to be copying their mission word for word! But doing this research can help inspire your own mission statement and spark some ideas to make yours really stand out.
For example, here are a few great examples of mission statements we found online that are relevant in developing the mission statement for Content Savvy Organic Skincare:
Frank Body: “Several years ago in a coffee shop, five friends had a drink and an idea: a humble coffee scrub. Their mission was to remove the hyperbole that saturates the skincare industry and make natural skincare fun. So they called me frank and I’ve been getting babes dirty ever since. That simple, that good.”
Starflower Essentials: “Our mission statement is to create and provide healthy, effective skin care and wellness products designed to improve the skin and enhance holistic health, as well as improve the overall lifestyles of our clients by example and education.”
The Walt Disney Company: “The mission of The Walt Disney Company is to entertain, inform and inspire people around the globe through the power of unparalleled storytelling, reflecting the iconic brands, creative minds and innovative technologies that make ours the world’s premier entertainment company.”
Spotify: “Spotify: Our mission is 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 it.”
2. Find your why
You need to be clear on the purpose of your business so you can explain it concisely in your mission statement. Ask yourself these questions:
- What is the reason your business exists?
- Is there a problem you’re trying to solve?
- Do you have a unique story behind the formation of your business?
As an example, one of the key purposes behind Content Savvy Organic Skincare is to provide earth-friendly skincare that is affordable and easy to use.
3. Don’t forget the What and How
What does your business do, and how do you do it? This may be easier to figure out for some businesses compared to others. Generally, a product-based business can pretty easily define what it is they do and how they do it! However, it might be a little trickier for service-based business.
If you offer services, it may be worthwhile to look at your key services and find the commonalities between these services. Another tip is to look at who you’re serving – it could be that your “what and how” is tied directly into providing solutions for your customer base.
Content Savvy Organic Skincare, for example, provides skincare solutions on a budget by focusing on active ingredients that are scientifically proven to work.
4. Specify the value of your business
What value can you offer your employees, your customers, and your community? Are you saving them time and money? Are you giving them clarity surrounding an issue in their lives?
Be clear about how your brand – and your offerings – will benefit the people around you. This is, of course, different for every business. But highlighting this in your mission statement is going to set you apart and allow your audience to consider how your business fits into their lives and serve their specific needs.
As an example, the value of Content Savvy Organic Skincare is how the products will keep your skincare routine hassle-free yet effective.
5. Keep it short and sweet
In taking all the steps outlined above, you may find yourself with a massive block of text that makes little sense when you read it in its entirety.
That’s totally normal!
What you need to do now is whittle it down to its bare bones, making sure to include all the key phrases you’ve discovered while following the instructions we’ve provided. You can then arrange these phrases in a way that makes sense and tells a story.
It honestly doesn’t have to be fancy, but it absolutely does need to be clear and concise.
We’ll show you what we mean. Here’s how our example turned out before editing:
“The key purpose behind Content Savvy Organic Skincare is to provide earth-friendly skincare that is affordable and easy to use. Content Savvy Organic Skincare provides skincare solutions on a budget by focusing on active ingredients that are scientifically proven to work. The value of Content Savvy Organic Skincare is how it will keep your skincare routine hassle-free yet effective.”
Not particularly inspirational or charming, is it? Now take a look at what we ended up with after some clever rearranging:
“Content Savvy Organic Skincare aims to provide earth-friendly skin solutions that don’t break the bank. We formulate our products with a focus on active ingredients that are scientifically proven to work, so that you can enjoy a skincare routine that’s hassle-free yet effective!”
We don’t know about you, but we reckon that’s definitely an improvement!
Use your mission statement to express who you are
Every business has something that sets them apart from others. By creating a tailor-made mission statement, you’re showing the world exactly what makes your business special.
Do you need help in creating a unique mission statement for your business? Our team of experienced copywriters are ready to get on board! Send us a message to learn more about our copywriting services for small businesses.
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