Why should a small company, operating in a small, highly competitive industry write a mission statement?
Often, small companies do not have the time or expertise to write a mission statement and, more important stick to that. Their primary objective is to survive. What if they receive an offer to do a project that does not fit in their mission, but generates turnover?
Answers (7)
Thursday B.
Content Consultant at Hyper Modern LLC
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Stefaan,
A mission statement shouldn't preclude taking on any project. The purpose of a mission statement is to simply make sure that everyone in your business -- employees, managers, stockholders, etc. is operating on the same page. It's just an overall goal.
Google's is a great example: "Organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." It doesn't limit them to a specific type of project or a specific market.
Kevin C.
Call Center Quality Specialist
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To write your purpose. You may know what it is and your employees may too, but sometimes you just have to put things in writing to make it stick.
I'm currently reading Purpose: The Starting Point of Great Companies by Nikos Mourkogiannis. Without having something to focus on, you may have a tendancy to drift. It wasn't mentioned in this book, but here is a excellent example. There was a company in Japan that had been in business for 1400 years and under control of the same family all of that time. They prospered by building Buddist temples until the late 1990's building boom in Japan when they tried to get into commercial real estate. Guess what, they lost their hiney and the company filed bankruptcy when the real estate boom died there. THey lost their purpose and paid for it.
Al S. B.
Projects without Pain: Call me for relief from pain and anxiety about your most important, most strategic projects
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Alan Weiss has written some great stuff in Million Dollar Consulting and other books about why the common business advice ("specialize or die") is a bad idea. Sometimes companies can use a mission or vision statement as a way to constantly say "no" to different projects. Alan prefers "generalize and thrive" as a business philosophy. Take on more work that you can do really well, and you will continue to grow and diversify.
I do think you need to be careful as a small-business owner, in going to far away from your roots and skills. I have seen some small businesses that will simply take any project brought to them, with no goal, vision, or plan. They fail to develop a good reputation for service, because they take on anything that comes their way. Often they take on projects that they do not know how to do, do not know how to price properly, or even cannot finish. Obviously a string of poorly-done jobs will hurt their reputation and kill and possible word-of-mouth referrals, which are so essential to most small business.
In my own business, I decided not to explicitly write a public mission statement or vision, but my marketing plan really contains core elements of my vision for the company. My marketing copy makes clear what kinds of problems I solve, what kinds of customers I serve best, what types of services I perform, and how I usually work. If I happen to come across another type of project that does not fit my current marketing plan, I will evaluate it and decide if I can do it well and if the price is right. At the end of the day, if I take it and enjoy it, I might update my marketing plan to include that type of work. If I did not find that it fit in with my skills and my business plan, then I have learned something. I know not to take these types of jobs in the future.
I think the mission and vision statements can be incredibly helpful in a big company, where many people need to understand what the company stands for. It can also be critical for a small company with many partners, or a small non-profit. Again, your network of partners and contributors need to understand what the company stands for.
I just visited New York Life in Manhattan. They had their mission carved into a huge block of beautify, dark wood in the reception area. The scripted, gold letters were gorgeous and PERMANENT. That is great for a big company. A small company, though, needs to play to its strengths. Often a small business owner can adjust their business plans, mission, and vision many times a year and cause themselves no real problem.
In my view, the critical issue is that they have a plan and an idea of where they are going. Taking any random job that comes along is a recipe for failure; so is strictly obeying a business plan or mission that is leading to no business. I think a business owner needs to have a target market, and then evaluate each business opportunity that comes to them that is outside that target. If the new business moves the business ahead, then do it. If the new business threatens what the business owner really wants out of their business, then do not take it.
Jeremy N.
Executive, Commercial and Legal
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Stefaan,
As most of the answers already suggest - you don't have to is the simple answer.
The idea of the mission statement is to carry the goal and purpose of the business clearly to each employee so that everyone knows what the common objective is. That is very important in large corporate environments, but even in smaller companies once you head to 100+ employees, and in some cases even below that.
A small business is generally driven by an entrepreneur and the team is small enough for everyone to know what the objective is. Generally quite frankly it is simple - to survive and make enough money to pay the bills, and get well enough known to survive easier next year....
Nothing is fixed, nor one size fits all. Pragmatism and logic should never be ignored!
Erik S.
Vice President, Sales, Marketing and Operations Steiner Hearing Instruments ltd
The Rhetoric of Mission Statements
The short answer is that writing a mission statement helps you focus on your core objectives; this is especially important and valuable early on, when a small company can easily get sidetracked by such non-goal oriented projects. Especially if a small company is in its startup phase it may be a good idea to forego such projects in order to allow the team to max time spent moving the company forward.
The following originally appeared on my blog, Ragingacademic Notes (http://ragingacademicbusiness.blogspot.com/)
Theoretically and in a historical context the mission statement was at the core of a firm’s strategic directive. A mission statement should define the purpose of the organization, and function as a core component of the company’s vision, ethics and values. However, more recently, mission statements have become an object of play, to be reflected upon, revised and rewritten as frequently as organizations are reengineered, reorganized and downsized. This has served to degrade the value of the mission statement in the eyes of the average employee, and to allow for the build-up of a great deal of sarcasm and cynicism (many first-hand experiences...); further, recent debacles at a large number of venerable and respected American companies such as Enron, MCI WorldCom, Tyco and others – and the inexcusable behavior exhibited by the leaders of these organizations – has provided clear evidence that senior management does not pay more than lip service to said statements.
Mission statements present a conundrum of sorts. Ron Graham, of the College of New Jersey, explained why:
"There are two problems with using mission statements in this way:
1. If the staff is already focused on what it's supposed to be doing, it doesn't need the mission statement;
2. If the staff is not focused on what it's supposed to be doing, then there is a problem more fundamental than the need for a mission statement." (Graham, n.d.)
Jaffe (2007) provides an excellent three-part guideline for creating mission statements that should not simply become rhetoric… “First, it's no more than a single sentence long; second, it can be easily understood by a 12-year-old; and third, it can be recited from memory at gunpoint.”
A mission statement can provide an important foundation for a company if crafted right; it can be a point of ridicule and employee criticism when not. It should not be arrived at through consensus – employees’ ideas should most definitely be solicited, but at the end of the day the mission statement should reflect managements’ vision.
A couple of examples:
Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) created the following corporate mission statement for Logitech:
"The New Ventures Mission is to scout profitable growth opportunities in relationships, both internally and externally, in emerging, mission inclusive markets, and explore new paradigms and then filter and communicate and evangelize the findings." (Graham, n.d.)
In order to consult for Logitech Adams fooled senior management and represented himself as a “credible consultant” - with the (well paid...) result being the mission statement above!
Obviously, this is an example of a terrible mission statement…
In contrast, State Farm’s mission statement closely follows the guidelines laid down by Mr. Graham: "To help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected, and realize their dreams."
And perhaps the best mission statement ever put together is the mission statement for the human race - as can be found in the book of Genesis: “Be fruitful, and multiply…”
Want to explore some mission statements?
Try Man on a Mission, a blog dedicated to making mission statements public.
References
Graham, R. (n.d.) Mission Statements.
Jaffe, A. (2007). How Business Partners can Create a Joint Vision. The Wall Street Journal Center for Entrepreneurs StartUp Journal.
Links:
Missions are only useful if they successfully communicate, well, the mission of your company. Too often, mission statements wind up sounding like corporate goo and resonate very little with the people they're meant to motivate - employees and customers.
Guy Kawasaki touts mantras instead, succinct and purposeful. The marquis example he uses is for Wendy's. Their mission statement:
“The mission of Wendy’s is to deliver superior quality products and services for our customers and communities through leadership, innovation, and partnerships.”
What does that say to you as a customer? Will it sway your decision when you're hungry and given 10 choices at any given exit off the interstate? Kawasaki's suggestion is a slimmed down mantra instead:
"Healthy fast food."
It aligns the work being done by employees with the expectations created for customers. The moral - don't waste a lot of time coming up with an empty statement. Boil down your reason for existence and lead with it at all times.
Links:
Jof W.
Owner of The Shilling Group
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Mission statements are important for two reasons.
1) they allow you to maintian a clear message internally that keeps your team "on message" and stops pet projects forming. IT is a key part of your stategy and proposition which hangs from it.
2) It allows you to tell other people what you are. If your stakeholders (investors and customers) dont understand what you are it will limit your capability to communicate with them and reduce their confidence in you.
If you reach a point where some opportunity arises that does not fit with your view of what you do the mission statement provides you with a useful tool to drive a decision. Sit down with your execs and non-execs and discuss whether you should change what you do to focus on this new opportunity and therefore change your mission statement.
In the end you might feel that a mission statemtent is not important for you and you feel you are unqualified to write one, but I would argue that your mission statement will actually be captured in inumerate documents you write for customers etc.
Take the example of my current client, The Property Investment Market. They felt that a mission statement was a silly thing that only consultants like me cared about. I pointed out that they had one set in stone on the first page of their website for all their customers to see. We now have a clear mission statement which forms the backbone of the strategy and the ongoing program of work.
You can see TPIM's mission statement on the link below.
