The Mission Statement is the most critical component of any business, particularly a small business. My experience has required me to craft mission statements for new businesses, small businesses, a small college, and non-profit organizations.

When developing your Mission Statement it is critical to gain consensus from the other partners and key decision makers in your small business.

In my experience, there is nothing worse than producing a Mission Statement that nobody is going to believe in or invest their talents in its message.

The main focus of the Mission Statement should answer what your company is going to do; it should provide the purpose of your company and its relevance to the marketplace.

A college or non-profit entity has a slightly different process in the development of their respective Mission Statement. In these types of organizations it needs to provide the goal of what the respective entity is going to achieve.

For example, “XYZ Foundation will provide assistance to the underserved populations in Central New Jersey to aid in housing placement, food security, and access to quality healthcare”.

This example provides the goals of the foundation, the specific area in which it will provide service, and who it will be working with to achieve the objectives.

A Mission Statement is essentially a blueprint for developing your business or non-profit organization. It provides the path to achieving your respective goals.

This is critical in a small business or small non-profit because with a lean workforce sometimes daily operations can tend to pull the focus away from those goals. The Mission Statement is what reframes the focus and provides some definition of the course of the business or non-profit organization.

Another important aspect of the Mission Statement is that it can be adapted and amended in the event that your main goal(s) need to change for any reason.

I worked with a small business that only had the capability to distribute products, so that was reflected in the Mission Statement I developed with them.

Then, a few years later, they entered into a strategic agreement with another company who had the capability of developing products for them. So they changed the Mission Statement to reflect their commitment to developing first class products in their industry.

In fact, I recommend reviewing your Mission Statement periodically, and if it does not fit the construct of what your business is currently actively doing, then it needs to be adjusted accordingly.

I hope that this has been a helpful article for the development or redevelopment of this critical component of your business operation.