Your Mission Statement – Use it or Lose It!

Last Friday we published an article on how to write a mission statement, and as with all the blog posts here at Smallbizbee.com we tweeted it out to our followers on Twitter. Within minutes Darrin Dickey of www.a-startup-guy.com connected with me and expressed his views of the importance of not only writing a mission statement, but also USING it! I agreed that a mission statement is a “use it or lose it” type of document, and if you aren’t going to live your mission you’re actually doing your business a disservice by publishing one, so I invited Darrin to follow up my article with a post on the importance of using your mission statement once it’s written, and below are Darrin’s thoughts on the matter.
This also serves as a good example of how we can leverage those online social networks as the whole exchange between myself and Darrin took about 20 minutes, but now we have another great article to share with you all.
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By: Darrin Dickey

On Friday, Matt wrote a really good article on SmallBizBee.com titled “7 Steps to Writing a Killer Mission Statement.” In it were some great tips on creating a mission statement that will serve and guide your business for years to come. I commented via Twitter that it’s also important that companies actually USE their mission statement. Matt agreed and invited me to write a post about that thought, so here goes.

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It seems like so many companies create a mission statement because they feel they should or have to, but then it gets relegated to a pretty plaque on the wall or words posted on the corporate website. They fail to carry out the most important part of a mission statement – live it! The mission statement actually has a purpose. It states your mission, your company’s very purpose for being. It says, “This is who we will be and why we exist.” Notice, I didn’t say “who we want to be.” These aren’t suggestions or things to do if it’s convenient

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One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that success comes from focus and your mission statement is the lens you use to help refine your focus. Everything you do should pass through the lens of your mission statement. If what you’re considering doesn’t fit the mission, discard it or refine your mission.

Example
Let’s look at an example from Matt’s article.

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Starbucks Mission Statement:
Establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles as we grow.

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Starbucks has been incredibly successful following this mission. I’m sure Howard Schulz never imagined in his wildest dreams the success his company would have. However, it hasn’t been all wine and roses for Starbucks. They’ve stumbled a few times and frequently its because they stray from this mission. Starbuck’s Hear Music label is a good example. It doesn’t fit into their mission. It has distracted them from pushing forward with their mission and their coffee business has suffered. Earlier this year, Starbucks finally refocused on their core mission and rolled back the Hear Music label as well as the music offerings in their stores. (They haven’t given up on it, so maybe they haven’t completely learned their lesson.)

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Starbucks needs to either:
* quit the music business altogether,
* revise their mission statement to include “…the finest coffee in the world and products that promote the coffee house environment…” (or something to that effect),
* or they need to spin the Hear Music label off as a separate business.

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I would recommend #1 or #3. Option #2 dilutes their brand and focus, if done incorrectly.

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I’ve been fortunate enough to work in a business where this idea was instituted very well and I’ve never been able to look at the corporate mission statement the same since. Business ideas were only fleshed out and evaluated after they had first passed through the lens of our mission statement. If an idea couldn’t align with our mission, it was discarded; no matter how promising it seemed. There was already enough to do within the confines of our mission to keep us busy and profitable for years. If you wanted to chase after an idea that wasn’t aligned with our mission, you were more than welcome to do it on your own.

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Your mission statement is more than a slogan or platitude. A good mission statement is a tool that helps keep your team focused and on track. Define a great mission statement and use it. Or don’t even bother writing one.

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Darrin Dickey is crazy about startups, entrepreneurism, marketing, history and all things digital. For more than a decade, he’s been involved in marketing in one form or another for companies ranging from small mom-and-pop shops to Fortune 100 companies. He currently does graphic design and web development for a major wellness company. In his “spare” time, he looks for great startups to get involved with and runs a directory of US historic sites at www.Pastigo.com. You can also check out his brand new (barely out of the gates) blog at www.a-startup-guy.com where you can read his nuggets of wisdom (and then throw rotten tomatoes at them).