You're getting ready to let the world know what you're doing.
You might be getting your first website up and running or coming up with content for your marketing documents.
You realize that you need a mission statement.
You have plenty of thoughts about what your mission is with your company but how do you boil them down to a clear, concise statement that people will understand and remember? Here are three tips on where you can start.
1.
Your thoughts.
Write it down whenever you have an idea.
When you have a fairly good selection of ideas, look for the recurring themes or words related to benefits.
For me, the process started when people would ask me to explain what I do and I realized that I used the phrase structural integrity to explain what I bring to a company every time I was asked.
When I realized how often I used that phrase, the light bulb went on over my head and I realized that I had named my company.
From there, I needed to think about what benefits structural integrity provides for a company.
It provides a structure that enables growth.
It makes it easy to see where improvements can be made leading to profits.
It positions a company for acquisition if that's a goal.
So, the primary benefit is positioning for growth, profits, and acquisition.
Your thinking process will probably follow similar lines.
2.
Potential customers or business partners.
Even before your product is on the market and you have customers, you know about the kinds of people who will buy or promote your product or service.
You know what they're looking for.
You tailor your mission statement to those user requirements.
The first time I mentioned the benefit of structural integrity for a company that is preparing to look for a buyer, I could see eyes light up.
I got questions.
It rang a bell for people.
When you use your mission statement in a conversation with someone at a networking event and can see a positive response, you know you're on the right track.
A colleague always tells people to craft their elevator speech so their grandmother can understand it.
The same is true of your mission statement.
You want people to hear it, get the point, and be able to remember it.
3.
Your Employees.
While you're doing your walking about and connecting with your employees, ask them what they feel most proud of about the work they're doing.
You'll probably hear the same words and phrases that you thought yourself and that you found when you considered what customers are looking for.
If you don't hear the same words and you hear words and phrases that you haven't considered, give them some thought.
Revisit your mission statement and see if it would benefit from the use of what your employees are saying.
If you're manufacturing a product for easy servicing, that would be a benefit to customers that you might not have included.
Your employees might come up with thoughts that mirror what you planned for your product but took for granted.
Those could be the words that most impress your future customers.
Conclusion: Look at multiple sources for clear, concise communication of your product's benefits for your potential customers and come up with a mission statement that they'll remember when they're ready to buy.