Relevance of Writing Vision and Mission Statements - A Guide

Every business is an attempt to thrive and grow amidst all the odds that life throws at it. For a passionate entrepreneur, money is only a byproduct that accompanies its value. In the journey of setting up an established business, it is likely that your mind gets distracted by other things like profit margins and competitors. If not you, your employees might feel that way. Hence it is always important and beneficial to have a mission statement for your endeavours. It reflects your firm’s purpose and why did you start it in the first place. It is the mission that unites and inspires people to work and contribute.

While the mission statement reflects the foundation and fuel that drives your company forward, the vision statement explicates the goal that you have set for yourself, the company, and the consumers. Vision statement in fact becomes demonstrative of the future of the company and also a yardstick for others to measure the value that your company will impart.

The vision and mission statement of a company is also a reminder for all the stakeholders working for the development of the firm. All successful entrepreneurs have unanimously said that a simple goal of making more money won't work in a business. These statements will always help you look back on your own intention even when you cannot see it. It helps the company to remain focused on the important thing and to ensure that it does the right thing always.

Defining Vision and Mission Statements
How to Write a Mission Statement
How to Write A Vision Statement
FAQ

Defining Vision and Mission Statements

Vision and Mission statements have their own nuances considering the fact that both of them serve distinct purposes. An organisation needs to have both of them to be rooted in their goals and to take decisions along its lines.

Mission statements are usually written in the present tense to briefly put across the purpose of the organisation and the objectives it focuses on. This short statement reflects on why you function as a business firm.

It is supposed to give an insight into the organisation’s purpose both to the people within the organisation and also to the people outside it. The shorter the mission statement, the more clear and powerful it becomes.

Vision statements on the other hand focus more on the future of the organisation. It conveys the goals and aspirations that the company seeks to achieve in the future. The major intention of vision statements is to uplift and inspire the people in the organisation. In most cases, the vision of the organisation remains the same even if they change their strategies.

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How to Write a Mission Statement

The first thing that you need to do before starting to write your mission statement is to have a clear idea about that one Unique Selling Proposition that enables your organisation to stand out among the rest of your competitors. It should express the unique identity of your firm which makes the customers choose you over your competitors.

Finding your USP or Unique Selling Proposition is one of the most important parts of developing a business strategy. Hence even if it takes a lot of time and effort to put it into shape, make sure that you come out with a quality USP. Mostly the USP of the companies is the goal that they set for themselves and the purpose of their existence.

After deciding on the unique characteristic of your business, implore further on how you aim to execute it.

For example, Tesla's mission statement goes like this

“To create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world's transition to electric vehicles”.

The first half of the sentence clearly reflects what they intend to do or what their purpose is. And the second half denotes how they plan to execute their purpose.

Another example, the mission statement of Google,

“To organise the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful”.

Here the purpose and goal of the organisation are intertwined with the ways in which it aims to execute its goals.

The structure of mission statements may vary but the components mentioned above should be clearly conveyed to the reader through the effective use of wordplay.

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How to Write A Vision Statement

Vision statements should reflect the future aspirations and goals of the organisation. It is different from a mission statement although there is an overlap with regard to the mentioning of goals of the organisation.

As far as a vision statement is concerned the goal of the organisation occupies the primary position unlike in the case of a mission statement where the purpose is given more importance over the goals. One of the most important things that you should keep in mind while devising your vision statement is that it should be timeless.

The first step is to identify the mission statement and determine the human value in it or try to understand the impact your organisation has on people. A vision statement will be more inspiring when it enumerates the positive impact it has on people or places.

After that, narrow down on the most important value that you see your organisation is imparting. These values can be that of service, excellence, honesty et cetera.

After that combine the mission of your organisation with the values that it imparts so as to inspire the people in a positive manner. The statement should also clearly set the goals and ambitions that the company strives to achieve.

Take the example from the vision statement of Tesla,

"to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy”

They have very cleverly used the word accelerate that creates an impact on the readers. It also shows their passion and their future goal of creating a world that is completely fuelled by sustainable energy.

They have done an excellent job in uniting the mission of the organisation along with the value that it imparts and also the future it envisages.

The vision statement of Amazon is also a very good example of a careful amalgamation of apt words that means exactly what it says. It goes like this

“to be earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online”

Any person who is reading their vision statement will clearly understand what their goals and aspirations are.

Conclusion

One of the most important things that you need to remember while making a mission or vision statement is to be precise and clear. It is not the use of complex words or jargon that determine the value of the statements. It is the crystal clear clarity that these statements give to the people in and out of the organisation that serves the purpose.

FAQ

What is the importance of vision statement?

A vision statement is important as it describes the company's purpose, what the company is striving for, and what it wants to achieve.

What is a good vision statement example?

McDonald's is a great example of a good vision statement, its vision statement is  “To be the best quick service restaurant experience.

Which companies has the best mission statement?

Tesla. “To accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy.”, TED. “Spread ideas.”, and LinkedIn. “To connect the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful.” are few companies which have the best mission statement.