What Every Small Business Needs To Know About Mission Statements

Mission statements are among the most underrated items of communication in a company's arsenal. But at the same time, they are also one of the most important. What a paradox that is.
A mission statement sums up what a company or organization is all about. It's primarily designed for the people who work in and for the company to give them an understanding of: a) what kind of organization they're working for, and b) the goals they should be working to help the company achieve.
I have written mission statements for a number of companies and in my research into these strange creatures, I found a lot of them to be either overwritten or underwritten. The assumption is that the overwritten ones are crafted by either uber-zealous owners, management types looking to score brownie points or people who just can't write. The underwritten ones, one assumes, are created by some one of some group that just wants to get the job off their desk, or someone who really hasn't figured out what the business is all about yet.

Not The First Thing Or Even The Second.

Mission statements don't or, better yet, shouldn't get written until a company has a full blown business and marketing plan in place. Because only once a company's goals are known and agreed to by everyone in the company, does their actual mission become clear.

The mission statement you see here was written for MSR, a client I had for about 5 years. But it wasn't actually written until I had worked with them for about 18 months. Because only then did I really understand what they were all about, and more importantly, trying to achieve.
The long gestation period was a result of the fact that when I first started creating their communications, they were in the early stages of developing highly innovative pioneering software that would actually transform the customs brokerage industry from analog to digital.
Working with a genuinely innovative company is one of the biggest kicks any creative person gets. And I had it with MSR for five years. The reason I am not still working with them is that part of their long term plan was to have the entire marketing and communication department run internally, which I helped facilitate.
If you’re in the process of branding or rebranding, I hope this bit of insight will help you going forward, And of course, if you require any help on the communications side, let talk.