I had a great Thanksgiving yesterday with my family, and I hope you did too.
Over the past week, Phil and I have been thinking about what we’re
grateful for. And we’ve been thinking about helping those in need.
And now we’re going to take another step back and talk about your
mission.
(And don’t worry — this is NOT flaky feel-good fluff. Creating a mission
will help you make more money, and I’ll explain why in a moment…)
My Definition of “Mission”
My definition of a mission is “your company’s reason for existing in the world.”
I say “in the world” because your mission should NOT be focused on you. Your mission should be bigger than yourself and your company.
Here are 2 very practical reasons why you should create a mission for your business, if you haven’t already.
Reason #1. To Motivate
Every business encounters tough times at some point or another.
And if your only goal in business is to make money, you’ll lose motivation to keep pushing forward when the money isn’t flowing like water. You’ll be tempted to throw in the towel.
On the other hand, you’ll remain motivated during tough times if you have a meaningful reason to keep plowing ahead. And so will your employees.
By focusing on something other than money, you’ll be more likely to make more money.
It’s surprising, isn’t it?
Reason #2. To Attract
The other practical reason to have a mission is because it can help you attract new customers and employees to your business.
Customers are attracted to companies who are clearly committed to delivering the results they’re looking for.
And customers AND employees are also attracted to companies who are seeking to make a bigger impact, beyond business.
(Of course, I wouldn’t recommend creating a mission solely to appear attractive to customers and employees. You should focus on missions that are meaningful to you and congruent with your sense of purpose.)
2 Parts of Your Mission
In my view, there are 2 aspects of your mission that you should consider:
1. Your customer-focused mission, which explains the result you are aiming to achieve for your customers.
2. Your community-focused mission, which explains the impact you are aiming to have on your community.
And once you’ve clarified and decided what your mission is, the next step is to turn it into a concise statement (your mission statement), so you can communicate it and make it happen.
Main Street ROI’s Mission Statement
Here at Main Street ROI, our customer-focused mission statement is: To provide businesses with the knowledge, advice, and resources they need to improve their marketing results.
What about our community-focused mission? It’s a work-in-progress. This week, I’m in New York City meeting with Phil for our end-of-year strategic planning session and we’ll be thinking through different ideas and options. We’ll keep you posted!
What about YOU? What’s YOUR mission?
If you don’t have one yet, then start thinking about your mission. At the very least, create a draft of your customer-focused mission. But then don’t just create it, make it known. And most importantly, make it happen!