Identify Your Mission and Commit to It

If you’re thinking of starting your own business, you’ll want to take some time and think about why you want to do it. Write down ALL the reasons – personal, professional, financial, and anything else you can think of. Keep these reasons handy to motivate you on tough days. These are your motivators.

Mission and Vision

Then, from your motivators, create your mission and vision for your business. Your mission should be your purpose. Why does your company exist? What does your business help you do for people? What do you want to create from your business? Your vision is how you carry out your mission. It will guide you in all aspects of how you will conduct business. For example, maybe collaboration is important to you. Write it into your vision of where the company will go in the future. Perhaps having the latest technology will play an important role. Maybe it has to do with how you relate to and treat your clients. Decide what is important to you about HOW you will do business and write it into your vision.

Time to Commit

Finally, COMMIT. Commit to making your mission happen. Committing will strengthen your resolve to make it happen. Your vision and your motivators will provide the guidance to make it happen.

It must also be based on the utilization of what Peter Drucker, renowned author, and influential thinker on management, calls your company’s “knowledge excellencies”, or the special knowledge and expertise that makes your company successful. Your mission statement should reflect the following:

  1. What your company does
  2. Who your company does it for
  3. Why and how your company does what is does
  4. What value is provided by your company

Your mission statement should be succinct, simple, and easy to understand. A sample mission statement might read:

Mission: “To be the choice tax provider for small business owners, offering affordable and customized financial services with consistent quality and value.”