A successful part-time baker entrepreneur and a large marketing firm have one major element in common: a well-executed mission. Your mission (purpose) will drive every business decision made by you and your team. It’s one part plan, one part purpose and one part magic. And don’t worry if you delay creating a mission and sharing it with your team. They will write one subconsciously all on their own and direct your business how they see fit, probably all in different directions.

Write it

When you sit down to draft your mission, think of answering the common key questions: who, what, where, why and how. You do not need to answer “when” because a Mission Statement is what you are doing perfectly right now in the present. If you want to be somewhere else doing things differently in the far future, that is your Vision Statement. As you answer these questions, think beyond monetary goals. Unless you are a charity, it is implied you are in business to make a profit.

Let’s use for example our part-time baker:

Who

Who are your target customers? Anyone with a sweet tooth.  Who are you? A baker

What

What are you and your business producing or creating? Think big picture. Think of what you ultimately want to create. Create Happiness.

Where

Where do you want your business? If you don’t want to set limits, then you can leave this off your mission and it is implied business will take place potentially anywhere. Anywhere.

Why

Why do you want to create “Happiness?” Why is that important to you? The reasons are your business values. Here you list your top 3 values, and they will answer the why. Because I value Positivity, Joy, and Creativity.

How

How do you achieve the desired result (Happiness)? What does your business do to produce happiness? By baking with butter, sugar and flour for consumption.

Our baker’s Mission Statement first draft is: Creating Happiness through butter, sugar and flour.

Test It

Now test it. Does it scream your ultimate life’s purpose? It often does. Think of your top clients. Do they fit? Think of your team members. Can they carry it out? If not, then adjust the mission. Perhaps you realize a good portion of your clients have a wheat allergy. So then tweak the mission to be: “Creating happiness through delectable desserts.”

Memorize It

If you currently have a mission statement that answers all of the key questions, can you still remember it at any given moment? If you have a long complicated mission, it is not serving its purpose if you can only remember it if you look it up. Keep it 1 -2 memorizable sentences.

Share It

Display it on your website, discuss the meaning with your team, hang it on the wall above the copier. It is important you and everyone around you knows the purpose your business exists.

Live It

See if you can live up to your mission. Weekly, (sometimes hourly) tweaks are common in the beginning while you are still figuring out what exactly you want to be. Keep testing, memorizing and sharing until you finally get there and know you are doing exactly what you were meant to do.

Consider your business mission the air your company breathes. It’s invisible but it is everywhere. Every nook, cranny, decision and team member. You need to breathe it. When your customers enter your facility, they are surrounded by it. You can’t function without air, and your business can’t operate effectively without a mission.