Our business experts continue with providing step-by-step advice on how to get started with owning a business. This month we will go over developing the mission statement for your business.

Everybody has a mission in life. Have you thought about what yours is, especially for your business? Your mission statement is your ideal snapshot photograph of what your business will be. Ask yourself these age-old questions in relation to your business: who, what, why and how. Frame these answers as the snapshots that make up your business portrait, thus creating the identity of your business.

The mission statement should identify:
• Who is the target audience?
• Who runs the business?
• What is the business?
• What is the product?
• Why does the business exist?
• How does the business operate?

Some guidelines:
• Your mission statement should be concise — approximately 50 words or less.
• It should motivate you and your employees to action.
• It should motivate potential customers to want to patronize your business.
• It should clearly express your identity and call to action.
• It should answer the top three wishes or desires you have for your organization.

Don’t let creating a mission statement be Mission: Impossible. Follow these easy steps to create one, and you’ll be even closer to Mission: Accomplished.