What is the company’s mission, examples of successful missions

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In the main theses of the mission, one can find a promise to produce high-quality electrical goods at reasonable prices, improve obligations to customers, work together to achieve independence and high quality of the final product.

What is the company’s mission

The mission of the company (MC) is a brief goal that explains the need for the existence of the brand. According to the canons of strategic management , it is embodied in the form of two options:

• a brand slogan that positions the organization in the market;
• an expanded version that includes a detailed description of business goals, niche activities, methods of achieving goals and features of communication with customers, as well as the philosophy of the organization.

In simple words, the company’s mission is the meaning of the organization’s existence, expressed in a brief but succinct description. 

Read more: Business reputation of the company

What is the difference between a mission and a vision 

The company’s vision is a dynamic picture of the organization’s development in the near future, while the mission is a static component of the organization. It is unchanged and remains the same since the foundation of the business, although it may be subject to minor adjustments in the process of doing business, its development. Here are a few more differences between vision and mission:

• The vision expresses the company’s desire for what it wants to be in the near future.
• The vision is always concrete. It may include specific steps and actions that will help achieve the main goal. 
• Also, the concept of “company mission”, in addition to integration with vision, has a connection with other key components of the organization: competencies, key values, business success factors, target development, target KPIs and performance.
• The mission cannot be separated from the vision and values of the brand
• By thinking through the MC in this way, you will definitely give customers and employees a clear idea of what the business is doing.
• Why the company’s mission is needed
• First of all, it is one of the most effective management tools. After all, only by one mission you can indirectly find out which brand is in question, as well as find out its values and the main differences from competitors.
• A well-designed mission is needed not only by customers, but also by employees of the organization. With it, they will be able to answer questions: how to help the client on a daily basis, what to work on today, how to achieve the required indicators and, in the end, how to make the client’s life better.
• The company’s mission characterizes the internal and external communication of the organization, the achievement of strategic goals and the increase in the value of the product. Let’s look at each component in more detail.
• Internal and external communication

If the global business message is formed correctly, any employee of the organization will know it by heart. Every time he makes a decision (no matter what it is — procurement, communication, development of regional offices or partnership), he will adhere to the values of the company. 

Strategic business development goals

In almost all strategic actions of the organization, the mission should come first. This is not a momentary profit, but, for example, the happiness of the customer or the joy of interacting with the product. For example, the manufacturer Dove focuses on the self-esteem of consumers.

Pros and cons of the company’s mission 

Dignities:

1. A real detuning from competitors in a niche. A company with a well-built mission will always win against a company without one.
2. It can become a trigger for team building within the team. When each team member knows what he is doing, for what and by what means, it is much easier to work.
3. Without a mission, it is impossible to create a full-fledged corporate culture in an organization. If an organization does not have a public image, does not carry a message for the audience and customers, there is no need to talk about a real culture in it.
4. Improving the public image of the company, strengthening its reputation. A company that thinks not only about profit is always more attractive in the eyes of customers.
5. Increase employee motivation. The more knowledgeable a person in a team is, the more motivated he is to work.

Disadvantages:

1. Unrealistic. Missions are usually good on paper. Often they are overly optimistic — such fantasies about the ideal development of events. But this rarely happens — most of the new businesses just burn out. Therefore, you should not rush to make a mission statement, especially to new organizations.
2. Errors in development and implementation. Ambiguity, excessive complexity and even meaninglessness are the mistakes of the messages themselves. Make sure that the message is transparent, not empty and not vague.
3. Waste of resources on the part of the company’s management. A mission is not born within one or two days — people spend time and money, and goals are not always achieved.
4. Short-term nature. Unlike the company’s strategic development goals, the mission can change quickly. A good example is the manufacturers of photographic films. One well-known company mentioned this product in its mission statement, but times have changed, and photographic films have become necessary only for a select few, and not for a wide target audience.
5. Inconsistency. As I have already said, the mission consists of two parts: a slogan and an extended description. And here, especially with unprofessional development, it happens that one part contradicts the other.

When the company’s mission is not needed

A common mistake of companies is a burning desire to come up with a mission so that it is not worse than others. However, it is not always needed:

1. When the organization operates exclusively in the local market and within a small town. In this case, there is no need to build global marketing and communication channels with the consumer. 
2. When no more than 2-3 employees work in the organization. Such micro-companies do not have global plans to conquer serious markets.
3. When an organization doesn’t want to take care of reputation. Such brands don’t care what consumers think about them. And such companies do exist, especially in the regions.
4. When the main goal of the business is to generate income. You can earn income without some important goal and without a mission.

When the company’s mission is not needed

A common mistake of companies is a burning desire to come up with a mission so that it is not worse than others. However, it is not always needed:

Preparation

1. Take a look at your strongest competitors and see how they position themselves in the market. 
2. Listen to these tips:

• Check the reviews of related companies on Google Maps. Your task is to find positive feedback from competitors in your niche. See what exactly customers value the selected companies for and what resonates in their worldview. Most likely, you will find reviews not only about low prices and high quality of the product, but something else – for example, close philosophical values, a successful manner of brand communication with the consumer.
• Don’t break what was built before. It is not necessary to globally redo workflows for a mission that has not yet been formed or is in a preliminary form.
• Make a list of the main advantages of your brand, divide them on a ten-point scale. Perhaps one of them can be used as a mission. If the competitive advantage is really strong and unique, this will be a good scenario for MK.
• Backwards-the approach (vice versa). Open the same “Google Maps” and see the competitors with the lowest rating. Read customer reviews and highlight a few points that angered or offended them. Write down these moments and build on them in the future when building your own mission. Your task is to understand what people don’t like in order to further translate the negative experience from each review into a positive one.

Development

• Development of the type of mission. They all boil down to one of five components:

1. the development of society;
2. improving human life;
3. development of a market strategy;
4. improving profitability;
5. building a brand philosophy.

You should choose the main component and focus on it, fully revealing all related issues further.

• Development of questions. Your task is to collect as many questions as possible from potential customers, employees of the organization, management and even competitors: 

1. Why is this company needed?
2. What good will it bring to people?
3. How does the company’s product differ from product N, which is produced by a competitor company?
4. What are the company’s competitive advantages?
5. What is the main thing — the income or the happiness of the client?
6. What are the main brand values?

• Creating a draft statement. Here it is necessary to leave the most important and most valuable messages for customers. In terms of volume, it should be 2-3 small unloaded offers. Most often, the first part of the mission answers the question “why” (why the organization works or why a specific product is produced). The second part of the MC is the goals that the company wants to achieve. You can create several versions of a draft statement, then conduct surveys among the target audience (in the style of Why should company N work?) and choose the two best options.
• Creating the final wording of the statement. A clean statement should be impeccable in terms of message, style, spelling and punctuation.
• Testing. When the main statement is finally drawn up and the most effective option is selected, you can run user testing. In it, it is necessary to interview the CA for clarity of the mission (to find out if they understand the message of the statement) or, for example, to ask if the values of this mission echo their own priorities. You can even ask to highlight the incomprehensible part of the statement or the part that was drawn up unsuccessfully.

6 components of an effective mission of the company

And now — a useful checklist. Check if everything is in your mission:

1. Competitive advantages. The statement focuses on the merits of the organization or the strengths of a unique trade offer.
2. The happiness of the client. MK speaks of it as the main goal of the company’s development. Profitability cannot be the main goal.
3. Uniqueness. The application must be unique and definitely not overlap with the competitors’ mission.
4. Feasibility. There is no need to specify obviously impossible goals or make a promise to fulfill them. Otherwise, the audience will react to the statement with fear or even disdain.
5. Unambiguity. A successful statement cannot be interpreted in two ways or be not completely clear.
6. Brevity. Ideally, the statement contains one or two sentences. This is enough, because such a volume is much better absorbed and read.