Guest article from Riley Smith, Founder of MakeGood Creative Network

Every entrepreneur knows they need a Mission Statement. Most companies make one, put it away in a Google drive, and never look at it again.

What if you could create a Mission Statement that inspired you, connected and empowered your team, and communicated your business clearly to your customers?

It turns out, you can do this! In three sort-of-simple steps, you’ll have an inspiring mission statement for your company or personal brand. Let’s walk through the steps and create one together.

Why You Need a Better Mission Statement

A mission statement should be just that: a simple statement of your mission, AKA what you want to accomplish.

Think of a secret agent mission. James Bond wants to infiltrate a secret hideaway and arrest the evildoer, thus saving the world. Easily said, and more easily done because he’s clear on his goals.

Imagine if James Bond’s mission statement was to synergize ally collaboration with integrity for the betterment of mankind. The evil guy’s rocket would almost certainly take off while James Bond brainstormed about collaboration.

Your mission statement must be tied to a real problem and how you’re going to solve it, if you hope to accomplish anything in the real world.

The Better Mission Statement Formula

Here are the three steps. We’ll go into more detail in a moment, but this is the basic structure of your better mission statement.

1. What’s the problem?
2. How are you the solution?
3. What will the world look like when you’ve solved the problem?

Let’s break each of these steps down so you can make your own inspiring mission!

What’s the Problem?

Think BIG. What is something that really ticks you off? A problem that’s universal for your audience, perhaps something that personally affects you.

The more epic, the better, because you’ll find it more motivating. 

For instance, my company’s big problem that we try to solve is that many indie and amateur creators don’t get the support they need, so they don’t create and they feel unfulfilled and dissatisfied with life. 

That’s a big worldwide problem that really annoys us! So it’s great motivation for our mission statement.

How Are You the Solution?

Now that you have laser-focused on the problem you want to solve, it’s time to think about what particular set of skills you have that will solve the problem.

In our case, we take knowledge from experienced creators and bring that help, support, and know-how to our audience through guides and videos.

This is the part where you identify what exactly your business does and connect it to the goal you want to accomplish. Doing that will make the day-to-day of your job feel like it’s working toward solving that big problem. 

But that’s not even the best part. That comes next…

What Will the World Look Like When You’ve Solved the Problem?

If and when you succeed, how will things change?

I say this is the best part, because this is where you paint the positive picture of the world you’re moving toward. It’s a chance to day-dream the best possible world that can happen when you accomplish your mission.

For instance, our company looks forward to a world where artists feel more valued, supported, and successful, so they bring more art into the world!

We might never change the whole entire world (it’s a pretty big place), but the fact that we can change the lives of even a few people in this way keeps us going.

Put this into the most descriptive terms you can. Be emotional about it. Write out your vision for a better world, one you are bringing into being as you work toward your mission!

Now Put It All Together

Take your three pieces and connect them in one or two sentences.

For example, MakeGood’s mission statement is:

There’s not enough support for indie and amateur creators, so we provide accessible training resources and a community of like-minded artists. With this support, creators will spend less time struggling and more time making a beautiful, art-filled world.

You can see the three parts in there that we discussed. There’s a problem, so we provide a solution, and that means the world will be a better place.

Write out your mission statement. Then put it everywhere and get to work making it happen!

What To Do With Your New Mission Statement

You can now use your mission statement to connect your own actions and your team’s actions to your larger goal. When taking on a new project or making a decision, you can ask: does this serve our mission?

You can also use this mission statement to explain what you do in a clear and inspiring way to customers and clients. By focusing on this problem-solution-outcome format, you appeal to people’s sense of story, and you do it in a way that’s straightforward and easy to understand.

Need more help getting inspired?

We have a ton of resources and guides at our website, www.makegood creative tips.com! 

Whether you want to learn a new skill, be more productive, or start a new career, we have videos, ebooks, and more to help you. 

Much of our content is free, so go check it out!

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay