MIssion Statement Outline

Write out the following questions in a column: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? and then answer the following questions. Be sure to keep the answers brief and to the point.

To answer 'Who?', ask yourself "Who am I?". The answer is simply the name of your business or you as an individual. This is usually the first time people acknowledge themselves to others as a business owner or an entrepreneur. Surprisingly, most times they are a little embarrassed to speak of themselves in this manner.

 

To answer 'What?", ask yourself "What am I trying to do?". The answer to this question helps you pinpoint the product or service you are trying to provide to a market. Examples would be: tutor kids in an after school program, bake sweet treats for diabetics, give deep tissue massages, provide medical transportation services.

 

Time Is Money

To answer 'When?', ask yourself "When am I trying to do this?". My experience with bankers and investors is that they appreciate having a time frame as a point of reference so that they can determine if and when they could be able to finance your project as well as expect a return payment from you. Having a time frame also helps the business owner to keep things moving along by allowing them to set and meet deadlines.

To answer 'Where?', ask yourself "Where am I trying to do this?". Even though you may have aspirations to save the world, you've got to start somewhere. Determine what city you are going to locate your office or what neighborhood you have identified that perhaps have the most amount of customers that are likely to buy your product.

To answer 'Why?', ask yourself "Why am I trying to do this?". This question is critical and helps the entrepreneur determine the overall purpose, passion and satisfaction gained from doing this type of work providing that service.

 

Get It Done!

To answer 'How?', ask yourself "How am I going to get this done?". This is where it is helpful to have a plan. How are you going to develop and/or provide a product or service to your market.

 

Now see if you can put all of the answers into one to two sentences to form your mission statement. Here's how I developed a mission statement for CIGS:

Who: The Community Involvement Growth Strategy (CIGS)
What: Business plan development and special event management
When: Between three weeks to ninety days from inception of business or special event concept
Where: Metro Atlanta area
Why: To support start up ventures of young entrepreneurs
How: By writing business plans and/or coordinating special events

Mission Statement:
The Community Involvement Growth Strategy (CIGS) provides business plan writing and special event coordination services to Metro-Atlanta based young entrepreneurs and start up ventures with launch dates set within 3-4 months from inception.