Guide to Company Mission Statements

A good Mission is an informative and engaging statement that explains your overall goals. It’s a great way of providing clarity over the day to day operations and ultimately how you will achieve your Vision.

Creating a succinct and memorable Mission statement can take time, as there are a number of areas to consider. It’s worth first establishing a Vision statement, so if you haven’t already take a look at our guide to Vision statements.

What is a Mission statement?

A Mission statement is a statement that summarises your company’s objectives. It’s a statement of why you exist and what you do.

What is included in a Mission statement?

The key areas included in many Mission statements are:

• What you do
• Why you do it
• How you do it
• Where you do it
• Who you do it for
• How it makes you feel

A good Mission statement does not have to include all of the above, but it should at least be covering the What and Why.

How are Vision and Mission statements related?

A good Vision and Mission will complement each other but serve different purposes. A Vision statement is your overall intent for the future, whereas a Mission is what you actually do today as a business. Let’s take a look at an example…

Vision:
“Light without the use of natural resources.”

Mission:
“Developing the world’s most energy efficient light bulb”

In the above the Vision is a statement about the future, in this case for the world. The concept of having light without having to use natural resources up resonates for a number of reasons, especially in a time of heightened environmental awareness.

The Mission explains how this Vision is being achieved and what the company actually does, which in this case is produce the world’s most energy efficient light bulb.

This example shows how Vision and Mission connect to each other while serving different needs for the business.

Why should a company write a Mission statement?

A good Mission statement has a number of advantages including:

• Align the team with a shared understanding of what you do
• Improve your Vision statement with how you intend to achieve it
• Provide clarity to the outside world on your operations
• Is a sanity check to ensure your activity is in line with your strategy

Can Mission statements change?

Yes, a Mission statement can change as a strategy is reviewed and updated.

How long should a Mission statement be?

It should be as short and memorable as possible, ideally no more than 30-50 words. If you look at some examples, you’ll see often Mission statements tend to be a lot longer than Vision statements. They can comprise of many bullet points and are commonly confused with values or behaviours. The best advice is to keep it short, meaningful, informative and memorable.

What should I consider when writing my Mission statement?

We’d recommend considering the following when constructing your Mission statement:

• No more than two sentences and keep it under 30-50 words
• Keep it simple and digestible
• Avoid metrics – these don’t belong in your Mission
• Be specific in your wording and your make it relevant to your market
• Be clear – this is very important, your Mission is what you actually do

What are some example Mission statements?

Here are ten Mission statement examples from a wide range of companies:

To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
Tesla

To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Google

Our aim is to provide a fun and safe environment where our customers can enjoy good food made with quality ingredients at affordable prices.
McDonalds

Our mission is to work within a multi-disciplinary environment to deliver excellent and individualised child and family centred care.
NHS Hospital Poole, UK

To provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. We campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding.
Mind, Mental Health Charity, UK

Capture and Share the World’s Moments.
Instagram

Entertain, inform and inspire people around the globe through the power of unparalleled storytelling, reflecting the iconic brands, creative minds and innovative technologies that make ours the world’s premier entertainment company.
Walt Disney Company

Offering all women and men worldwide the best of cosmetics innovation in terms of quality, efficacy and safety. By meeting the infinite diversity of beauty needs and desires all over the world.
L’Oréal

To build the Web’s most convenient, secure, cost-effective payment solution.
Paypal

To enrich people’s lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain.
BBC

Where can I develop my Mission statement?

Lucidity has the largest database of company Mission statements in the world – I know, it’s the first point on our online dating profile! So if you’d like more examples book your personal demo and we can show you the full range.

Where can I learn about Vision statements?

You can check out our guide to Vision statements for information, examples, how-tos and more on developing a Vision statement.