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Does your business have a Vision Statement? How
about a Mission Statement or a Values Statement?
If you don’t have these statements or you’re not
using them to guide your business, you’re missing
out on 3 of the simplest and most effective
management tools you can find.
At times, business owners get the idea to write
vision, mission, and values statements. Perhaps
the owner holds a retreat to create the most poetic,
sweeping statements that will sound wonderful to
the team and look great on the marketing material.
Your business’s vision, mission, and value
statements are not intended to be motivational
tools—
they are management tools
. Each one
has a purpose and should express the standard
of how your business will operate and how each
individual team member is to conduct him or
herself. They provide rules of how people will treat
each other, your customers, your vendors, and
your equipment.
Here’s what should be contained in each document;
now you can create valuable management tools
instead of fluff pieces.
1
st
is the Vision Statement which is future
oriented
—it’s your business’s “Declaration”. It’s an
explanation of where you desire to be and answers
“where are we going?”. Ask yourself the following
questions and write down your honest answers:
• Why did you start (or buy or take over) your
business?
• What do you want your business to look like
(inside and outside)?
• What does your business do?
• What makes your business unique? To
employees, to customers?
• What is your business going to do?
Next is the Mission Statement which is “now”
oriented
—it’s your business’s “Constitution”. The
Mission is a detailed account of the overall strategy
and specific tactics your business will employ in
pursuit of your vision. It answers “how do we do it?”
Ask yourself the following questions and write
down your honest answers.
• How do we achieve our vision?
• What systems do we have in place (or need in
place) that should be referenced?
• What are our overall operational goals?
• What do our individual team members need
to do in order for us to reach our vision?
The 3
rd
statement, the Values Statement,
contains the “self-imposed” laws
that are not
VISION,
MISSION,
AND VALUES:
THE REAL
DEAL
BY CINDY ALLEN STUCKEY
SOAR TO SUCCESS
/
J
une
2016
/
Business Acceleration Strategies