Do you have a mission and vision statement for your creative business? If not, you should! Mission and vision statements are important tools that help you clarify your goals and objectives. They help to define the purpose of your business and can be a great guide for making decisions in the future. In this blog post, we will discuss what mission and vision statements are, what the difference is between them, what makes a great mission statement, and how to create one for your business. Stay tuned - by the end of this post, you'll be ready to write your very own mission statement!
What's in this blog?
What is a mission statement?
A mission statement is a brief statement that outlines the goals and purpose of your business. It should be clear, concise, and easy to remember. Your mission statement should answer the following questions:
- What does your business do?
- What are your core values?
- What is your vision for the future?
A great mission statement is aspirational - it should inspire you and your team to achieve greatness! Let's look at an example of a good and bad mission statement.
Examples
Bad mission statement: "To make money."
While making money is certainly a goal of any business, this mission statement is too short and doesn't say anything about the company's values or vision. It's also not very inspiring!
Good mission statement: "Our mission is to build the best software that makes our customers' lives easier."
This mission statement is clear, concise, and aspirational. It speaks to the company's values (building great software) and its vision for the future (making its customers' lives easier).
Now let’s use a creative business as an example. Remember the 3 questions you should ask yourself:
- What does your business do?
- What are your core values?
- What is your vision for the future?
Values
If you’re like me, you may be wondering, “What ARE my values as a creative?”
Let’s take a look at some values an artist may have.
- A passion for art
- A desire to inspire others
- A commitment to excellence
- A love of learning
What are some values a crafter may have?
- A passion for crafting
- A desire to make others happy
- A commitment to quality
- A love of learning
No matter what your company's values are, they should be reflected in your mission statement. Now, let's look at how you can create a mission statement for your creative business.
Let’s start with an example of a good and bad mission statement for an artist.
Examples
Bad mission statement: "To be a famous artist."
This mission statement is too short and doesn't say anything about the artist's values or vision. It's also not very inspiring!
Good mission statement: "My mission as an artist is to create paintings that make people feel happy and inspire them to see the world in a new light."
This mission statement is clear, concise, and aspirational. It speaks to the artist's values (creating paintings that make people feel happy) and their vision for the future (inspiring people to see the world in a new light). This is the kind of mission statement that will motivate your team to achieve greatness!
Again, there are a few things to keep in mind when creating a mission statement for your business:
- First, think about what you want your business to achieve. What is your long-term goal? What is your company's purpose?
- Next, think about your company's values. What are the guiding principles that dictate how you do business?
- Finally, keep it clear, concise, and aspirational. Your mission statement should be easy to understand and remember, and it should inspire your team to... yea, this again... greatness!
Now that you know what a mission statement is and what makes a great mission statement, it's time to create one for your business.
Not sure where to start? Here are a few mission statement examples to get you inspired:
- "Our mission is to inspire people of all ages to express themselves through art."
- "Our mission is to use our creativity to make the world a more beautiful place."
- "Our mission is to bring joy to others through our crafting skills."
One more thing, If you're still having trouble creating your mission statement, here is a simple formula to help you out:
"Our mission is [insert what you want your business to achieve] by [insert company values]."
For example: "Our mission is to inspire people of all ages to express themselves through art by providing high-quality, affordable products and classes."
Vision Statement
Now that we know what a mission statement is, let's discuss vision statements. A vision statement is similar to a mission statement, but it focuses on the future. A vision statement should answer the following questions:
- What does your business want to achieve?
- What is your long-term goal?
- What is your company's purpose?
Like mission statements, vision statements should be clear, concise, and easy to remember. And also, like mission statements, they should be aspirational! Here's an example of a good and bad vision statement.
Examples
Bad vision statement: "To be the biggest company in the world."
While this may be a goal of some businesses, it's not very specific or inspiring. It doesn't say anything about the company's values or what they want to achieve.
Good vision statement: "Our vision is to create a world where everyone has access to education."
This is a clear, concise, and aspirational vision statement. It speaks to the company's values (creating access to education for all) and its long-term goal (making the world a better place).
Now let's look at a good and bad vision statement for a crafter.
Bad vision statement: "To be the most popular crafter on Etsy."
This is too short and doesn't say anything about the crafter's values or what they want to achieve. It's also not very inspiring!
Good vision statement: "My vision is to use my crafting skills to bring joy to others and make the world a more beautiful place."
This is a clear, concise, and aspirational vision statement. It speaks to the crafter's values (bringing joy to others and making the world more beautiful) and their long-term goal (making the world a better place). This is... you guessed it... the kind of vision statement that will motivate your team to achieve greatness!
Time For Some Action!
Once you have a mission and vision statement that you're happy with, it's time to put it into action. How? By using it as a guide for your business decisions. When you're unsure of which direction to take your business, ask yourself if the decision aligns with your mission or vision statement. If it doesn't, then it's probably not the right decision for your business.
Now it's your turn! Write a mission and vision statement for your creative business using the tips and examples above. Once you're done, post it in the comments below so we can all be inspired by your vision! Thanks for reading!
Do you want to know more about turning your creativity into a business?
Of course you do! That’s why I'll write more articles on this topic. I want to help you understand that creatives can also be good entrepreneurs.
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