Entrepreneurship & New Venture Management is a key specialization course in Southeastern Oklahoma State University’s online Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a Concentration in Entrepreneurship program. This course explores the nuances of starting a business from the ground up, including the importance of crafting a vision and mission for your new venture.
After becoming the 34th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower made a speech at the National Defense Executive Reserve Conference in Washington D. C., where he remarked on a truism he once heard in the Army: “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” This bit of wordplay gets at the root of developing an effective mission and vision: Outlining the deeper-level purpose of a business, its values and its broader objectives.
Clear and concise mission and vision statements provide foundation, context and end goals that guide strategic planning and meaningful implementation. Creating, following and iterating these statements as your venture grows ensures your organization’s people and practices align with its purposes and objectives.
Who Needs a Mission Statement?
So why does your new business need a mission statement? A mission statement serves as the foundation of your company, informing all decisions you will make. Mission statements are agreed-upon records of what a company strives to accomplish. They help an organization evaluate its accomplishments through a more holistic lens than step-by-step performance indicators.
A business has a purpose. Maybe it makes a new kind of shoe, or perhaps it perfects outerwear suited to specific regions of the country. Maybe the business offers services no one has seen before, building interest and rapid market adoption. Progress and change happen because sharp-eyed entrepreneurs and forward-thinking business owners do something different. The way they accomplish these things is by developing a distinct vision and knowing what they what.
Benefits of Establishing a Company Mission and Vision
Making a new business mission statement, defining your vision and using these guides to craft your strategic plan vastly increases your chances of achieving company goals. Why? Simply put: Because your staff, investors, customers and other stakeholders know what the goal is and the plan for achieving it.
Do all companies achieve their goals in exact accordance with their mission statements? Probably not. However, when a company drifts away from its purpose, their mission and vision statements help them recognize this drift and correct course to realign business practices with objectives. If a company finds their purpose evolves from the initial vision, they can iterate their goals to reflect new business paths and market opportunities.
Flexibility Is Crucial for Effective Strategic Planning
In other words, you need to know your destination and plan the route to reach it. However, you also need to be flexible when the plan does not quite go off as expected, which is what President Eisenhower was referring to.
If your mission or vision statements limit your flexibility or inhibit your growth, they may need adjustment and correction. Yet adjustments should still adhere to the root values and purposes that drive your business. If you incorporate adaptability and flexibility into your mission and vision from the start, you can better adjust and pivot according to evolving market landscapes, innovation and the need for organizational change.
Part of planning is considering all the various means by which you can achieve your goal. Even if you do not make use of all the options, at least you know what is available. In this case, when the plan goes awry, you have options to choose from in order to get back on course.
The Business Vision and Mission Communicates Who You Are to Consumers and Stakeholders
A new business mission statement may seem ephemeral when you are busy trying to lock down concrete pieces of your operations like capital, resources and materials to make the goods you plan to sell. However, it is an essential part of who you will be in the marketplace and how you will establish this identity.
The statement is not only for you. It is key to messaging and brand development targeting your stakeholders, customers, vendors and community. You are letting them know how you plan to fit into their existing worldview. Mission statements like this become part of the narrative of your business.
When you set down a mission statement, consider why you are undertaking this business. You must ask yourself essential questions like: Who are your core customers and how do you plan to reach them? What are your products or services, and how do you want to convey this information? What kind of long-term relationship do you hope to build with your customers and partners?
Discover the Answers and Propel Your Business Forward With an MBA in Entrepreneurship
By answering these questions as you write your business’ mission statement, you will define the shape and focus of your new business. This will guide you as you figure out where to spend the money you raise and what resources you will need to realize your mission and succeed.
Southeastern’s online MBA in Entrepreneurship provides you with the business acumen and skills you need to answer these questions and create clear, adaptable and well-crafted mission and vision statements. With the expertise you gain, you can define your purpose and articulate it to your audience, developing the roadmap to your business’ success.
Learn more about the Southeastern Oklahoma State University online MBA with a Concentration in Entrepreneurship program.