One part of identifying your brand is finding your mission statement. This piece of your identity gives your audience a glimpse into what your goals, or vision, are for the company. Let's break down how to narrow your vision into a great mission statement.

What's a mission?

Before diving into the whats of your mission statement, we first need to talk about the difference between a mission statement and vision statement. A mission statement explains why the company exists and what goals they have for their business. A vision statement is how the company sees the world changing, or the impact that they want their business to have on the world. While most companies will combine these two to create a unified mission statement, it’s good to know the difference before starting to figure out what you want for your business's statement.

#Goals

A huge piece of your mission statement is figuring out the goals of your company. You probably already have some in mind, but it's good to get them on paper and narrow down what the primary goals of your business are. Your goals can be as vague or as specific as you want them to be, but they need to be relevant to the work your business is doing.

For example, Patagonia's mission statement is "Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis." This is a great example of keeping your goals vague but specific to your work. Patagonia has a mission to build the best product while not causing harm, and they showcase this in their everyday work but not using materials that hurt the environment and by creating products that they believe to be the best.

Looking for a Vision

A vision statement is what you hope to see the impact of the company do for the world. Using the example from above, Patagonia combined their mission statement and vision statement to create one unified statement for their company. The first part is the goals of their business, while the last part is their vision for the world. They are working towards using their business to help the environmental crisis. This vision makes sense considering that Patagonia is an outdoor clothing and gear store.

The vision of your business should relate to the industry or type of work you are doing or should be something that is important to you. For example, a book store might not include a vision that sees the world without books. The vision of your business is completely up to you, so think about how you want your business to affect the world as a whole.

By discovering your goals and the vision of your company, you will be able to develop a mission statement that will show your audience a glimpse into your business. This will help establish a closer relationship with your consumers.

Dani James is a Marketing Specialist and writer for Atwill Media. She has a bachelor’s degree in Strategic Communications from Arkansas State University with focuses in Public Relations, Advertising, and Social Media Management.