COMPANY MISSION STATEMENTS Dreams and Goals: Making Them A Reality
Company mission statements come second!
In the first place, there is the vision - the dream. It's where you want to go, what you want to be. It's perfectly appropriate for your dream to be unattainable, to be just out of reach. It's what you reach for. The vision statement is where you describe this dream for your family business.
According to top family business expert
Don Schwerzler,
"The mission statement is where you start to show how this dream is going to become a reality. You identify major goals that must be accomplished. You identify how you are going to operate as you go about meeting the major goals. You identify significant factors that will be necessary for you to reach those goals: the products or services you will provide, the kind of people you will need."
Schwerzler has been studying and advising family business entrepreneurs for more than 40 years and he is the founder of the
Family Business Institute.
Unlike the dream, they should reflect achievable goals - they can be challenging, a real stretch, but if they aren't achievable, they're not goals for a mission, they're still a vision or dream.
is challenging - you are trying to capture into about a page the very essence of your family business. Discover some of our hints and ideas. It can be done.
Vision and company mission statements for a family business
We find that company mission statements cause one particular area of difficulty for many family businesses. Confusion arises from mixing family and business dreams and goals. We deal with some specific problem areas in
Family Mission Statement
. However, the best and simplest solution we have found with our clients for this problem is to have the family develop a vision statement and mission statement. This way, there is a valid outlet for family issues and they do not necessarily have to be included in the family business' statements.
Editors Note
Does your family business have a Mission Statement?
We invite you to post your Mission Statement on our web site.
It may be inspirational to other family businesses as they write their Family Business Mission Statement!
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