A mission statement is a short, plain sentence — sometimes two — that says what your business does, who it does it for, and why that matters. It shows up in a business plan, usually right beside the executive summary, and afterward wherever you need to remind employees and customers what the business is actually for.
What a Mission Statement Is For
A mission statement does three jobs. It tells customers why you exist, beyond “we sell coffee” or “we do bookkeeping.” It gives employees something to point to when deciding how to handle a situation the employee handbook didn’t cover. And inside a business plan, it gives a lender or investor a fast, one-line answer to “what is this company, actually.”
Keep It Short
The best mission statements are short enough that an employee could repeat one back to you from memory — most run under 30 words. A statement nobody can remember doesn’t do its job, no matter how accurate it is. If your first draft runs to a paragraph, treat that as raw material, not a finished statement, and keep cutting until only the essential sentence is left.
How to Draft One
- Start with what you actually do — not the industry category, but the specific thing a customer is paying for.
- Add who it’s for — a mission statement written for “everyone” usually ends up meaning nothing to anyone.
- Add why it matters — the difference your business makes, in the customer’s terms, not yours.
- Get more than one person’s input — if you have employees or co-founders, a short brainstorming session usually produces better raw material than one person writing alone at a desk.
- Cut it down — write several drafts, then remove every word that isn’t doing real work.
A Worked Example
Take a small independent coffee shop. A first draft might read: “We are a coffee shop that wants to serve the best coffee in the neighborhood while also being a great place for the community to gather and creating a warm and welcoming environment for everyone who walks through our doors.” That’s more than 40 words and mostly filler. Cut to the essentials: “We serve excellent coffee in a space the neighborhood actually wants to sit down in.” Same idea, a fraction of the length, and something a barista could actually repeat.
Revisit It
A mission statement isn’t permanent. If you’ve been in business a while, review it every few years to make sure it still describes what the company actually does — a business that started as a coffee shop and now also roasts and wholesales beans to other cafes has outgrown a mission statement that only mentions the counter. See how to write a business plan for the full outline and where the mission statement sits within it.