Skip to main content How to write a mission statement for your practice
Can you explain your practice’s purpose in just a few words? An effective mission statement can sum up your goals, provide clear direction for future growth and help you stand out from your competition. Here’s how to write a mission statement that resonates with you and your clients.
What is a mission statement?
A mission statement is a short and inspiring summary of why your business exists. It’s usually one sentence or a short paragraph that defines your practice’s core purpose, reminds you of your values and explains how you can help your clients.
For example, an accounting practice might have the following mission statement: “To help our clients grow their businesses and achieve lasting success by providing high-quality financial services.”
For inspiration, here are some examples of mission statements from successful companies:
- Apple: “To bring the best user experience to its customers through its innovative hardware, software, and services.”
- Starbucks: “To inspire and nurture the human spirit - one person, one cup, and one neighbourhood at a time.”
- Twitter: “To give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers.”
Get the fundamentals down
Before you draft your mission statement, ask yourself the following questions:
- What are your essential services?
- How do you deliver them?
- Who are these services for?
- What client problems do you solve?
Your answers will help you to determine the fundamental principles of your practice, provide a sense of direction and uncover the values that drive this.
Be authentic
Even if it’s tempting to copy and paste words from elsewhere, it’s important to craft a mission statement that’s true to your practice. An authentic mission statement communicates what makes your offering unique and inspires you to keep your practice on the right track. If your practice operates in a way that conflicts with your mission statement, it could lead to disengagement from colleagues and clients.
If you work with colleagues, it might be a good idea to brainstorm some ideas with them and list out the descriptive words that resonate with them. Remember to keep the tone of your mission statement consistent and in line with what your brand represents - for example, if your mission is to help your clients understand the complex world of accounting, stick to jargon-free words that align with your purpose.
Consider your clients
An inspiring mission statement should strike a chord with your client base, so it’s important to dedicate some time to consider what makes your practice stand out from the others. It can be helpful to think about your own consumer behaviour - other than cost, what motivates you to choose one brand over the other?
In a similar process to how you worked out your practice fundamentals, ask yourself the following questions:
- Who are your clients?
- Where are they based?
- What size of business do they have?
- What field do they work in?
Your answers to these questions can help you focus on the principles that resonate most with your clients.
Make it visible
When you’re happy with your mission statement, you’ll need to share it with colleagues, current clients and potential clients. It’s an important part of your marketing, so add it to your website in a prominent place - perhaps in your ‘About Us’ section. You might also consider adding it to any marketing materials, or even your business cards.
Remember that once your mission statement has been published, it’s not set in stone. Businesses naturally change over time, so it’s worth revisiting your mission statement each year to ensure it still reflects your practice’s purpose.
For more handy tips, check out our guide on how to get started with marketing your practice.
