Unfortunately, in their rush to finish, they bypass a unique opportunity to define their business at the most basic level. Done properly, a mission statement will tell a company's story and ideals in less than 30 seconds. Specifically, it will tell who the company is, what it does, what it stands for, and why it exists.

“A mission statement is a short, succinct statement declaring what business you're in and who your customer is,” said business consultant Bill Birnbaum, CMC. “By offering this focus, it provides direction for future corporate development. Companies sometimes use their mission statement as an advertising slogan, but the intention of a genuine mission statement is to keep members and users aware of the organization's purpose.”

A mission statement can guide your company in good times and bad. It can act as a moral and corporate compass. It can help you make decisions in concert with your values and goals.

Do you want to make a profit, or is it enough to just make a living? What markets are you serving, and what benefits do you offer them? Do you solve a problem for your customers? What kind of internal work environment do you want for your employees? All of these issues can, and should, be addressed in a mission statement.

“Every company, no matter how big or small, needs a mission statement as a source of direction, a kind of compass, that lets its employees, its customer, and even its stockholders know what it stands for and where its headed,” says Jeffrey Abrahams, author of The Mission Statement Book.

Structuring Your Mission Statement

Darrell Zahorsky, the Small Business Information Guide for About.com, offers three touch points for creating meaningful mission statements:

Pass the Mother Test: A mission statement must be a concise paragraph describing what your company does, and for whom. Show your mission to your mother. If she doesn't understand it, start again.

Self-Igniting: Your mission is for you and your business. It does not have to be an earth-moving statement. It can be whatever inspires you.

Value Alignment: Forget the money. A meaningful mission goes beyond the dollars and cents. If your small business is creative, focus your mission on creativity. Try to be what your core competency is.

Advice from other experts includes:

Don't “box” yourself in. Your mission statement should be able to withstand the changes that come up over time in your product or service offerings or customer base. A cardboard box company isn't in the business of making cardboard boxes; it's in the business of providing protection for items that need to be stored or shipped. The broader understanding helps the company see the big picture.

Ask for input: Run your mission statement draft by all your employees. Is it clear and easily understood?

Aim for substance, not superlatives: Avoid saying how great you are, what great quality and what great service you provide.

Keep it short: Economy of words is critical. The best mission statements tend to be three to four sentences long. Each word should be powerful, meaningful, and clear.

Watch your mouth: The tone is important. If you are a family-owned business in north Florida, don't try to sound like a multi-national conglomerate in Miami. Use language appropriate to the target audience and reflective of the makeup of your organization. A good mission statement is compelling, exciting, and passionate – but it must also come across as real and meaningful. Don't use four-syllable words if you are a two-syllable company.

Developing Your Mission Statement

A mission statement should be created as part of your strategic planning process. Once you have analyzed your market, developed and prioritized your goals and objectives, the mission of your company becomes clearer, and you will be able to state it clearly and concisely.

At is most basic, the mission statement describes the overall purpose of your company. When wording the mission statement, consider your organization's products, services, markets, values, concern for public image, and priorities of actions for survival.

One of the most overlooked elements in preparing a mission statement is research. Your mission-writing committee, ideally composed of a diversified group of employees, should begin by researching high-profile, successful organizations and discussing how well their mission statement matches the public perception of their organization. Team members also should research the mission statements of your competitors and your vendors, and organizations that cater to the same customer demographics of your business. If your customers are “high net-worth” individuals, check out organizations that provide luxury products and services to “high net-worth” individuals. Beware of being a copycat. While it will be helpful to read other companies' mission statements, you must write a statement that is about you and not some other company. Make sure you actually believe in what you're writing.

Remember that your mission statement will likely change over time as your company and its environment change, so you don't have to spend forever trying to cover all eventualities in today's statement. Stick to the basics:

What problems do you solve? What needs do you fulfill?

What do you sell?

How do you make your money?

What is your revenue model?

How are you unique from everyone else out there?

What is your unique selling proposition?

One huge internal benefit of preparing a mission statement is that it opens up the communication process inside an organization. Preparing a mission statement should not be an insular, top management only process. Effective mission statements are based on getting input and commitment from people at all levels of your company. All employees must understand and “buy into” the mission in order to make the personal commitments to the spirit of the mission. Even a stellar mission statement will not be effective unless everyone in your organization knows how the mission will be accomplished.

Birnbaum recommends a structured and collaborative creative process, beginning with team members presenting mission statements they have written on their own. Using a flip chart divided into four quadrants – Product/Service, Function, Market, and Market Position – review the words from the individual mission statements and place them in the appropriate sections. At the end of the exercise, you will have a handful of words speaking to each area.

Now tackle one quadrant at a time. By consensus, have your planning team decide which is the best way to describe your company's products or services, market, function, and market position.

Following your group's decision to adapt certain words and eliminate others in each of the four quadrants, you'll have most of the words in each quadrant crossed out, with just a few remaining. Now ask each of your planning-team members, once again, to write a mission statement. Except this time, instruct them to use only the words remaining on the chart.

As your team members each read their mission statements, you'll discover that they're all very similar. One or two will sound better, mainly because one or two individuals happen to have a flare for writing. Take those that sound the best, do some more word-smithing, caucus your employees, and you'll have your mission statement.

Evolution of Your Mission Statement

Mission statements should have a long shelf life, able to withstand time and retain their meaning. You can expect very little change from year to year. However, your mission statement must remain current. If you change your business model in response to economic conditions, competition, or opportunities, you'll need to revisit your mission statement.

It all goes back to the fundamental purpose of a mission statement – to tell people why your company exists. It's OK to change your mind. You just have to make sure everybody – your employees, your clients, your stakeholders, even your mom – knows about it.