7. How to write a mission statement for your small business. | Part 2 of Strategic Plan Series
Mission statements can be tough! We tend to labor over them for hours and hours or ignore them atogether. No matter where you land on that spectrum this episode is going to be wildly helpful for you and your business!
There are so many different approaches to mission statements. And my guess is my approach isn’t what you’re thinking it might be.
In this episode of More Than Ambition, I break down what your mission statement is, what it isn’t, and how to write an actionable mission statement each quarter (yes, each quarter! Yo'u’ll see what I mean.) - so you can grow with intentionality and surrender. It’s gonna be fun!
Main takeaways
A strategic plan is essential for intentional and sustainable business growth.
The mission statement is a short-term goal that directly impacts the success of the business's vision.
Brainstorm metrics (to be included within your mission statement) that will help you make your vision a reality.
Clearly state why these metrics matter and how they will impact your business.
Get Your FREE Simple Strategic Plan Template
EPISODE SUMMARY (AI-Generated)
In this episode of the More Than Ambition podcast, Dusty Hegge discusses the importance of a strategic plan for business growth. She emphasizes the need for intentional and strategic steps forward, rather than focusing solely on fast growth. Dusty defines the mission statement as a short-term goal that directly impacts the success or failure of the business's vision. She provides practical tips for brainstorming metrics and explains why these metrics matter. Dusty concludes by highlighting the importance of building a strong foundation for the business.
TIMESTAMPS (AI-Generated)
00:00 Introduction and Mission Statement
03:48 The Importance of a Strategic Plan
06:23 Defining the Mission Statement
09:14 Brainstorming Metrics
12:36 Why the Metrics Matter
15:01 Checklist for a Strong Mission Statement
17:25 Conclusion
TRANSCRIPT (AI-Generated)
Mission Statement - Strategic Plan (00:01)
Hey, hey, hey, welcome to the More Than Ambition podcast. I am your caffeinated host. My name is Dusty Hegge and I am the owner of Caffeinated Sites, a website template shop to energize your business. I am a business consultant who focuses on strategic planning, business development, and systems so that you can enjoy your work more, you can serve your people more, and glorify God in all you do here at the More Than Ambition podcast.
I'm getting so excited, I'm already, already tongue-tied, you guys, here at the More Than Ambition podcast. We believe in intentional business growth and that it must be done with surrender because when ambition meets surrender, we get to see incredible things happen through the power and the grace of our God, himself, and it's such an honor to be able to be used by him in that way. And not even so much used by him, though that is,
maybe the accurate way to say that, but I think sometimes when we say that, we kind of get the idea of we are puppets and he is the master, that we are being forced to do his work, when in reality it's a partnership. In reality, we get to be co-heirs of the kingdom and God has invited us into that, which is beautiful because he knows we're gonna mess up. He knows we're gonna make mistakes. He knows we're gonna do it messily.
And yet he still allows us to partner with him in that work. And your business and your God-given goals are one way that you get to partner with him. Your ambition was given to you by your loving father because he wants to encourage you. He wants to bless you with more responsibility. The way I like to think about this is in helping my or letting my kids, I have an eight-year-old, a six-year-old, and a two and a half -year -old. And when I let them do chores around the house or ask them to do chores around the house, they're still at the age where they think it's fun. They're still the age where they recognize that like, this is a big deal that mom's wanting us to do this, which is a really sweet stage to be in. And it is my prayer that we can cultivate that to remain as long as possible. But I still have little ones. We'll see how that goes. The point here though is that I know they're not gonna do the chore right. Like they are usually in charge of unloading the dishwasher. And I know that my two-year-old is gonna put every single piece of silverware, in the knife slot, like the butter knives. He piles every single one up in the butter knives without fail almost every time. And I have to go back and sort it out. But each time I work with him a little bit at a time to help show him where to put the spoons, show him where to put the fork, show him where to put the knives, where to put the big knives versus the, or sorry, the pig forks versus the little forks, you know? And that isn't me forcing him to do work. That's me saying, hey, you're a really important part of our family unit.
You matter to us a great deal. And here in the Hegge household, we work as a team. And because you're an important part of that team, here's your responsibility. Here's the role we would love for you to play. And when they're little, we kind of assign those roles to them themselves. And God does that to us. God does that exactly to us. And that's what it means to partner with Jesus, to partner with the Holy Spirit, to do kingdom work, to...
serve our people really, really well, and glorify God in all we do. And so here on the More Than An Ambition podcast, that's so much of why I'm doing this work. For a really long time, I felt stuck. I knew the work I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to serve God's people. I knew I wanted to teach business, but my wheels were stuck in the mud and I was spinning out. There were quite a few factors that played with this, but by and large, the biggest factor that played in this is I neglected to create a strategic plan. I did not sit down in any recent time frame and map out strategically, intentionally, and with surrender.
a strategic plan for my business and for what that is going to look like. Because when we think about our businesses, we tend to think we must grow fast in order to reach a goal, in order to reach, quote-unquote, success. But success for the Christian entrepreneur is simply obedience to the Lord. That's it, end of sentence, full stop. Obedience to the Lord is a success for the Christian entrepreneur.
That said, obedience looks like stewarding our resources well because God has asked us to do that. Obedience looks like coming to the Lord and asking for our next steps. Obedience means taking faithful, messy, imperfect steps forward with intentionality, strategically, and thoughtfully. And so as I started going through this process, it is all by God's grace. It is all by His goodness. Everything sort of clicked.
in a really beautiful way. And if you've listened to the last couple of episodes, maybe you've heard me say this, but guys, I am so freaking excited and I can't help but share it with you again and again, because I need you to know how powerful this process can be of allowing your ambition to be intentional, of allowing your ambition to be used by God, to glorify Him and to serve your people and to bless your family, to bless yourself.
And the trickling outpour of that is incredible, but it must be done with surrender. It must be done in partnership with God. And God is the one who is in the driver's seat here, not you, my friend. So the strategic plan is you being intentional, is you mapping out your resources, your intentions, your plans, and putting them and laying them at the feet of God and saying, okay, this is what I have, but I know that whatever you have is better than my version.
So God transform my heart to be in more alignment and more in step with your will. Okay, with that said, last time we talked about the owner's intent. Owner's intent is a really pivotal piece. And so if you've not yet mapped out your owner's intent, I would really recommend you head back to that episode titled owner's intent or some clever variation thereof before we dive into today's content, which is the mission statement. So your mission statement is really...
critical to your business. And a lot of people define a mission statement in different ways. I think when we hear a mission statement in one actual way to define it, I'm not saying that any of these definitions are wrong, but I am going to say that the way I'm about to teach you is different than I think what most people teach. So when most people hear a mission statement, they think of the quote-unquote, why behind their business, the heartbeat of their business, like why they serve their people. And I absolutely want you to outline those things.
And that is a pivotal aspect of your mission statement, but it is not the whole, all of your mission statement. So I define your mission statement as a short-term goal in your business that's working towards and directly impacts the success or the failure of your vision in your business. And so in this simplified strategic plan template that I have created for you that is 100 % absolutely free, you can grab it at dustyhegge.com/strategy, download this this template, and follow along with us as we go through what it means to build a foundational simplified strategic plan. I have a section in there on the mission statement and we break it down in a really practical way. So your mission statement combines your overall why and it makes it more practical by clearly defining what you're working towards to make your quote unquote why I'm doing air quotes here a reality. So it's the practical pieces of.
of your vision, which I would describe more so as your quote unquote why, your heartbeat behind your business and your work, and makes it practical with some clear, clearly identified metrics that are spoken clearly in the mission statement. So think of your vision as if it's the big goal of your company that your brand is working towards.
And your mission is one of the many small incremental, like micro goals, if you will, that take you one step toward your big goal of creating lasting impact, which is your vision. Do you follow? That's a little bit wordy, but I hope that that makes sense. I hope you're talking with me here. So as you write your mission statement, I want you to include three, I would say two to three metrics that will directly impact your ability to accomplish this mission.
and make the transformation that you hope to offer a reality and include why your mission matters. So you're tying this all back to your vision. So I get that this sounds a little bit heavy and honestly, it kind of is. It's a big piece. It's really pivotal. And so by short term, I mean one month, two months or even a year. You can define that however you want. I recommend three months as you go back through and refresh your strategic plan or I would suggest.
duplicating the document and then editing it, the duplicated version so you can look back on your growth over time track those metrics, and see how your business has grown and how God has transformed you as you have sought his will through the work you do in your business. So, okay, I want you to first start. If you have downloaded this simple strategic plan, you can grab it at dustyhegge.com/strategy.
I want you to first down, like sort of download, I want you to first brainstorm some of the metrics that you need to reach to make your vision a reality. So what's the bigger goal, the micro goal, the small step you wanna reach in the next three months that will impact your vision? So for example, one of my goals in these next three months has been to relaunch this podcast with the new name, with the new, or refocused intention, right? Along with that, creating a mini-series that can help you do the same thing of refocusing your business and doing so with intentionality and doing so with surrender so that you can serve your people really, really well and glorify God in all you do as you pursue your God-given goals. And so because that's my sort of overall goal, if you will, is to basically, relaunch, right?
Some metrics that I might want to track with that because a lot of the work in this time period is unseen. So it's not so much that I, in that time period, I wasn't really building my email list so much as I was just nurturing the relationship I already have with those people who have already graciously allowed me into their inbox, right? And so another metric might be, one of the metrics might be that reflects that might be like how many emails I send to, my already established email list. So my metric there isn't so much growth as it is nurturing the people that I've already had. Do you follow? So those metrics can look different. It can be financial, which if you're already in a launched stage, I really highly encourage including at least one financial metric in there. As Christian entrepreneurs, we tend to shy away from the money piece. I know that I certainly do. That's something that God is working on me on and sort of taking some of that emotion away from that tool and instead viewing it as such.
I do have a really great value-packed episode, which I'll link a direct link for it here in the show notes, but I believe it's episode two. That really dives deep into some money mindset stuff and that I thought was a really incredible episode. But anyways, moving on. Brainstorm some of these metrics. So it can be financial, it can be email list numbers, it can be something that maybe isn't necessarily tied to growth, but is tied to repetition like a habit.
depending on the stage you are in your business, do that with discernment and do that carefully. Keep it to two to three, but first, brain dump all of your ideas, right? And then you're gonna refine, pick two to three. I would really recommend trying to make one a financial, financially based or at minimum a numbers-based metric. And then after you've sort of brainstormed some metrics that you need to reach, the practical things you need to do in order to make your vision a reality, in order to accomplish this quote-unquote micro goal this quarter, why do these metrics matter? And what will accomplishing them help you gain and or impact? Like what is the impact that they will create, right? So brainstorm some of those things. Like for me, in my example of this sort of relaunch that I've been working on very much behind the scenes, but not really very public.
at all, my goal has been in this last quarter to build habits in the home that will allow me to be able to do the work that I really feel called to do here for more than ambition and within caffeinated sites and in my own consulting business. And so for me, accomplishing these metrics that I had set for myself, set me up for success and built a strong foundation within my home.
within my own person to be able to take the next steps forward from a better place, right? So for you, if you've already launched your business, that might be different. That might be for you, what accomplishing X metrics will allow you to do, the two to three goals that you've set out in your mission statement. What accomplishing those things will allow you to do is maybe help moms feel less stressed and less overwhelmed. Maybe...
you're accomplishing those missions will help you to be able to, I don't know, serve more entrepreneurs with clear financial understanding so that they can do the work that they want to do with less stress about all of the numbers and stuff. So whatever that is, outline that. It's a little bit harder to talk through this in a mass way of giving tons of examples. But if this is something that you really want to break down further,
you can absolutely book a strategy session with me over at dustyhegge .com. And it's a two-hour session where we will dive deep into whatever topics you need. It's a very solutions-based session. And my goal is to be able to give you an actual plan to implement in the coming weeks immediately as soon as humanly possible so that you can take these faithful steps forward in obedience and surrender. And so as you go through your simplified
your simple strategic plan, your free version of this strategic plan. If you need help, if you're feeling stuck, absolutely reach out. You can book a strategy session. I also offer Voxer Consulting. You can find all of that information at dustyhegge .com slash consulting. But you guys, this piece is really, really pivotal. It really is very impactful. So here's a little kind of mini checklist to give you as you've gone through.
your simple strategic plan for the mission statement portion. Is the mission deadline clear? Like is the time in which you need to complete said metrics clear? So it needs to be done by X date or in three months or whatever that deadline is. It needs to be clear. And bonus points if you add it to your calendar. The second sort of checklist item to make sure that your mission statement is actually gonna work for you is does it include one to three,
clear, measurable metrics. The third thing is, does it clearly state why it matters to you, to your business or your people, and or maybe all of those things, why you would reach those metrics? And does your mission directly move you toward accomplishing your vision for your business? So this is a bit of a heavier, more strategic episode, and this is the stuff that I love to be able to talk about. And if you need some help, if you need some consulting on this,
topic, please don't hesitate to reach out. You can find all of the information at dustyhegge.com/strategy. It's gonna be fun, right? It's so much fun when we get to get down to building a really strong foundation for our business. When we build a strong foundation for our business that isn't focused so much on fast growth, but is focused on intentional, sustainable steps forward, it allows us the peace and the confidence and the clarity to be able to move forward in a way that really does glorify God, in a way that doesn't sacrifice our kingdom values, in a way that helps us to prioritize what really matters to us and doesn't make our paid work our whole all. Because the world sells us the idea that you have to hustle, you have to work yourself to the bone to reach your goal, even if that's a short period. I don't believe that that's the case. 100%, I don't believe that that's the case. Okay.
Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. If this episode was encouraging to you, if it was helpful to you at all, I ask that you share it with a friend who you think might really enjoy it. Don't forget to grab your free simple strategic plan over at dustyhegge.com/strategy. And if you've not already subscribed to the More Than Ambition podcast, I would love it if you would join us. Thank you so much for being here. We'll see you next week or maybe tomorrow. It depends. I haven't decided on posting yet, so bye.
