Missions Statements are the difference between success and failure.

Your mission statement is more motivating than your weekly staff meetings. More powerful than your performance reviews. More telling than your long-winded emails.

Your mission statement can unify your employees, identify your values, and be a vehicle driving the completion of your goals. We believe this is especially important in a startup, as you (the founders) develop workflow and build the team that, in essence, will play a key role in the development of workplace culture and employee motivation. It’s easy to get lost in the myriad of to-do lists while building a company and fundraising… but taking the time to develop a strong mission statement with your team will make the decision-making process that much easier. Does it align with our agreed-upon mission and goals as a company? No? Then let’s pass. Yes? Let’s do it!

Here’s 7 reasons you should prioritize your mission statement now:

1. You’ll know when to say no. The reality is when you’re a startup, you can’t do it all simultaneously. Opportunities will come and you need to know which ones are right for you. If it doesn’t align with your mission statement, you’ll know to say “no” (we know it’s hard).
2. The right employees will be that much easier to find. Do they add to the very essence of your company? Do they connect to your mission statement? Can they help you achieve your mission?
3. Your marketing team will love you! They’ve just asked, “which tone of voice should we use for blogs?” “What colors and fonts should this ad have?” “What is your target demographic?” If you send them a well iron-out mission statement, their questions will be qualmed and, with the biggest smile on their face, they’ll send you a very on-brand and SEO-friendly marketing plan.
4. Your team will understand the assignment. Workflow is not an easy conquest, especially when everyone has different ideas of what the “goal” looks like. Take some time and figure out why you’re building this company, what it’s going to accomplish, and how it’s going to get there.
5. You’ll build your identity and story-telling simultaneously. Surely any fundraising founder has heard the question “What makes you different?” Or “What is your product moat?” A strong mission statement will make it so obvious that you’ll ward off this gut-wrenching question (sometimes). Take it from us as a VC, it’s music to our ears.
6. Undefined workplace culture is so 2020. Leave the “work-from-home” and “your muted” culture in 2020- unless that’s so you. Is it? A good mission statement will be a guide for workplace culture and attract talent that aligns with your company values. Remember, a happy team is a well-oiled-machine.
7. Enjoy looking and planning towards the future with those who will help make it happen! There’s no better way to bond than to figure out the future together. What does it look like and how will you put your talents together to make it happen? Team bonding!

It takes time and there’s no blueprint to making a mission statement, but it’s something that truly can be the difference between success and failure as you scale your company. So go ahead, send that lettuce meet link, schedule that team meeting, and get to mission statement-ing.