The foundation of business culture is shared goals and objectives. In the automotive repair business vehicles are repaired and customers pay for these services. However most small business owners have much greater ideas of service delivery and benefits they strive to provide for customers. The question to be asked is ‘Are these objectives clearly stated and communicated to all members of the organization?’ A clear concise mission statement and a unique value proposition when communicated to organization members will focus all on common goals and encourage unity of purpose within the business. Following are factors in mission achievement:
- The Mission Statement – The mission statement is a brief (usually one sentence) statement of the objectives of an organization. A well-crafted mission statement will focus members of a company on the overall goals of the business. A mission statement should not focus on earnings or profits but rather should simply and clearly articulate what the company seeks to deliver to customers. Qualitative adjectives can be incorporated into a mission statement to emphasize competitive goals (e.g. exceptional service, optimal delivery, etc.). The mission statement should be clearly communicated to all members of the organization and should be easy to remember. All should view the mission statement as the definition of the goals to be achieved in performance of responsibilities.
- Unique Value Proposition – The unique value proposition is a statement of what differentiates a company from the competition. Businesses succeed by providing value to customers and the unique value proposition aligns service offerings with customer perceived value while establishing differentiation and competitive advantage. All members of an organization should know and understand the company unique value proposition. With this knowledge people will naturally work toward the same goals.
- Company Strategy – While the mission statement and unique value proposition clarify what the business strives to deliver to its customers a strategy defines how it will be delivered. Business circumstances change and strategies must be formulated to support objectives accordingly. Strategies should be communicated to organization members so an understanding of how goals will be achieved is known by all.
