A company’s mission is what its leadership wants to achieve. A mission statement is a written articulation for that mission.
The benefit of a clear, written mission statement for any family business is that it keeps all generations of the family, along with its suppliers, customers and employees, onboard. It provides a sense of direction to its leadership and gives a course of action to its working team. It also instills a sense of accountability in management for its actions and generates quick feedback on business strategy and its execution. In summary, a well-articulated mission distinguishes a well-run company from a mediocre one.
“We want to lower the cost of hospitals and labs by providing high quality yet affordable health care equipment with great after-sales service”
This mission statement provides clear guidance to the next generation of a Bohra community family enterprise to build upon lifelong achievements of the previous two generations. If the next gen of this family business embraces this statement, it will instinctively know which products/brands to offer, eliminate middlemen to reduce the extra cost, have quality salesmanship to approach its prospects & clients directly, provide best after sales service, among other things. It will make them accountable for keeping themselves lean, shedding all the extra costs so that they can provide quality products that keep the healthcare affordable to the masses.
How to have a great mission statement?
The key is to develop a clear mission through soul-searching. Without a defined mission initially, a family business may struggle to withstand generational change. Differences in opinions, attitudes, styles, along with communication gaps can plague a family business, potentially leading to existential crises. Any such business cannot survive generational transition unless the family aspires for something beyond mere money minting.
That mission must be magnanimous, noble, as well as commercially feasible. A paradox can be sensed here; however, that’s the first screen a business must pass—it must be profitable. The best way for a business to be profitable is to help its customers achieve what they want. Nevertheless, to survive many decades to come, a business needs much more than just profit. It needs to have a noble mission that helps customers and society in general. Its magnanimity, along with noble intent, keeps the family together by settling mutual differences.
Once family leadership succeeds in this soul searching by having a shared mission that fulfills the family, its articulation is a continuous ongoing process. With time, a family will be able to come-up with better ways of expressing its mission and values. Envisioning the mission and communicating it effectively is the sole responsibility of family leadership. Leadership must consistently emphasize its focus in all interactions and meetings. This equips everyone with clear criteria against which every decision made in the business is evaluated.
The senior leadership of a family cannot fulfill this responsibility unless they have a broader insight of the economic context of the business, which requires them to have an outside view of their family business.
We at Family Biz Solutions aim to provide such insight so that the family businesses can survive intergeneration succession. Our mission is to guide family businesses toward sustainable growth and harmony across generations. We provide expert advisory services tailored to each client’s unique needs, helping them navigate challenges and create lasting legacies.