The importance of a mission statement

Sarah Stowe

True innovation can't happen without an appropriate vision or mission statement.

Without a clear vision and a strategy to implement it, a franchisor, and the unfortunate franchisees, may survive but are on a relatively aimless journey.

The website of The Canadian Association notes that “Mission, vision and values are supposed to be the North Star of strategic planning, the beacon by which organisations set their strategic compasses and then align their everyday priority settings.” For the uninitiated, the Mission Statement is a statement of the fundamental purpose of the enterprise. The Vision Statement outlines what the enterprise wants to be and is a source of inspiration providing clear decision making criteria. The Values Statement provides the tools for ‘walking the talk’.

What particularly resonated with me was the acknowledgment that the prospect of attending a visioning session is not always greeted with enthusiasm by the conscripts: “Held captive in a windowless room, hallucinating slowly from too much coffee. We’ve wordsmithed with a warring group of colleagues well beyond the point of caring. The result is a mission statement that looked much like our last one – and like everybody else’s. Or else we’ve crafted a vision so lofty, outrageous, or abstract that seeds of doubt are planted before we leave the room.” We’ve all been there. In this respect at least, academia and reality are not worlds apart. The Canadian Association nevertheless advises perserverance as the results are worth it. Sadly my university experiences with brainstorming have never produced anything quite as exciting as Google’s “Don’t be evil.” Or as honest as Galacticomm’s “To do really cool things in the field of computer communications and make a buck at it.”

Clear-sighted

While there may be scope for some cynicism in relation to the expression of the enterprise’s vision there should be none in relation to its existence. Without a clear vision an enterprise, a government or an individual has no real point of reference. Things will be done – but they will be done because they have been done in the past and pretty much in the way they have been done in the past. There will be changes and developments and even innovations but without a clear big picture they will not be part of a concerted strategy.

An enterprise’s vision is as important in franchising as it is in any other business endeavour. Possibly more important given that the vast majority of our successful franchise systems did not emerge fully formed but evolved from the vision of an entrepreneur in identifying and exploiting a market niche and developing a proven business system around the concept which could be rolled out through a franchised network. Not surprisingly it is the vision of the franchisor which has the highest profile. Without a clear vision and a strategy to implement it, a franchisor, and the unfortunate franchisees, may survive but are on a relatively aimless journey and are always vulnerable to the competition of a visionary franchisor with a clear idea of what the goals are and how to achieve them.

Making it real

But franchisees should also have a clear vision in operating their franchised businesses. A number of factors impact on a franchisee’s success but probably more important than the site or the territory or the demographics is a clear vision of the particular franchisee. The recent PwC 2011 Franchise Sector Indicator Report notes that currently only 11 percent of all franchise units are owned and operated by multi-site franchisees and that franchisors believe that a further 15 percent of their franchisees have the potential to become multi-unit franchisees. There are a number of factors at play here but perhaps the single most significant issue is the vision of the franchisee. Those franchisees with the vision to be multi-unit franchisees will be much more likely to formulate the appropriate steps required to achieve this. The future is going to happen, but those who have a clear vision of this future and of their role in it are much more likely to do what it takes to succeed.