Mission Statement and Value Proposition: What's the Difference?
What are They, and Why Are They Important?
By now, you probably know what a mission statement and a value proposition are—especially if you’re a business owner. But maybe you don’t know exactly what they are, or why it’s so important to have them.
Let’s start with exactly what they are.
Your Mission Statement
Your company’s mission statement is a written-out announcement of its central purpose, goals, and focus. In short, the company mission statement is YOUR WHY. Meaning, it’s the reason that you started a business, invested loads of time and money, and lost way too many hours of sleep! Your company’s mission statement should describe your motivation, your passion, and your conviction.
Here’s a formula to follow when writing your own mission statement:
Your Value Proposition
While your mission statement is YOUR why a value proposition is your CUSTOMER’S why. It’s the reason your customer connects with you and believes that you’re going to be able to solve their problems. It’s basically a short explanation of why your customer should notice you.
Your value proposition should ultimately answer the following:
What problem can you solve for your customer?
How are you going to solve this problem?
Who has this problem you want to solve?
Why are they going to care if you solve this problem for them?
How are they Different?
The main difference between a mission statement and a value proposition is that one is for you, and one is for your customer.
Your mission statement is for YOU because it will determine your company’s direction; it will help you stay focused on why you began this journey, and it will help you make decisions for your business. It will also shape strategies and help you keep your core purpose in mind.
Your value proposition is for your CUSTOMER because it tells that person—in a very concise, creative, quick way—what your company is, and why it will solve their problem.
Why Do You Need Them?
Having both a mission statement and a value proposition in place is extremely important for your business. Why? Because you can use them to tell your company’s story more effectively. They are also the main cornerstone of your data collection framework.
Your value proposition is very important because you should be using it as the filter that you view everything else through. Creating a strong value proposition in the beginning rather than later will save you time, energy, and money in the long run. It will give you the confidence you need to tell your customers why they should buy what you’re selling, and it will lay the groundwork for all the copywriting that awaits you as you begin to create landing pages, emails, social profiles, and blog posts.
As for your mission statement, as mentioned before, it helps to guide direction, maintain focus, and form strategies. It also keeps you and any employees you have on the same page. It tells everyone what your goals as a business are. In short, your mission statement is an expression of what your company is, what it wants, and why it exists.
And So…
When it comes to writing your mission statement, boiling down your passion and conviction into one or two sentences can be very difficult. As for writing your value proposition, that be even harder! Trying to come up with a quick tagline to grab your customers’ attention can be very overwhelming. But remember, just being willing to start thinking about your mission statement and value proposition puts you way ahead of what most business owners are willing to do.
Let's recap
In order to…
learn more about how to define both your value proposition and your mission statement
learn why they are the main cornerstone of your data collection framework
understand how to use them to tell your company’s story more effectively
…check out our course, Know Your Data, Know Your Customer from Virtual Collective!
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