Mission Statement

[dkechnie]

Hey everyone;<p>I am writing a business plan for a lawn care company that I hope to start this spring. I am currently trying to formulate a good mission statement that will have all the necessary ingredients that are required of a mission statement. If you could state your mission statement to give me an idea of what to include or know where I could get ideas on the Internet that would be very helpful. Thanks for any information.<br>Dave <p>

[NeilG]

Short and Sweet:<br>&quot;To make our Customers<br>The Focus of Everything<br>We do.&quot;<br>We try to follow that everyday.

[Eric ELM]

&quot;Picture Perfect Lawns Is Our Goal&quot; This is what we strive to do to make our customers happy. :)<br><p>----------<br>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.townserver.com/elm/&quot;&gt;Eric@ELM&lt;/a&gt;<br>

[mattingly]

I believe the above two posts are more like philosophies. Not actual Mission Statements. The best place to look for these would be books at the library titled &quot;Business Plans.&quot; I am definitely not an expert but this is what one of the books told me. I stole mine from Pizza Hut's.<p>----------<br>Integrated Landscape Solutions<br>Lexington, KY

[Eric ELM]

Hey, I'm no expert either. I was hoping Niel knew what he was talking about. I admit I could be wrong, they kicked me out of kindergarden for not shaving. :) <p>----------<br>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.townserver.com/elm/&quot;&gt;Eric@ELM&lt;/a&gt;<br>

[moonarrow]

I use the old wal-mart saying &quot;customer satisfaction garunteed&quot; and try to stick to it. Eric if you got kicked out for not shving you must one ugly sucker haha.<p>----------<br>Dale moonarrow@hotmail.com<br>Southern lawn and Landscape

[JimLewis]

Most of the above are not Mission Statements. They are what marketing people call a USP. That is, a Unique Selling Proposition. A small phrase that uniquely identifies your company with something desirable. Examples of famous USPs; &quot;Visa, it's everywhere you want to be.&quot;, &quot;Federal Express - when it absolutely positively has to be there overnight.&quot; , &quot;M & Ms - the milk chocolate melts in your mouth not in your hands.&quot;, etc. <p>These are very important! USPs are a GREAT way to stand out from the crowd. And that gets important when times get tough. Our USP is &quot;Setting The Gold Standard In Landscape Maintenance&quot;. <p>A mission statement, though, is more of a one or two paragraph statement of your purpose and direction you see it taking you AND your company. I don't want to type up all the examples, but a good mission statment should properly balance your goals with your company's goals. It should also convey the image you want to set or the eventual way you want your company to be viewed. <p>For more about USPs, Mission Statements, etc. I would HIGHLY recommend getting the book &quot;Fired Up - the proven priciples of successful entrepreneurs&quot; by Michael Gill and Sheila Patterson. It's an excellent book and has several chapters about just these two topics. The book is mainly for people who are either 1) Just starting a business of their own or 2) Still fairly new in their business. It's packed full of invaluable tips. The chapter on USP in particular is worth it's weight in gold to me. List price is $12 but I found it used at Powells Books for $8. <p>----------<br>Jim Lewis - Lewis Landscape Services<br>http://www.lewislandscape.com

[bdemir]

My mission is not only to make the customer happy but make my workers happy too. Its easy to cut nice stripes but to live a clean live and do what you like to do for a living is the best part. Not everyone gets to ride on a z mower during the summer months. This seems to me a fun thing to do. This is my mission. To Enjoy myself and still be profitable. <p><br>bdemir<br>B&D Lawncare and Snow

[geogunn]

my statement of mission...?<p>&quot;mow, trim, blow and GO!&quot;<p>GEO

[JimLewis]

I like that one geogunn! :-) <p>----------<br>Jim Lewis - Lewis Landscape Services<br>http://www.lewislandscape.com

[lawrence stone]

Give the customer the least amount of service<br>and charge the maximum amount of money.

[Lazer]

Lawrence,<br>That's fine for 1 year. What do you do the next year? Change the mission statement or get all new customers? Both?<p>

[mountain man]

It is important to have a business plan and goals, but don't spend so much time on it as stunt the growth of your company. I have seen various businesses where the owner spent all of their time on setting up an office, testing equipment, etc and not on opening and servicing accounts. My business plan is regularly being added to based on the experiences of the company.

[lawnnut]

To Mow where no Man dares to Mow.

[southside]

My philosophy is to give the customer <br>&quot;bang for their buck&quot;. However my mission<br>statement is SHOW ME THE MONEY!!! :)<br>

[mattingly]

Just for the orginator of this posts sake, most of what is listed above are not mission statements. They are either philosophies or tag lines. Look up mission statements in business plan books and business start-up books. Also if you have a small business development center in your area they can help you with this. A mission statement is what the business is about(concisely) what makes your business what it is, and what your goals are for the future and how these reflect on the customers.<p>----------<br>Integrated Landscape Solutions<br>Lexington, KY

[geogunn]

<br>my statement of mission is rather concise. as you can read from above. I'm not gong to worry about what the schools of business say I should do. darnit, I'm hungry and I like working. I'm not going to worry about a business plan or a mission statement when there are jobs out there to pick up! lets be for real here. I haven't been asked about a mission statement yet in four years of cutting grass. and I doubt I will. the rest of you...post your mission statement on your magnetic door signs and your business cards. I got a mission statement and it's &quot;my family is hungry and I'm gonna feed 'em by cutting grass&quot;, not by wondering where in the truck I'm gonna hang a framed mission statement.<p>sorry if I got on a toe or two but it seems like I hear more people talking about working than it seems like actually working.<p>good day to all.<p>GEO

[mattingly]

Geo,<br>I don't think anyone is putting a mission statement on a bus. card or on there signs. The statement is just that. A statement of what your mission is to do and become. This statement is usually a part of what compromises a business plan. A business plan helps let the owner know where there business currently is, headed, and what its intent is along with many other things. This is handy for organization and growth. The original post just wanted to know what others mission statements were like. So I don't think it is fair to knock what is being done here. Do you need a business plan and mission statement? No. Some really good businesses don't have b plans and they are fine.<p>----------<br>Integrated Landscape Solutions<br>Lexington, KY

[cclllc]

This is not a mission statement but an everyday fact.Mow their lawn like you would your own.That is if you care how it looks.<br>john<p>----------<br>Custom Cut Lawns LLC<br>mowmoney@juno.com

[SLSNursery]

The following is a copy of the mission statement which gets printed in each catalog I send out. Obviously it is a little different than for a landscape service company, but it's an example.<p>Mission Statement:<p>Our goal at Soundview Landscape Supply, LLC is to provide the best quality landscape products and services for a reasonable price. While we accept some limited retail trade, our facility is geared toward the professional contractor for easy access and full service. If you ever have a question, comment, or suggestion, please let us know. We are here because of you. We appreciate your patronage and look forward to your continued business. We hope the Landscaping season treats you well.<p><br><p>----------<br>Phil Grande - Soundview Landscape Supply - http://members.aol.com/slsnursery<br>Ivy League Landscaping - http://members.aol.com/scagrider