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Articles www.godseer.com “The success of your home based business is my goal.” |
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These are the business and career articles to help you decide for yourself if you were born to be an entrepreneur or an employee. These are especially helpful if you’re looking for how-to information about your job, career or home based business.
Why You Should Write a Mission Statement for Your Business . . . and Follow It By Kathi Calahan, Certified Behavioral Therapist & Career Coach
It is no longer a viable business practice for your company to be without a Mission Statement or to have one but not live by it. Consider New York-based Citigroup which was, until recently, one of the largest U.S. banks in the nation. With a recent 23% slide in profits during the last week of February 2009, the government stepped in to rescue the ailing bank from its record high 94% loss of profits during the past year. According to Capital IQ, in one year Citigroup stock prices plummeted from $27.35 per share to $1.40 per share. Why should this matter to you? As a Fortune 500 company, Citigroup has a mission statement it apparently did not follow and the results have been devastating. If even the mightiest of companies are vulnerable, then so is your business. This is Citigroup’s Mission Statement. You decide if they followed their core values for a successful business: “Our goal for Citigroup is to be the most respected global financial services company. Like any other public company, we’re obligated to deliver profits and growth to our shareholders. Of equal importance is to deliver those profits and generate growth responsibly.”
And this is their slogan, or motto: “Knowledge is your greatest asset.”
During these difficult economic times every company should be reviewing their Mission Statement and motto and making sure they are following it. Business is slow? Go back now and review the core values your company was built around and begin a plan of revitalization based on the standards you have set for yourself and employees, if any. Insure everyone in the company, including your clients and vendors know what kind of a business you are running and then let your company live up to those goals. Here are two more examples of company Mission Statements. Learn from them and build your own, based on your personal core set of values: • TOM’S OF MAINE. “To serve our customers by providing safe, effective, innovative, natural products of high quality. To build relationships with our customers that extend beyond product usage to include full and honest dialogue, responsiveness to feedback, and the exchange of information about products and issues. To respect, value, and serve not only our customers, but also our co-workers, owners, agents, suppliers, and our community; to be concerned about and contribute to their well-being, and to operate with integrity so as to be deserving of their trust. To provide meaningful work, fair compensation, and a safe, healthy work environment that encourages openness, creativity, self-discipline, and growth. To contribute to and affirm a high level of commitment, skill, and effectiveness in the work community. To recognize, encourage, and seek a diversity of gifts and perspective in our work life. To acknowledge the value of each person’s contribution to our goals and to foster teamwork in our tasks. To be distinctive in products and policies which honor and sustain our natural world. To address community concerns in Maine and around the globe, by devoting a portion of our time, talents, and resources to the environment, human needs, the arts, and education. To work together to contribute to the long-term value and sustainability of our company. To be a profitable and successful company while acting in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.” Their Motto: Natural care. Notice that profit comes last?
• CSX Corporation. “To be the safest, most progressive North American railroad, relentless in the pursuit of customer and employee excellence.” Their Motto: Delivering. Short and sweet, but CSX definitely shows their core values of safety, excellence and progression.
Your soul is here to share core values and this is accomplished through your work, your family and in all your relations. In furthering the success of your business make a practice at least once a year to review your mission statement and analyze whether your company is still on track. This simple business principle can make a huge difference in the achievement of your enterprise. You have God-given gifts to share with the world through your work and as the Chinese writer and editor, Lyn Yutang said, “Today we are afraid of simple words like goodness and mercy and kindness. We don’t believe in the good old words because we don’t believe in good old values anymore. And that’s why the world is sick.” Let your values be the hallmarks of your thriving business. Summary: Today, as always, businesses fail when they do not live up to their core set of values. Every business owner has the ability to recognize their values and build a successful business around them. This is how . . . Key Words: business, Citigroup, Kathi Calahan, values, mission statement, Tom’s of Maine, CSX railroad, core values, business success, successful business practices, responsible growth, business principles
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