Some Web plans include mission statements that establish the underlying business context. Use this if it helps you communicate the fundamental idea. Use the mission statement to better define your website's business concept. A company mission statement should define underlying goals (such as making a profit) and objectives in broad strategic terms, including what market is served and what benefits are offered.
What Business You Are In
Ask yourself what business you are in, and don't narrow yourself down. One of the classic business examples are the railroads, they lost a chance to expand in the twentieth century because they misdefined themselves. They thought they were in the business of running trains on tracks. They didn't understand they were in the business of transporting goods and people. When trucks, buses, and highways grew, the railroads were left behind.
For example, Palo Alto Software is not in the business of software development. It is in the business of helping people do business plans by themselves, providing business know-how through software and documentation. The broader definition helps us understand what we're up to.
Customer Satisfaction
Leading experts in developing customer satisfaction look to a mission statement to define customer satisfaction goals. That goes for websites, too. Developing customer care programs depends on spreading the idea and importance within a company. That should normally start with a statement included in your mission statement.
Workplace Philosophy
Some mission statements also define internal goals, such as maintaining a creative work environment and building respect for diversity. Experts in employee relations look immediately to a mission statement for a definition of a company's stand on some of these fundamental issues.
Value-Based Marketing
Experts developed the value-based marketing framework to help companies understand their business better. This framework starts with a website's underlying value proposition, which states what benefits a business offers, to whom, and at what relative price level.
