Every organization has a purpose, a reason for being, a mission. The mission statement is an enabling document that succinctly encapsulates the enterprise's purpose for existence and its current goals. The text, ideally one paragraph, may incorporate the moral/ethical position of the enterprise on certain issues; it may project a desired image to its employees and to the public; it may define the target market, and its products/services; and it may establish the geographic domain and expectations of growth and profitability for the enterprise. Whereas the vision statement represents a stable, long-term goal for your enterprise, your mission statement summarizes in narrative form the three or four most important goals for your enterprise during the next two or three years. Your mission statement should be dynamic and updated yearly as needed to adjust to changing conditions. The first task of employees within the enterprise who are evaluating any strategic decision should be to consider the intent of the current mission statement to make sure their decision is compatible and supportive. As you will learn in Steps 5, 6, and 7, your mission statement will be parsed and divided into supporting goals and readily achievable tasks. This exercise of defining goals and tasks helps to refine and improve the mission statement, and provide a simple, logical, defensible, and measurable way for achieving your mission. Examples of mission statements you might modify to suit your needs are: The mission of my BookWise independent on-line bookstore is to develop an index of reading preferences for retired people and “shut-ins” in my neighborhood, create and provide customized book suggestions for each of them, keep track of results and find ways to continually improve my on-line bookstore service. The mission of xyz on-line bookstore is to implement proven ways to promote literacy among young readers by sponsoring a monthly book group for parents and children with an accompanying movie or field trip about the book that helps turn the story into a positive experience for each participant. The mission of my on-line bookstore is to engage teen-agers in my city in reading from the “best books” that will help them each identify their natural gifts, talents, and abilities, and to enable them to share these gifts, talents, and abilities to assist those who are less fortunate.