You don’t need to have a mission statement, business plan, or core values to begin coaching or even start a business. At first, just focus on getting paying customers.

As your business grows, however, you should take the time to clearly define your business. A business plan can be presented to investors or a bank for financing, but its main purpose should simply be a written declaration of what your business is, what it is trying to accomplish, and who you are.

This isn’t marketing material. This is mainly internal documentation of how you genuinely see your business, what service you want it to provide, and how you want it to operate in the community.

It is easy to lose sight of this over-arching plan when dealing with the drudgery of daily work. These principles should serve as a reminder that reorients you when you are uncertain of what decision is best for you and your business.

There is no better time to complete these than over the holiday season—when work tends to lessen and you have the time to reflect on the past year and look forward to the next year.

Spend a few days developing these definitions. Once you have a draft, step away and allow the ideas to digest. You might show them to someone else you trust for a second opinion.

Below are some examples that Barbell Logic has created for its business. They may be a good starting point for you. Read through these, and think of where you agree with these statements, and where you might modify them for your goals.

Barbell Logic

Our Mission

We are professional strength and nutrition coaches giving the world access to personal coaching, educational resources, and opportunities to help others improve their quality of life through strength.

Our Vision

Redefining traditional personal training by delivering a superior experience of professional coaching through your smartphone to anyone, anywhere, any time, and at a fraction of the cost of traditional personal training.

We create connections for the world to experience a life improved by strength.

Core Tenets

Tenets are the underlying principles and beliefs that make us who we are.

• Serve our clients and support our staff
• Grow our company
• Teach the community
• Steward our resources

Core Values

Growth: As individuals and as a company, we believe in growth through setting goals, tracking progress, and demonstrating success.

Connection: Coaching is a window into people’s lives. We value authentic interactions and real relationships with everyone who trusts us enough to open it.

Consistency: Trust and consistency are at the heart of our professionalism. Every interaction is an opportunity to build trust, and we hold ourselves accountable to the expectations we set.

Core Principles

These are the experiences we try to provide to our clients:

1. To help you improve your quality of life by experiencing strength through voluntary hardship.
2. To meet you right where you are in your journey, and help you get measurably better each day through minimum effective dose changes and tracking PRs—because PRs matter.
3. Finding solutions to your struggles that are simple, hard, and effective.
4. Wowing you with world-class service, and personal, professional coaching.
5. Building trust along the way through our ability, integrity, and benevolence.
6. Coaching you with models informed by science, but applied practically to your real life and helping you find the right balance between the two.