One of the first things we did when we started our coffee shop was to define our core values. These were the ones we chose:
- Product quality
- Environmentally friendly
- Great client service
- Food Safety
Core values are the pillars that drive the strategy, actions and daily operation of your coffee shop. They allow to establish focus and priorities at foundational levels, and then help to stay on track during the livelihood of your coffee shop. These core values can reflect your own values as a coffee shop owner.
The following are 14 key advantages about having core values for your business
- It gives your business identity. Core values clearly shape who your coffee shop is and why it exists.
- It allows you to reflect your personal values on your business.
- It differentiates your coffee shop from competitors.
- It allows you to connect with other like minded business and customers.
- It can help you choose who to hire or not.
- It will influence the number and type of employees you have.
- It guides your employee’s actions and behaviors.
- It can help you source and choose suppliers.
- It can help you design the layout of your coffee shop.
- It will influence the type of social media content you create and the messages you communicate as a business.
- It will also determine what type of content you will not endorse.
- It can shape the type of events you develop at your coffee shop.
- It can influence the type of food you develop and the pricing point.
- It helps you stay on track for what you envisioned for your business at the foundational levels.
Follow along this post to further understand how defining core values influenced the strategy, decision making as well as management of our coffee shop daily operations.
We will discuss each of the core values for our coffee shop.
Environmentally friendly
First, we decided what we wanted our coffee shop to be about. It was in front of the park. Had lots of families visiting the area all the time. The park had beautiful trees, and the coffee shop was seen as an extension of the park.
Also, at home, we tried to avoid using plastic, we were recycling, and constantly thinking about what more we could do in terms of the environment.
So this was one of the things we would strive for: our coffee shop would avoid plastic at any cost. We would use only to recycle and environmentally friendly packages.
Also, we searched for soaps and disinfectants that were the best in terms of biodegradibility. These implied that we had to pay a little bit more for both items, but it was in our core values, there was no arguing about that.
First defining core values, and then taking decisions. Not the other way around. If cost was the main reason then environmentally sustainable packaging would not be the rout to take. This is why it is so important to define them from the very start.
Next, when the coffee shop started, we tried to sell water in glass bottles, instead of plastic. And we would avoid plastic altogether. Employees understood this.
So this way, it was evident that the core value we developed at the initial phase of the coffee shop was still present.
Great quality service
When we first read our core values to our employees, they did not seem to be very enthusiastic about them or did not seem to them to be very important. But as soon as we started we saw the benefits of having them.
For example, one of our employees was stressed about delivering food as fast as possible to clients. Sometimes this meant that food would not be hot enough, or sometimes even he served food first and afterward drinks. We sat down with him and said:
Is serving as fast as possible one of our core values?
No, he replied.
Exactly.
If you can serve fast without sacrificing customer service, then great. But you can not sacrifice customer service for serving fast, it is the other way around. We prefer for the customer to wait 10 minutes but have the drinks served first and great hot food afterward.
He started to understand and apply the concept.
This may be different for other coffee shops that are located perhaps in front of a busy street, and people pass by to their way to work. It this is the case, these people do need their coffee as fast as possible.
Probably, quality is of importance as well but on the same level or more as time. Time is the most precious thing in the morning on the way to work. So if this is your type of coffee shop, and this is your type of audience, time to serve may be a core value to establish.
Also, the level of service you define can influence how you attend your customer, and therefore the layout of your coffee shop.
For example, you may have a different layout if you decide to take orders at the counter or serve at the table, depending on the level of service you wish to provide to your customers.
High Product Quality
This was another of our core values. How did this help shape our strategy? It influenced the ingredients and suppliers we chose, the products we designed.
We wanted to serve quality food at a not so expensive price. We developed our whole menu around this concept, and discarded some ideas that were not in line.
It was the main reason for buying an espresso machine, even if it had to be a used one because we could not afford a new one. We had a big supplier offer us an automatic machine for free in exchange for a commitment to buy their coffee for an extended period of time.
Even though we were on a tight budget, this was against our core value of great quality products.
We wanted to serve really good coffee, and therefore we could not afford to stick with one type of coffee, and one we did not feel was the best quality, and also with a machine that did not deliver that great coffee, even if it was the easiest road in terms of our finances. Again, it was against our core business values.
Also, the quality of your products may influence how you relate to customers. For example, if serving high-quality coffee is one of your priorities you may decide to conduct cupping events. Where this would be contradictory or even weird if the quality of your coffee was not important.
Food Safety
This was the final core value that we discussed with our employees. Food hygiene would be our top priority.
We would use hygiene standards to clean our kitchen, and tables, wash our fruits and vegetables. We would make sure meals were prepared with clean hands and gloves, and we would buy not only detergent but sanitizers as well.
We made sure they knew the responsibility of serving food to people, were they are placing their safety in your hands.
To make sure that when you serve your customers your food, you could give them an extraordinary culinary experience, or you could make them sick if you did not take care of the hygiene.
And sticking to these core values was important. We even had to take disciplinary action with one employee when we saw one time that there was a deviation of our standard.
Food hygiene was simply a core value, priority, and a non-negotiable aspect of our business.
So, as said before, as coffee shop owners, it makes your job a lot easier when you define core values and stick to them. It also guides your employee’s actions. It can even define the influence or relation you have over your customers.
Also, it helps you remember what you envisioned for your business at the foundational levels. This is usually how you envision the true desires you have for your business. Having them in writing, read all the time, and remembered can make a huge difference.
We even developed our motto because of our coffee shops.
“Every customer counts, every coffee served, every sandwich served, each and everyone matters”
Del Parque Bistro
It derived from our core values, and still use them today.
I sincerely hope this inspires you to develop your own core values for your business.