CC’s Core Values Series: Make the Next Person Successful

CC’s Core Values Series: Make the Next Person Successful

If you’ve been to our bakery-café before, you’ve likely noticed our staff members’ T-shirts proclaiming Creative Cakes’ core values. You might be thinking, “Jeeze. Get over yourself. Does a neighborhood bakery need core values? Somebody sure drank the Kool-Aid”. Well, yeah. We drank the Kool-Aid, but we still think every business should have core values. Why? Well, core values help you define who you are, and who you aren’t. Core values are the filter through which all decisions flow. It’s how we hire – and how we fire. If it’s not a core values fit, it doesn’t play at Creative Cakes Bakery & Café. Simple as that.

For those of you that haven’t seen our T-shirts, here are our core values:
• Make the Next Person Successful
• Go the Extra Mile
• Generate Positive Energy
• Act with Reputation in Mind

The first core value is Make the Next Person Successful. What does that statement mean, exactly? To Becky and I, sisters working from the same script, it means being mindful of the impact of our actions on others. As owners, core values started with us, but every single one of our employees thinks like this, too. In a nutshell, it’s servant leadership. It’s a conscious effort to make sure that the next person is “successful” when entering a space you have left. For example, here at the bakery, it means pre-folding bakery boxes for the morning crew or marking off cake layers on the baking inventory sheet for the bakers. At home, it means not leaving dirty dishes in the sink or changing the danged toilet paper roll. It’s about being service-minded. We are in the food service business, after all. If you can’t serve, you can’t hang here.

So, how does Make the Next Person Successful apply to our customers? Well, if you’ve ever ordered a cake from us, you might have been impressed with the level of customer service we provided during the process. That’s not accidental. We give great customer service because we truly want to get it right for you. What that means is actively listening to our customers – asking lots of questions, so that the cake we make for you is exactly what you had envisioned. When we’ve accomplished this, we’ve made the next person (you) successful at your event. That’s why this is a core value. It carries over to all aspects of our lives and all relationships. Whether it’s an interaction between our employees, our customers, or even our own families, it’s what we live and breathe. Make the Next Person Successful is at the core of who we are, as are all of our core values.

Next in the series: Go the Extra Mile