What’s a restaurant mission statement? Why do you need one?
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Any restaurant business should have a mission statement, whether Mexican or fine dining, Starbucks or McDonald’s. A solid mission statement clarifies your vision statement and offers a taste of your restaurant’s dining experience before diners set foot in your four walls. How else can you summarize your core values to potential customers and investors without losing their attention?
This article is a crash course on restaurant mission statements. We’ll define what a restaurant mission statement is and why you should have one. We’ll show you how to form your own mission statement and share some real-world examples for inspiration.
What is a restaurant mission statement?
A restaurant mission statement is a single sentence or short paragraph that explains why the restaurant exists. It is usually made up of the goals and values of the restaurant and may convey its unique selling proposition.
Your restaurant mission statement should convey the details of your vision, your ethics, and the influence you want to have on your local area or even internationally. All of this important information has to fit in a statement similar in length to a tweet!
Your mission statement should feature on your restaurant website. Some restaurants include the mission statement on their menu or the walls of their establishment.
Why should you have a restaurant mission statement?
Whether your operation is big or small, a mission statement matters. Your statement reflects what matters about your business now and the impact you hope to have. For example, your statement could focus on serving high-quality, delicious food while helping local farmers.
Mission statements suggest progress. They represent the loftiness of your ideas and often remind consumers of your humble beginnings, which can help create brand loyalty.
Restaurant mission statements are an imperative business decision, especially for those that want to branch out into other locations or even start a franchise. They don’t just tell the public what you’re all about. They also pass an important message on to your employees.
Your statement can guide new and existing team members on how you want your business to run. It will instill company values into your team and can be especially helpful when opening a new restaurant, knowing that all of your staff should be on the same page as you.
How to craft your restaurant mission statement
A strong mission statement requires restaurant owners to consider their restaurant’s values, goals, brand, and vision. It’s impossible to give exact instructions on how to create your restaurant mission statement because the language required will be unique to your place. But, here are some essential elements to consider when drafting your first restaurant mission statement:
- Restaurant vision: What are the dreams you have for your restaurant? Are you happy providing great food at affordable prices? Or do you want to become the best restaurant in your state?
- Your restaurant’s brand: How does your brand reflect the needs of your target audience? Can a part of your mission statement show how your restaurant stands out from the rest of the industry?
- Your restaurant’s goals: This doesn’t mean sharing monetary goals such as achieving higher turnover in the following financial year. Instead, you can show your customers that your ethics are the highest priority and are on par with the customer experience. It’s an excellent opportunity to show how you feel about issues such as sustainability.
- Your restaurant’s values: Show off what your restaurant standards are here, your unshakable core values. A mission statement should be as relevant in the future as it is now. So, make sure that your values represent your restaurant’s ethics throughout your career and beyond.
Writing a restaurant mission statement isn’t the easiest task, especially if you like to be busy on the front line managing your restaurant. You could employ the services of a copywriter to help you write your statement. Check out websites like LinkedIn or Fiverr to find professional writers.
Restaurant mission statement examples
There’s no better way to get inspired than looking at real-world examples of restaurant mission statements. Consider your local competition to see how they appeal to your shared audience. Who does a good job expressing company values while painting an enticing picture of the quality food and dining experience a customer can expect?
Large restaurant companies are another source of inspiration, having likely hired a professional copywriter to craft an exceptional mission statement that captures their ethos. Let’s check out mission statement examples from some of the giants of the restaurant industry to begin your online research:
“At Olive Garden, we want the experience of warmth and caring to extend beyond our restaurant walls and into every community where we live and serve. Our restaurants throughout the US and Canada are committed to giving back to their communities through a variety of local efforts, such as delivering meals in times of need and supporting local non-profits and organizations. Restaurants also participate in various company-wide community relations programs.”
“Our mission is to make delicious feel-good moments easy for everyone.
“This is how we uniquely feed and foster communities. We serve delicious food people feel good about eating, with convenient locations and hours and affordable prices, and by working hard to offer the speed, choice and personalization our customers expect. At our best, we don’t just serve food, we serve moments of feel-good, all with the lighthearted, unpretentious, welcoming, dependable personality consumers know and love.”
“Our mission remains the same as it has always been: To share the fresh ways of traditional Japanese cooking with the rest of the world. That’s exactly what you’ll find at every one of our locations: Meals cooked-to-order right in front of you. Fresh flavors. No added MSG. Quick, friendly service. We’re always striving to improve our quality and surprise you with meal choices that enliven your tastebuds. Thank you for sharing this experience with us.”
A statement in the right direction
A restaurant mission statement can help legitimize your position in the food service industry. It can demonstrate that you are forward-thinking and not just profit-driven because you care about the work your restaurant does for your local community and beyond.
Remember to consider your restaurant‘s vision, brand, goals, and values when crafting the first draft of your mission statement. Consider employing the assistance of a copywriter so that your statement can jump off the page. And research statements from other brands, especially your direct competition.
A restaurant with a mission statement is going places. As productivity increases, it’s important to remember that you can use software to make things run more smoothly. Yelp Guest Manager is a software solution that supports your team by handling reservations and waitlists, allowing customers to check themselves in, and more.
Restaurants that start using Yelp Guest Manager experience up to twice the traffic on their Yelp Business Page.* Get a demo to improve your front-of-house management today.