Last Updated on February 19, 2021
In the past five years, we’ve learned through building ButcherBox that when you believe in what you do, your mission can grow from a solid foundation.
The initial motivation to start a monthly subscription-based company that delivered frozen meat to families across the country was to be able to provide access to grass-fed beef. Since then we’ve expanded to deliver other high-quality products such as pork, chicken, and seafood. Accompanying that growth was our embrace of a mission to Believe in Better.
Today, this belief continues to breathe life into all that we do as a company. It’s taken a life of its own, and with that has come five critical learnings that have led us to where we are today.
Have a mission
Work on something you believe in; we identified a need—getting more people across the country meat from farmers raising animals the right way—and we are striving to do just that. Knowing that we are working for a greater purpose makes everyone’s role at ButcherBox not just a job, but a mission to do better.
Create cultural values as early as possible
When things get hard, if you have values to lean on, your foundation won’t crack. Set out cultural values as early as possible and stick to them. Weave them throughout all your decision-making, especially how you hire, motivate, and retain employees.
Think and act like an owner
Put trust in your team to think and act like owners. Trust them to make decisions that allow them to do their job to the best of their ability. Know that it won’t always result in success, but that it will help them to learn and build leadership within the company
Consider your vendors and partners as part of the team
Over the past five years, our vendors and partners haven’t just been considered a “part of the company,” but they have become part of our lives and our culture. Relationships matter and those we’ve built with our vendors and partners have further strengthened our foundation.
Be unequivocally transparent
It has never been more important for companies to be transparent. We’ve instilled ‘transparency’ into our core approach to how we do things, and we get together as an entire company every week to review business updates. During these meetings, no question is off the table. It is important employees feel part of the team and are comfortable asking questions so they feel informed.
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When ButcherBox started, our goal was to provide families with food they could trust. As we’ve established that foundation, it has become clear that we also have a calling to make the system better for the animals, better for the farmers, better for the environment, better for the workers throughout our supply chain, and better for our members.
To be able to take on this mission of showing the world that food can be done better, we have a team of the most humble and hard-working people at ButcherBox who understand the importance of believing in better. It’s a noble mission, and I’m so excited to see what we achieve in the next five years.
Mike Salguero is the CEO and founder of ButcherBox.
