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But I knew in my heart that if I was ever in a position where I could make a difference, I wouldn’t leave people behind.
People connect with Starbucks because they relate to what we stand for. It’s more than great coffee. It’s the romance of the coffee experience, the feeling of warmth and community people get in Starbucks stores. That tone is set by our baristas, who custom-make each espresso drink and explain the origins of different coffees. Some of them come to Starbucks with no more skills than my father had, yet they’re the ones who create the magic.
Because not everyone can take charge of his or her destiny, those who do rise to positions of authority have a responsibility to those whose daily work keeps the enterprise running, not only to steer the correct course but to make sure no one is left behind.
Starbucks resonates with people because it embraces this legacy. It draws strength from its own history and its ties to the more distant past. That’s what makes it more than a hot growth company or a 1990s fad. That’s what makes it sustainable.
In the fifteen years since then, I’ve often wondered: What would have happened had I just accepted his decision? Most people, when turned down for a job, just go away.
Similar scenarios have subsequently played out in my life, in other settings and with other issues. So many times, I’ve been told it can’t be done. Again and again, I’ve had to use every ounce of perseverance and persuasion I can summon to make things happen.
While the coffee was unquestionably the best it could be, the service sometimes came across as a little arrogant. That attitude grew out of the high degree of pride Starbucks had in the superiority of our coffee. Customers who relished in discovering new tastes and blends enjoyed discussing their newfound knowledge with our people, but I noticed that first-time customers occasionally felt ignorant or slighted.
Italians treat every detail of retail and food preparation with reverence and an insistence that nothing less than the best will do.
I agree with Branch Rickey. While bad luck, it’s true, may come out of the blue, good luck, it seems, comes to those who plan for it.
There is no more precious commodity than the relationship of trust and confidence a company has with its employees. If people believe management is not fairly sharing the rewards, they will feel alienated. Once they start distrusting management, the company’s future is compromised.
believe that the best way for an entrepreneur to maintain control is by performing well and pleasing shareholders, even if his or her stake is below 50 percent. That risk is far preferable to the danger of heavy debt, which can limit the possibilities for future growth and innovation.
It’s one thing to dream, but when the moment is right, you’ve got to be willing to leave what’s familiar and go out to find your own sound.
We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done. —HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, Kavanagh, 1849
Nobody ever accomplished anything by believing the naysayers. And few have done so by sticking to proven ideas in proven fields.
If you stop being the scrappy underdog, fighting against the odds, you risk the worst fate of all: mediocrity.
Unlike knowledge-based companies like Microsoft, retail businesses are highly capital intensive; when they expand rapidly with company-owned stores, they require repeated injections of funds for such expenses as build-out costs, inventory, and rents. Each time more money is raised, the founder’s stake diminishes. I could never have retained 50 percent ownership, as some software company executives did.
Any number of different factors can knock a company off its course in the period between its founder’s initial enthusiasm and the eventual returns. But passion is, and will always be, a necessary ingredient. Even the world’s best business plan won’t produce any return if it is not backed with passion and integrity.
He invested in me, not in my idea.
“It appears to me that people who succeed have an incredible drive to do something,” observes Ron. “They spend the energy to take the gamble. In this world, relatively few people are willing to take a large gamble.”
I had some of the same feelings during that year when I was raising capital, and I swore to myself that if I was ever in a position of being successful and approached by entrepreneurs asking me to invest, even if I thought they had the worst concocted concept, I would always be respectful of the entrepreneurial spirit.
In the course of the year I spent trying to raise money, I spoke to 242 people, and 217 of them said “no.”
Still, I never once believed, not ever, that my plan wasn’t going to work. I was truly convinced that the essence of the Italian espresso experience—the sense of community and artistry and the daily relationship with customers—was the key to getting Americans to learn to appreciate great coffee.
There’s a fine line between self-doubt and self-confidence, and it’s even possible to feel both emotions simultaneously. Back then, and often enough today, I could be overwhelmed with insecurities, and at the same time have an abundance of self-assurance and faith.
The best ideas are those that create a new mind-set or sense a need before others do, and it takes an astute investor to recognize an idea that not only is ahead of its time but also has long-term prospects.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. —MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
be sure to choose people who share your passion and commitment and goals. If you share your mission with like-minded souls, it will have a far greater impact.
son learned to crawl and walk. On my thirty-third birthday, they ordered a
You can never prepare for such events, but how you react to them is crucial. It is important to remember your values: Be bold, but be fair. Don’t give in. If others around you have integrity, too, you can prevail.
Every step of the way, I made it a point to underpromise and overdeliver. In the long run, that’s the only way to ensure security in any job.
1. Speak from my heart. 2. Put myself in their shoes. 3. Share the Big Dream with them.
We didn’t know it couldn’t be done, so we just did it.
Our competitive strategy was to win customers by offering the best coffee and customer service and an inviting atmosphere. We tried to be first in each market if we could, but then to succeed by playing fair, with integrity and high principles.
Oldenburg’s thesis is that people need informal public places where they can gather, put aside the concerns of work and home, relax, and talk. Germany’s beer gardens, England’s pubs, and French and Viennese cafés created this outlet in people’s lives, providing a neutral ground where all are equal and conversation is the main activity. America once had such spots, in its taverns, barber shops, and beauty parlors. But with suburbanization, they are vanishing, replaced by the self-containment of suburban homes.
It’s an ironic fact that, while retail and restaurant businesses live or die on customer service, their employees have among the lowest pay and worst benefits of any industry.
We had, in effect, given them a chance to create their own value.
If we linked everyone in Starbucks to the performance of the company as a whole, I told them, every employee would bring the same attitude to work as the CEO who is himself a shareholder.
Martin came into the human resources department, bearing a letter, signed by an overwhelming majority of the warehouse and roasting plant employees, indicating they no longer wished to be represented by the union. “You included us in the running of this business,” he said. “Whenever we complained, you fixed the problem. You trusted us, and now we trust you.”
I tried to make Starbucks the kind of company I wish my dad had worked for.
When you’re starting a business, whatever the size, it’s critically important to recognize that things are going to take longer and cost more money than you expect.
you’ll see examples of all the mistakes we didn’t make: companies that didn’t raise enough money to finance growth; companies that franchised too early and too widely; companies that lost control of quality; companies that didn’t invest in systems and processes; companies that hired inexperienced people, or the wrong people; companies that were so eager to grow that they picked the wrong real estate locations; companies that didn’t have the discipline to walk away from a site if they couldn’t make the economics work. All of them lost money, too; some are still doing so. But they didn’t use
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My relationship with the board took an unusual turn when I came to view them more as trusted advisers rather than as supervisors.
We never needed to take a vote. When one person disagreed strongly, we took the time to work it out and come up with an acceptable solution.
To any entrepreneur, I would offer this advice: Once you’ve figured out what you want to do, find someone who has done it before. Find not just talented executives but even more experienced entrepreneurs and businesspeople who can guide you.
And with the right mentor, don’t be afraid to expose your vulnerabilities. Admit you don’t know what you don’t know. When you acknowledge your weaknesses and ask for advice, you’ll be surprised how much others will help.
What I did to compensate, what every visionary entrepreneur needs to do, is find an executive who can build the infrastructure the company needs without sacrificing the need for innovation. But it has to be someone who also understands the value of unconventional thinking.
However warily, I began to recognize that in building discipline into a company, it’s possible to not only honor the creative process but also make it stronger and more dynamic. By strengthening the foundation and structure of the company, we can stop wasting time reacting to small problems and instead devote our attention and resources to new products and new ideas. With a clearer strategic direction, we can focus our creativity on issues that matter for Starbucks in the long term.
“Offense scores points; defense wins games.”
The efficiency of the back room is really what’s made Starbucks a financial success.
How did we deal with our consciences? We had to recognize that the customer was right. It was our responsibility to give people a choice.
To me, franchisees are middlemen who would stand between us and our customers.
