Pour Your Heart Into It–By Howard Schultz
I am sure you’ve spent some time in a Starbucks. But what is the backstory? Pour Your Heart Into It, written by Howard Schultz in 1997, is as much of a historical retrospective as it is a book full of business advice. He is one of my favorite CEOs and this book provides a lot of great insights and inspirational thoughts to keep you going.
Howard Schultz did not originally come up with the idea for Starbucks, but he played a crucial role in its development into a coffeehouse chain. Starbucks was founded in 1971 in Seattle, Washington and was only selling coffee beans and did not serve brewed coffee. Schultz joined Starbucks in 1982 as the director of retail operations and marketing. The pivotal moment for Schultz came in 1983, when he traveled to Italy and was inspired by Italian espresso bars. He had the vision that he could replicate the same thing in the United States. And as the saying goes, the rest is history.
The book is broken into three main sections:
Part 1: Re-Discovering Coffee
Part 2: Reinventing the Coffee Experience
Part 3: Renewing the Entrepreneurial Spirit
Each section takes you through Schultz’s journey to build one of the most recognizable brands in the world. His journey is full an “hard knocks” and great success stories. At one point when Starbucks needed investment capital, Schultz was told NO by over one hundred venture capital firms and potential investors. They said that coffee shop will never work in American, that is a cultural thing for Europe.
Along with the history of Starbucks, there are several important lessons for the small business owner to use. But first, check out this picture on the left. I took this picture when I was in Rome last, year. Can you imagine a group of Italians lining up to go into Starbucks for coffee!
Lesson #1: Authenticity matters. It is all about the quality of the coffee bean and providing the best coffee experience possible. This can apply to your product or service. Are you being authentic?
Lesson #2: You have to be persistent. Shultz had a vision he believed in and he stayed with it even when his partners only wanted to sell coffee beans and when investors said no. He stayed true to his vision. What is your vision? Are you sticking with it?
Lesson #3: Take care of the employees. Starbucks is famous for being way ahead of the curve in taking care of its employees. In fact, they are not called employees, they are partners. They were early adopter to provide health insurance and a pioneer to offer stock options to front line partners. What are you doing for your employees?
Lesson #4: Invest in the future. As the company grew, Shultz could see that new roasting facilities were needed to maintain the quality of the beans and keep up with the growth. More stores meant spending more money on technology and marketing. There were a few tough financial years but they were followed by exponential growth. How are you investing in the future?
Lesson #5: Hire smart people and give them the ball. As the CEO, you can’t do it all. Schultz knew this and hired strong marketing, IT and operations people to create the growth infrastructure for over 20,000 stores. Do you let your key employees run with the ball?
Lesson #6: It’s ok to revitalize your brand or product. After proving that the concept of a coffee shop was a winner, Schultz explored new products and new ways to sell them. Enter coffee extract that would be used in ice cream and ready to drink bottled beverages which were offered in thousands of supermarkets, C-stores, and almost everywhere. What’s next for your product or service?