Saturday, November 28, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
45 Rules for Creating a Great Logo Design
1.Do not use more than three colors.
2.Get rid of everything that is not absolutely necessary.
3.Type must be easy enough for your grandma to read.
4.The logo must be recognizable.
5.Create a unique shape or layout for the logo.
6.Completely ignore what your parents and/or spouse think about the design.
7.Confirm that the logo looks appealing to more than just three (3)
individuals.
8.Do not combine elements from popular logos and claim it as original work.
9.Do not use clip-art under any circumstances.
10.The logo should look good in black and white.
11.Make sure that the logo is recognizable when inverted.
12.Make sure that the logo is recognizable when resized.
13.If the logo contains an icon or symbol, as well as text, place each so
that they complement one another.
14.Avoid recent logo design trends. Instead, make the logo look timeless.
15.Do not use special effects (including, but not limited to: gradients,
drop shadows, reflections, and light bursts).
16.Fit the logo into a square layout if possible, avoid obscure layouts.
17.Avoid intricate details.
18.Consider the different places and ways that the logo will be presented.
19.Invoke feelings of being bold and confident, never dull and weak.
20.Realize that you will not create a perfect logo.
21.Use sharp lines for sharp businesses, smooth lines for smooth businesses.
22.The logo must have some connection to what it is representing.
23.A photo does not make a logo.
24.You must surprise customers with presentation.
25.Do not use more than two fonts.
26.Each element of the logo needs to be aligned. Left, center, right, top,
or bottom.
27.The logo should look solid, with no trailing elements.
28.Know who is going to be looking at the logo before you think of ideas for
it.
29.Always choose function over innovation.
30.If the brand name is memorable, the brand name should be the logo.
31.The logo should be recognizable when mirrored.
32.Even large companies need small logos.
33.Everyone should like the logo design, not just the business that will use
it.
34.Create variations. The more variations, the more likely you are to get it
right.
35.The logo must look consistent across multiple platforms.
36.The logo must be easy to describe.
37.Do not use tag lines in the logo.
38.Sketch out ideas using paper and pencil before working on a computer.
39.Keep the design simple.
40.Do not use any "swoosh" or "globe"symbols.
41.The logo should not be distracting.
42.It should be honest in its representation.
43.The logo should be balanced visually.
44.Avoid bright, neon colors and dark, dull colors.
45.The logo must not break any of the above rules.
My source for this list can be found here http://is.gd/57WMB
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
My tweets and their sources
I was on twitter one day and I was thinking about how people know what to tweet. When I try to explain Twitter to people they always say "I wouldn't know what to tweet". So I thought I would write down a general Idea of where the inspiration for tweets come from. This is just 5 of my interests but it gives you a general Idea.
1) Interesting Business/entrepreneurial articles
Sources: Inc Magazine retweets, Success Magazine retweets,Openforum.com
2) Tech/Lifestyle stuff
Sources: engadget.com, boygeniusreport.com, lifehacker.com, wired.com
3) Fun stuff
Sources: interesting stuff while travelling,funny pictures, fun articles found at popurls.com, crazy stuff people say
4) Coffeestuff
Sources: "coffee" on google alerts, coffeecupnews.com, reporting on coffee tastings, SCAA.org, Trade magazines-Specialty Coffee Retailer, Fresh Cup, Tea and Coffee Trade Journal
5) Inspirational Quotes
Sources: quotegarden.com, Success Magazine, The Twitter accounts of @j_canfield, @tonyrobbins, @tomziglar, @Jairekrobbins, @marvintowler, @darrenhardy
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
A Veteran Experience
I had a great business trip to Texas and Florida this last week but the trip's highlight didn't happen until the very end. Last night, when our plane landed in Seattle, they announced that a Pearl Harbor survivor was seated in the very back. When the plane came to a stop we all stayed respectfully seated while this hero slowly made his way up to the front of the plane. When he got to the front door this older gentleman said a few words on the intercom. He quietly and emotionally talked about how proud he was to be an American citizen and he said to please pray for our men and woman risking their lives for our freedom. It was an amazing and moving experience, there was not a dry eye on the plane. God Bless and Happy Veterans Day everybody
Monday, October 19, 2009
Twitter: 72 hours of silence
I recently open my @coffeemaverick twitter account and to my horror the numbers for my following and my followers were both ZERO! Holy Cow, I just had 55,000 followers an hour ago. Where did they go? I literally had a sick feeling in my stomach. I quickly tried to refresh the page, nothing changed. My mind raced with thoughts like, “Will I ever get them back?” and, “These people are like my family!” Needless to say I was totally freaked out. This went on for 3 LONG days. This was 72 hours of having a lot to say and no one to say it too! As well as all of my “family” talking and me not be able to listen. It was weird; I actually felt lost. People were @replying me (that still worked) and saying, “Dude, what happened to your account?” I actually tons of support from everybody but nobody could get my tweeps back! Finally after a supportive @reply and subsequent emails from a well known Washington Tweeter who finally gave me a top secret twitter email address, I had my solution. I emailed the person and POOF! Instant gratification. I constantly refreshed my screen as my numbers come back one by one. There I was like a kid at Christmas staring intently as my followers and following numbers returned to their rightful place. As I am reading this post back to my self it sounds extremely dramatic. But in reality it wasn’t life and death, it is just twitter. But Twitter has become an important part of my business and personal life. It just has to be put into perspective like anything else. This month marks one year that I have been using Twitter regularly and it sure has been fun.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Update from Nicaragua
I recently took a trip to Nicaragua with our Director of Coffee; Phil Beattie and Dillanos' Vice President; Keith Hayward. Here is a Berdahedda version of Phil's update of our time there. Enjoy!
Greetings from Nicaragua!It has been a great time here at Let’s Talk Coffee in Montelimar, Nicaragua. It is extremely hot and humid here, the temperature and humidity are in the upper 90’s. The meetings have been going very good and the educational sessions have been top notch. The lectures have been a good mix of content that is applicable both to the roasters as well as to the coffee producers who make up the vast majority of the over 300 people attending.
Sustainable Harvest’s staff always does an amazing job of putting together an action packed weekend full of opportunities for networking, learning, and of course...talking coffee.We have seen presentations on subjects such as the history of espresso, agro-economics, coffee and your health, and traceability and technology in coffee. But, as in past years, the real value of Let’s Talk Coffee comes not from the lectures but from the opportunity to meet with producers, exporters, and non-profits from around the globe. This event always presents the best opportunity to get the pulse of the industry from a global perspective.On day one of the event David, Keith and I met with representatives of Kanyovu who made the long trip from Tanzania to Nicaragua to meet with us and discuss the successes and challenges of the past year. Because of cultural situations and the size of the cooperative in Kanyovu it has been difficult to find the path to the next level, but Sustainable Harvest’s staffers continue to make steady progress towards higher quality and traceability. The successes have been huge over the past years with huge jumps in cup score and consistency of the coffee. One challenge that we are addressing this year with the Kanyovu coffee is the rapid aging of the coffee do to fluctuations of temperature and humidity during the long journey that the coffee takes from eastern Tanzania to Seattle.
The long journey takes the coffee across the arid central area of Tanzania where temperatures soar well above 100 degrees inside of the container, then once loaded onto a boat in Dar es Salaam (which may take weeks) the coffee travels South around the horn of Africa where temperatures can drop to nearly freezing. Finally the coffee arrives in New York and makes the long railroad trip to Seattle. The extreme journey puts stress on the beans that begins to show in the flavor after around 8 to 10 months. This year in order to extend the life of the green coffee we are having the burlap sacks lined with a material called grain-pro. This material, that was developed to maintain the integrity of grains, is breathable but maintains a constant humidity and reduces the fluctuations of temperature within the bag. Studies have shown this lining to be very effective and we can’t wait to see how it works for us.We also met with a group of indigenous farmers from Colombia that are members of a cooperative called Tierradentro which translated means “the deep land” as in deep in the jungle. I cupped this coffee a few weeks ago at the Sustainable Harvest offices in Portland and was immediately impressed with the This group of 280 indigenous farmers grow a really spectacular organic coffee on the border of the Cauca and Huila regions in southern Colombia. They have done an amazing job of maintaining the integrity of their culture while integrating modern technology to trace each bag back to the individual farmer. This could be a great addition to the One Harvest line of coffees.
On day two we met with the remainder of our One Harvest producers, starting with the Chacons from Las Lajas. As usual, the meeting with the Chacons was a lovefest. The main focus of this meeting was planning for an upcoming trip in the beginning of January. We are going to be bringing a small group of our customers to Costa Rica to visit the farm there. They will spend some time harvesting coffee, touring the farm, visiting the beneficio (wet mill) and we will also be visiting a large commercial mill so that they can see the contrast. They also let us know that interest rates in Costa Rica have been rising. If you’re not familiar with how farmers finance themselves, at the beginning of the year they take a loan that will pay for fertilizer inputs, harvesting labor, and the cost of running the mill. For a farm the size of Las Lajas this loan adds up to around $100,000 dollars per year, this year the interest rate that they will be paying for that loan will be 20%! That means that it actually only costs them around $80,000 to grow and ship the coffee but they have to pay the bank $20,000...this is the struggle of a coffee farmer.
When I return we will be brainstorming on ways that Dillanos might be able to help them receive a more reasonable interest rate.Following the Las Lajas meeting we had a chance to sit down with Ramon the Managing Director and Jesus the President of the Rio Azul Cooperative in Guatemala. It was great to see them again, it has been nearly two years since I was able to meet face to face with them as visa issues kept them from attending last years Let’s Talk Coffee.
Their cooperative is still utilizing the original medical grant that we extended them, apparently they are either a very healthy group of people or they are being very conservative with how they use the funds. Most likely I will be making a trip to see them next year in an effort to meet with a large group of grower members to maintain the relationship. We will also be looking into how we can develop more effective fertilizer processes with them as this is the major obstacle that is preventing them from transitioning more of their coffee to organic.
Once again Let’s Talk Coffee was a huge success and continues to be a breeding ground for innovative ideas that will continue to keep our company competitive in an ever changing industry.
Greetings from Nicaragua!It has been a great time here at Let’s Talk Coffee in Montelimar, Nicaragua. It is extremely hot and humid here, the temperature and humidity are in the upper 90’s. The meetings have been going very good and the educational sessions have been top notch. The lectures have been a good mix of content that is applicable both to the roasters as well as to the coffee producers who make up the vast majority of the over 300 people attending.
Sustainable Harvest’s staff always does an amazing job of putting together an action packed weekend full of opportunities for networking, learning, and of course...talking coffee.We have seen presentations on subjects such as the history of espresso, agro-economics, coffee and your health, and traceability and technology in coffee. But, as in past years, the real value of Let’s Talk Coffee comes not from the lectures but from the opportunity to meet with producers, exporters, and non-profits from around the globe. This event always presents the best opportunity to get the pulse of the industry from a global perspective.On day one of the event David, Keith and I met with representatives of Kanyovu who made the long trip from Tanzania to Nicaragua to meet with us and discuss the successes and challenges of the past year. Because of cultural situations and the size of the cooperative in Kanyovu it has been difficult to find the path to the next level, but Sustainable Harvest’s staffers continue to make steady progress towards higher quality and traceability. The successes have been huge over the past years with huge jumps in cup score and consistency of the coffee. One challenge that we are addressing this year with the Kanyovu coffee is the rapid aging of the coffee do to fluctuations of temperature and humidity during the long journey that the coffee takes from eastern Tanzania to Seattle.
The long journey takes the coffee across the arid central area of Tanzania where temperatures soar well above 100 degrees inside of the container, then once loaded onto a boat in Dar es Salaam (which may take weeks) the coffee travels South around the horn of Africa where temperatures can drop to nearly freezing. Finally the coffee arrives in New York and makes the long railroad trip to Seattle. The extreme journey puts stress on the beans that begins to show in the flavor after around 8 to 10 months. This year in order to extend the life of the green coffee we are having the burlap sacks lined with a material called grain-pro. This material, that was developed to maintain the integrity of grains, is breathable but maintains a constant humidity and reduces the fluctuations of temperature within the bag. Studies have shown this lining to be very effective and we can’t wait to see how it works for us.We also met with a group of indigenous farmers from Colombia that are members of a cooperative called Tierradentro which translated means “the deep land” as in deep in the jungle. I cupped this coffee a few weeks ago at the Sustainable Harvest offices in Portland and was immediately impressed with the This group of 280 indigenous farmers grow a really spectacular organic coffee on the border of the Cauca and Huila regions in southern Colombia. They have done an amazing job of maintaining the integrity of their culture while integrating modern technology to trace each bag back to the individual farmer. This could be a great addition to the One Harvest line of coffees.
On day two we met with the remainder of our One Harvest producers, starting with the Chacons from Las Lajas. As usual, the meeting with the Chacons was a lovefest. The main focus of this meeting was planning for an upcoming trip in the beginning of January. We are going to be bringing a small group of our customers to Costa Rica to visit the farm there. They will spend some time harvesting coffee, touring the farm, visiting the beneficio (wet mill) and we will also be visiting a large commercial mill so that they can see the contrast. They also let us know that interest rates in Costa Rica have been rising. If you’re not familiar with how farmers finance themselves, at the beginning of the year they take a loan that will pay for fertilizer inputs, harvesting labor, and the cost of running the mill. For a farm the size of Las Lajas this loan adds up to around $100,000 dollars per year, this year the interest rate that they will be paying for that loan will be 20%! That means that it actually only costs them around $80,000 to grow and ship the coffee but they have to pay the bank $20,000...this is the struggle of a coffee farmer.
When I return we will be brainstorming on ways that Dillanos might be able to help them receive a more reasonable interest rate.Following the Las Lajas meeting we had a chance to sit down with Ramon the Managing Director and Jesus the President of the Rio Azul Cooperative in Guatemala. It was great to see them again, it has been nearly two years since I was able to meet face to face with them as visa issues kept them from attending last years Let’s Talk Coffee.
Their cooperative is still utilizing the original medical grant that we extended them, apparently they are either a very healthy group of people or they are being very conservative with how they use the funds. Most likely I will be making a trip to see them next year in an effort to meet with a large group of grower members to maintain the relationship. We will also be looking into how we can develop more effective fertilizer processes with them as this is the major obstacle that is preventing them from transitioning more of their coffee to organic.
Once again Let’s Talk Coffee was a huge success and continues to be a breeding ground for innovative ideas that will continue to keep our company competitive in an ever changing industry.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Recent Q: and A:
I thought I would post a recent Q: and A: I did for a busienss priodical to give you some insight into what we do:
Tell us a little about yourself. Why Sumner? Why coffee? Why are you in Sumner roasting coffee?
When I was younger I was a professional bicycle stunt performer and although I had worked my way to the top, eventually becoming a freestyle pro, that industry was still growing and it just wasn’t an occupation I could do forever. When that
wrapped up I was either going to open a specialty bike shop or get into the coffee business. I had family members suggesting the idea and I was noticing the industry just starting to really grow and its potential to me was exciting. So, I borrowed some money from Howard Heyer (my step-father) and started up Dillanos (named after my son Dillon) as an espresso cart in front of the Sunshine Mart in Bonney Lake, which belonged to Howard. Within a couple of quick years my brother Chris Heyer became a partner and we had evolved into multiple retail locations and also began the biggest thing for our company’s future; roasting coffee for ourselves and to sell wholesale to other espresso bar retailers.
Although our roots were in Bonney Lake, we strategically chose Sumner as our home because of its ideal location for servicing our customers regionally. Its uniquely between Seattle and Tacoma and makes customer interaction, assistance and participation much easier. We are very proud of our staff and roasting faciltity and encourage all of our customers to visit anytime.
Talk a bit about your original vision for the company and how does that compares to where it is now?
When the company first started we were focused on building a wholesale presence for our brand locally and were looking to gain more participation in the industry as a whole through trade shows like Coffee Fest. The overall vision and real roots of how we work and live both then and now though are all in our company mission statement; Help People, Make Friends and Have Fun! Sounds simple but these words have guided our growth and made the right impressions and have surrounded us with great employees and customers for all of these years. It’s something we truly live by.
What made the difference?
Two main things have really gone into what we feel made the big difference; customer assistance and company culture. The biggest difference we make for our customers is how we treat, support and assist them in their own growth and success. We differentiate ourselves intentionally, we want our business building help and assistance to be and stay as a real and tangible benefit for everyone we help.
Our company culture is paramount to us and something we carefully nurture and protect. We have even written and published a book called Brewing a Creative Culture that is mandatory reading for all new employees. It was actually written by members of our staff representing all levels and departments from the company and each chapter explains in their words why we do what we do.
How has the company evolved into its various branches and why structure the company that way?
For diversification we have expanded into commercial real estate, retail coffee ventures and several other business interests. But, even at Dillanos we have gone through many organizational changes in our company structure and have worked very hard and finding the best people with the strongest skills that can represent both the company culture and specific skills needed for their job. From the top down. We are all still active in the company growth and development and have found ourselves in company roles that best represent our strongest individual skill sets. Howard is our Chairman of the Board, Chris acts as President and has a strong focus and influence on the operations and company systems and I act as CEO and tend to focus more on the company vision, growth, marketing and sales. Keith Hayward is our Executive Vice President; he oversees all overall aspects of the company by working with our four company directors who each represent a specific part of the company. Rand Hill is our CFO, Jeff Woods our Director of Sales, Mark Ireland our Director of Operations and Phil Beattie our Director of Coffee.
How has the company's annual revenue and sales changed during the years since it was founded?
We have been very fortunate to have such a great balance of strengths between Howard, Chris and myself to manage change and growth and finances especially in the early years. We have always worked hard to keep the company and revenues strong and constantly growing. In the beginning our growth was around 100% for many years and although those numbers and percentages can’t really be sustained as you get bigger and bigger, we still typically grow around 15-25% each year.
How has the recession affected your operations and the industry in general?
The recession has made and impact on our business there is no doubt. Our customer same store sales have dropped anywhere between 5-15% as a reflection of consumer spending dipping down as people try to balance what they find as discretional spending. These numbers are already going back up, even in these tougher times specialty coffee is an affordable luxury that people like to treat themselves to. We have had to make up these dips by gaining new customers, it turns out there are a lot of businesses out there that haven’t had the type of help that was needed; it’s a good and welcome fit for us. Operationally we have made many adjustments to our business because of the economy but the changes have to do more with changing what we offer to our customers and building new programs to help them keep their businesses strong and viable as things improve. We want to help them in every way we can so we care share in their individual success.
What lessons have you learned during the downturn in the general economy?
1) Keeping morale in the company is a high priority so our employees and staff feel supported and safe.
2) Our customers depend on our participation and assistance to help keep their businesses growing. Our assistance and growth programs for store operations, employee training, branding and marketing have become a key ingredient. Showing real value has kept our customers more confident and loyal.
What did you learn during your career that you wish you’d known in the beginning?
Wow, that is a tough question, we have always been pretty good at knowing when someone else in the family or company could handle something better or be more suitable for a certain task, we all have our strengths and talents. I wish I would have known how absolutely important it was to show the benefits of a strong partnership with our customers. There was no template for us to follow, this is a young industry and although we do specialize in helping our customers realizing the level of interaction that could really be would have been great. We know now that it’s all about relationships and a real partnership with each customer that brings success.
What is the most surprising thing you have learned in your career?
I always knew what big potential the coffee industry had, but to look back now at its massive growth and evolution it is amazing. You can’t be afraid of growth, you need to be open to change whenever possible participate at the highest levels you can so that you may have your own influence in the growth as well. The need for flexibility and creativity are huge and they will lead you to success, while rigidity and traditionalism can easily lead to collapse. Flexibility means approaching each new challenge and each new evolution of our company without putting our decisions under the burden of strict traditional management and business tactics. I am excited to have such great and supportive partners with Howard and Chris and to be part of such a young and constantly developing company and industry.
If you had it to do over, what would you do differently?
Looking back, the one thing that really could have benefited us better was starting off immediately with having actual and current budget meetings to help us guide our spending and balance throughout our growth. But in retrospect, the lessons we have learned from our mistakes have laid the foundation for all of our successes.
What does the future of coffee and coffee roasting hold? Are there still opportunities in the marketplace or is the industry saturated?
The industry is still growing strong and is far from being saturated. There are many opportunities for people to do something really big in the industry, the cost
of entry and level of participation in individual growth does need a lot of focus as competition is pretty strong. Differentiation and quality will be key. What you will see is a lot more consolidation between brands, especially nationally. A stronger focus on high end quality coffee or third wave movement, businesses will become more connected to the community and social interaction. We all think that you will also see a big push and growth through the newer trends of marketing, advertisement and connection by social networking tools. Exciting stuff.
What else should South Sound businesses know about you and your company?
We have had some great successes and its been amazing watching our company develop into what it is now. All this excitement, growth and success is a direct result of the employees and family I get to work with daily. It’s every single step in the process of helping our customers that makes you successful. If you truly care for your employees, they will make every step matter. Then we all share in the success.
Tell us a little about yourself. Why Sumner? Why coffee? Why are you in Sumner roasting coffee?
When I was younger I was a professional bicycle stunt performer and although I had worked my way to the top, eventually becoming a freestyle pro, that industry was still growing and it just wasn’t an occupation I could do forever. When that
wrapped up I was either going to open a specialty bike shop or get into the coffee business. I had family members suggesting the idea and I was noticing the industry just starting to really grow and its potential to me was exciting. So, I borrowed some money from Howard Heyer (my step-father) and started up Dillanos (named after my son Dillon) as an espresso cart in front of the Sunshine Mart in Bonney Lake, which belonged to Howard. Within a couple of quick years my brother Chris Heyer became a partner and we had evolved into multiple retail locations and also began the biggest thing for our company’s future; roasting coffee for ourselves and to sell wholesale to other espresso bar retailers.Although our roots were in Bonney Lake, we strategically chose Sumner as our home because of its ideal location for servicing our customers regionally. Its uniquely between Seattle and Tacoma and makes customer interaction, assistance and participation much easier. We are very proud of our staff and roasting faciltity and encourage all of our customers to visit anytime.
Talk a bit about your original vision for the company and how does that compares to where it is now?
When the company first started we were focused on building a wholesale presence for our brand locally and were looking to gain more participation in the industry as a whole through trade shows like Coffee Fest. The overall vision and real roots of how we work and live both then and now though are all in our company mission statement; Help People, Make Friends and Have Fun! Sounds simple but these words have guided our growth and made the right impressions and have surrounded us with great employees and customers for all of these years. It’s something we truly live by.
What made the difference?
Two main things have really gone into what we feel made the big difference; customer assistance and company culture. The biggest difference we make for our customers is how we treat, support and assist them in their own growth and success. We differentiate ourselves intentionally, we want our business building help and assistance to be and stay as a real and tangible benefit for everyone we help.
Our company culture is paramount to us and something we carefully nurture and protect. We have even written and published a book called Brewing a Creative Culture that is mandatory reading for all new employees. It was actually written by members of our staff representing all levels and departments from the company and each chapter explains in their words why we do what we do.
How has the company evolved into its various branches and why structure the company that way?
For diversification we have expanded into commercial real estate, retail coffee ventures and several other business interests. But, even at Dillanos we have gone through many organizational changes in our company structure and have worked very hard and finding the best people with the strongest skills that can represent both the company culture and specific skills needed for their job. From the top down. We are all still active in the company growth and development and have found ourselves in company roles that best represent our strongest individual skill sets. Howard is our Chairman of the Board, Chris acts as President and has a strong focus and influence on the operations and company systems and I act as CEO and tend to focus more on the company vision, growth, marketing and sales. Keith Hayward is our Executive Vice President; he oversees all overall aspects of the company by working with our four company directors who each represent a specific part of the company. Rand Hill is our CFO, Jeff Woods our Director of Sales, Mark Ireland our Director of Operations and Phil Beattie our Director of Coffee.
How has the company's annual revenue and sales changed during the years since it was founded?
We have been very fortunate to have such a great balance of strengths between Howard, Chris and myself to manage change and growth and finances especially in the early years. We have always worked hard to keep the company and revenues strong and constantly growing. In the beginning our growth was around 100% for many years and although those numbers and percentages can’t really be sustained as you get bigger and bigger, we still typically grow around 15-25% each year.
How has the recession affected your operations and the industry in general?
The recession has made and impact on our business there is no doubt. Our customer same store sales have dropped anywhere between 5-15% as a reflection of consumer spending dipping down as people try to balance what they find as discretional spending. These numbers are already going back up, even in these tougher times specialty coffee is an affordable luxury that people like to treat themselves to. We have had to make up these dips by gaining new customers, it turns out there are a lot of businesses out there that haven’t had the type of help that was needed; it’s a good and welcome fit for us. Operationally we have made many adjustments to our business because of the economy but the changes have to do more with changing what we offer to our customers and building new programs to help them keep their businesses strong and viable as things improve. We want to help them in every way we can so we care share in their individual success.
What lessons have you learned during the downturn in the general economy?
1) Keeping morale in the company is a high priority so our employees and staff feel supported and safe.
2) Our customers depend on our participation and assistance to help keep their businesses growing. Our assistance and growth programs for store operations, employee training, branding and marketing have become a key ingredient. Showing real value has kept our customers more confident and loyal.
What did you learn during your career that you wish you’d known in the beginning?
Wow, that is a tough question, we have always been pretty good at knowing when someone else in the family or company could handle something better or be more suitable for a certain task, we all have our strengths and talents. I wish I would have known how absolutely important it was to show the benefits of a strong partnership with our customers. There was no template for us to follow, this is a young industry and although we do specialize in helping our customers realizing the level of interaction that could really be would have been great. We know now that it’s all about relationships and a real partnership with each customer that brings success.
What is the most surprising thing you have learned in your career?
I always knew what big potential the coffee industry had, but to look back now at its massive growth and evolution it is amazing. You can’t be afraid of growth, you need to be open to change whenever possible participate at the highest levels you can so that you may have your own influence in the growth as well. The need for flexibility and creativity are huge and they will lead you to success, while rigidity and traditionalism can easily lead to collapse. Flexibility means approaching each new challenge and each new evolution of our company without putting our decisions under the burden of strict traditional management and business tactics. I am excited to have such great and supportive partners with Howard and Chris and to be part of such a young and constantly developing company and industry.
If you had it to do over, what would you do differently?
Looking back, the one thing that really could have benefited us better was starting off immediately with having actual and current budget meetings to help us guide our spending and balance throughout our growth. But in retrospect, the lessons we have learned from our mistakes have laid the foundation for all of our successes.
What does the future of coffee and coffee roasting hold? Are there still opportunities in the marketplace or is the industry saturated?
The industry is still growing strong and is far from being saturated. There are many opportunities for people to do something really big in the industry, the cost
of entry and level of participation in individual growth does need a lot of focus as competition is pretty strong. Differentiation and quality will be key. What you will see is a lot more consolidation between brands, especially nationally. A stronger focus on high end quality coffee or third wave movement, businesses will become more connected to the community and social interaction. We all think that you will also see a big push and growth through the newer trends of marketing, advertisement and connection by social networking tools. Exciting stuff. What else should South Sound businesses know about you and your company?
We have had some great successes and its been amazing watching our company develop into what it is now. All this excitement, growth and success is a direct result of the employees and family I get to work with daily. It’s every single step in the process of helping our customers that makes you successful. If you truly care for your employees, they will make every step matter. Then we all share in the success.
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