Something about this article really set me off:
Perhaps it was the line:
“We shut it down. We’re a family of five. We don’t have any partners or investors. It’s just us. We cannot afford to pour money into this location,” followed by “The Robertses said they couldn’t compete against an international giant.”
“Starbucks put me out of business” is the scapegoat of choice for coffee shops that suck(ed).
My comments submitted to the editor:
Excuses. As an advisor to the specialty coffee industry that assists independent retailers to compete with large chains and vice versa, I can tell you that Starbucks did not put this company out of business - some combination of bad business and bad coffee did.
All across America, we find that sales at well-run independent coffee retailers INCREASE when a Starbucks or other chain location opens nearby. Contrary to the popular perception that the bullies of corporate America are beating up on the proverbial “little guy,” new Starbucks locations act as a catalyst to educate consumers on what types of specialty coffee products are available and encourages them to become part of a daily routine. Proliferation of coffee shops in a small region fosters the development of cafe culture, substantially increasing the percentage of volume of coffee consumption by consumers. An independent coffee shop in direct competition with any chain then has the opportunity to draw on that new market with a substantially better tasting product and advantageous public persona (as you see in the comments above), to boot.
The independent coffee retailer must be more than a poor man’s Starbucks clone - unless you are serving a consistently outstanding products and have your business strategy clearly set, your business will fall short of its full potential, possibly beyond hope of profitability. Consumers buy from you because of what you do for them, not because they like you or feel some kind of community obligation to do so… that’s not “unfair” competition, it’s just competition.
For anyone out there considering playing the Starbucks get-out-of-blame-free card, I urge you to do your homework and run your business better. There are a myriad of resources available (look to the blogroll on your left), many of which are low-cost or even free. Learning how to improve your marketing, your brand, your product and even obtaining financing is no more than a few clicks on Amazon.com, trip to the public library or a phone call for some outside assistance away. You cannot expect to achieve better results from the “same old” way of doing things; you must continuously improve both yourself and your business if you wish to stay competitive or you too may become extinct at the hands of some invasive species.
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