Johnnie – true story
Many years ago I had an opportunity to go
into business with a wealthy friend who had
money and wanted to diversify. He had a
successful food distribution business and felt that owning a good
coffee shop would help him present a certain image to his clients.We went a fair way down the road of looking at sites until I had an
enlightening conversation with him about how to manage staff.
His solution was to “shout at them until they get the message”.He also explained how impressive he felt it would be to sit and
have his meetings in the café and not pay for the food because
he “owned” it. Slowly and quietly he dropped the whole idea.
This is an utterly infuriating situation for employees and is
always doomed to failure. It may work if you are Peter
Stringfellow stuck in the corner of your nightclub but in the
general coffee business it is irritating for employees and
confusing for customers.32 .Wake up and smell the profit
Owning a coffee business isabout the money– it’s not about the
perks of free food or the ego of being an “owner”.
Have you ever had a boss or teacher who would say to you “do as I
say but not as I do”? Remember just how annoying and frustrating
that was? Well, put yourself in your employees’ shoes and always
make sure your philosophy is “do as I do”.