Case Study: Coffee Shop in Seattle

While up in Seattle visiting friends and family, I stopped by a little coffee shop. Located on a busy street and next to a laundromat and in a good neighborhood, I decided to get my usual: a white chocolate mocha and a chocolate chip cookie. Now, usually when out and about I enjoy Starbucks coffee, but there was something about this coffee shop that made me want to go in. It was under new management.

The shop is small, hardly space enough for a display case and cash register to fit the width of the space. There was one woman working there, I had recognized her from a previous time I had stopped in, maybe six months to a year ago. I noticed a small sign by the cash register indicating that the rewards card program would end at the end of the month and that a new program would be rolled out soon. I inquired about it and found out a few things.

1. The woman working behind the register was the proud new owner of the coffee shop.

2. She decided to change the name, the rewards program, and the interior design of the shop.

3. She was previously an employee of the past owners who sold her the business.

4. Where is the “system” for the coffee shop?

The First Thought I Had When I Heard This

What business did she exactly buy? The space was not owned, only leased. She had changed the name, the logo, the identity of the coffee shop that the niche set of customers were accustomed to. So she valued the previous brand at zero and was starting from scratch, hoping that the customer base would support her efforts. The coffee machine may have been completely paid for. In other words, from what I could gather, it sounded like she bought the coffee machine and agreed to continue to lease the space, but everything else was going to change.

Being a holiday weekend, I asked if she was working the holiday. She laughed, smiled, and said that of course she had to work the holiday, she couldn’t get anyone else to work that day.

My Next Thought

This is a great example of a person having an “entrepreneurial seizure.” Michael Gerber describes that phrase as a technician who knows how to work “in the business” and not “on the business.” Sure, this woman knew how to make coffee and to work in the store. She was great at brewing coffee. However, when she became owner, her role didn’t shift as well. She was still working in the store. In fact, she took what little value the brand had and made it worth nothing.

What would a customer’s reaction be to such a change? For some, it may not have made a difference. They may have a relationship with the employees of the coffee shop and aren’t interested in the name or the brand. But for others, they may be brand-specific. They may have liked what the little coffee shop stood for, what it did for the community, and how it played a role within the community. To take that brand away and to put another in its place without a transition period to allow the community to adjust can make or break a small business.

There Was Something Missing

When she told me she was the owner of the shop, it brought a couple things into question. Where was the “coffee shop system” and how come it was not in place? In other words, we all know the system for a successful coffee shop, at least in creating  the coffee to the customers satisfaction quickly. That model has been shown and proven over and over again. Just visit any Starbucks and watch “the system” in action.

This coffee shop, albeit small and one of a kind, had no system. Without a system, of course the owner could not find someone to work. The worker wouldn’t have clear direction because there was no system to follow.

No matter how small a company is, a system is needed. The system shows where efficiency lacks. The system can show where profits are made. The system can allow the owner to step away from working “in the business”, plug in another employee, and focus working “on the business.”

Building Relationships with Brands

We all do it, whether we realize it or not. We all gravitate towards particular products made by certain companies that we are attracted to. Whether it is because it tastes good, feels good, brings us joy, we have those brands. That is the relationship that a company is looking for with its customers. This connection, above and beyond solving a problem, will bring repeat business.

When new management takes over a small business, changes everything about it, and expects the previous customers to stick around, there is a problem. Just as a company may introduce the next version of a product that doesn’t perform as well in the marketplace, a small business needs to be aware of its customers and the valued relationship it has with them. Business is people. Brands are personified. Whether it is a company of 1 or a company with 20,000 employees, the brand is personified and connects with people on all sorts of levels.

Will the Coffee Shop Make It?

As for the woman and her coffee shop, I hope she is able to build the brand that she wants and can continue to serve her regular customers. To me, she chose a hard route to build up the business. The previous business owners got a good deal as the only real asset of the company was the coffee machine. To her, the brand may have had little value to begin with, as she decided to give it a new personality.

As I got my coffee and cookie, I thanked her and put a tip in the tip jar.

What do you think of this story? Are you the proud owner of a struggling business? Did you buy a business from someone, only to reshape and re-brand it into something else?

Related Articles on Coffee Shops re-Branding

• Seattle’s Best Coffee getting new logo, expanding (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Caribou Coffee Rolls Out New Logo and Cup Design (shoppingblog.com)
• Three Tacoma Police Officers Open Forza Coffee Shop Near University of Washington Campus (prweb.com)