The story of Starbucks™
It was 1985. Howard Schultz had a vision for a business startup he called, Starbucks™. Back then, it was simply another struggling small business and Howard was running out of time. In fact, he was turned down by more than 200 investors for business funding. They didn’t want to invest in Howard or his business startup. His father-in-law arrived for a visit. At the the time, Starbucks™ was struggling so much that Howard was working without pay. His wife Sheri was about to have their first child.
As Howard revealed to the Financial Times … “My father-in-law asked me to go for a walk. He says, “I don’t want to be disrespectful, but I want you to see the big picture I’m looking at. My daughter is 7 months pregnant and her husband doesn’t have a job, just a hobby. I want to ask you in a heartfelt way, with real respect, to get a job.”
“We went back to the house and I really believed it was going to be over,” he revealed later in interviews
He had Confidence. Business funding was tough because investors weren’t sold on his idea yet. But, Schultz had the confidence in himself and his idea to stay the course. He believed in the business and executed his plan and strategy. Have confidence. Execute your idea. Support. Schultz had a great wife. His wife Sheri had faith and confidence in Howard and Starbucks. Her reaction at that critical time was,
“No. We’re going to do it. We’ll raise the money.”
Persistence. It takes time and patience for any type of success to happen when you start your own business. It took time, but with hard work and persistence, Starbucks began to succeed. Eventually, he was able to turn a profit and build Starbucks™ from a struggling small business into one of the most iconic brands in the world. Today, Howard Schultz is one of the richest self-made men in the world worth over $2.1B It looks like his hobby paid off.
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