
The Entrepreneurial Attitude - palish
My girlfriend works at a little coffee shop called "It's a Grind".  Recently a Starbucks moved in right across the street.  The owner, John, tacked a letter up on the wall.  I thought it was so great and inspiring that I took a picture and decided to share it.  Here it is:<p>====<p>To: TEAM GRIND<p>From: John<p>Guys,<p>We have had a lot of questions from customers and friends about Starbucks going in across the street.  Here are some things you might share with customers, assuming that you agree with them:<p>1) Starbucks WILL be competition.  Will Starbucks get some of our business? -yes.  Will we get some of their business? -YES.  Our drinks taste better than theirs, our store is nicer and more comfortable and our staff is more friendly.  I get a lot of positive comments about our staff-it's doubtful that Starbucks does.  These things will keep us competitive in spite of Starbucks brand recognition.  An important thing to remember is that many people relate to locally owned businesses.  Large international companies like Starbucks have the bottom line (stock price) first in mind and a lot of people don't relate to that.<p>2) We are doing well with speed of service at the drive-thru.  This is important because Starbucks is good at that.  We need to make sure we keep it up and maybe get a little better.<p>3) Our regulars will stay with us-we have a great core of regular customers that know us and this is important.  Our core of customers will grow as the area grows.<p>4) Food-this will be key in differentiating us from Starbucks.  We are in the process of getting our menu set up.  This will be in place before the end of the month.<p>5) Every business that I've ever been involved with is competitive-that's the way life is.  People who put their tails between their legs and pout never succeed.  People with positive attitudes that stay focused almost always succeed.<p>6)  We will not only succeed but we will be thriving 2 years from now.  That's because we have a great crew, a superior product and competitive prices.  If somebody comes in whining-"You can't compete with Starbucks"-that's baloney and they have a loser attitude.  Keep your chin up and don't be afraid of competition!<p>John<p>====<p>One reason this is so great is because John is in his mid-50's.  Even at that age, he still has a startup mentality.<p>Another thing I like is he's rolling out new tactics and trying new things.<p>Don't be afraid of the competition guys!  Get things out there and make them work.
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jamesbritt
> One reason this is so great is because John is in his mid-50's. Even at that
> age, he still has a startup mentality.

Wow! Even at _that_ age? I'm surprised he's even still _alive_!

Seriously, this is a weird bit of bigotry. I'm mostly surprised when I see the
start-up mentality in _anybody_ ; it's rare in all age groups, not just the
AARP-ready.

~~~
byrneseyeview
It's rarer for old people, because they have more obligations and they're
better-informed.

~~~
run4yourlives
This is bullshit, plain and simple.

The only area this is even remotely demonstrable is in the tech sector. In
other areas, most entrepreneurs are in their mid to late 30's, even their
40's, and have families and obligations.

In fact, with boomers now able to leverage the equity in their homes, many of
them that have always had the desire are finally able to manifest it.

~~~
pg
If you disagree with something, just refute it.

~~~
run4yourlives
True enough.

It's just frustrating that something that has little evidence beyond the
anecdotal is taken as gospel.

We've got to remember that being involved in tech start-ups or being in
college tends means that our own experience is limited to that which we see
everyday, and isn't necessarily the norm.

For example: "A 2005 CGC study of 3,000 job seekers found that 13 percent
started their own businesses in the second quarter, up from 9.9 percent in the
same quarter a year ago. And of that group, 86.6 percent were over 40,
evidence that the next big wave of entrepreneurs may be seasoned workers, not
college dropouts in Silicon Valley with a breakthrough technology concept."
From here:
[http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/060403/3primet...](http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/060403/3primetime.htm)

And Here: "...last available government statistics on business startups
revealed that the average entrepreneur is white, male, aged 36," From Here:
[http://www.startups.co.uk/The_average_entrepreneur.YYB-B-
hoS...](http://www.startups.co.uk/The_average_entrepreneur.YYB-B-
hoS63Ijg.html)

And Here: "According to a Vanderbilt University study the number of
entrepreneurs age 45 to 64 will grow by 15 million by 2006. That"s compared to
a 4 million decline for entrepreneurs age 25 to 44." From:
[http://www.ez2find.info/entrepreneur/Small_Business_QA_Entre...](http://www.ez2find.info/entrepreneur/Small_Business_QA_Entrepreneurs_Just_Get_B.html)

Now, until we see statistics that suggest the failure rate is a lot lower for
younger entrepreneurs, the age question has obviously been blown out of
proportion based on a few opinions, valid as they may be.

~~~
sbraford
It's cool that you actually googled some stats.

But let's face it -- we're on news.ycombinator.com, where the majority of the
applicants and chosen entrepreneurs seem to be college kids or people in their
twenties. (with a few outliers?)

A large chunk of the general population thinks it's entrepreneurial to join up
with Amway, or do a consulting biz. (which it might be, just not what we're
talking about here)

~~~
run4yourlives
>But let's face it -- we're on news.ycombinator.com, where the majority of the
applicants and chosen entrepreneurs seem to be college kids or people in their
twenties. (with a few outliers?)

In other words: Don't let the facts get in the way of a good opinion! :-)

I get you, and believe me I agree, but as entrepreneurs, it's always good to
keep two things front and centre:

1\. We live as part of a much larger world. 2\. Our perceptions often lie to
us.

If I'm the only one preaching that, so be it. Perhaps it helps one lucky
person someday.

------
blored
The founder of Second Cup (a coffee chain in Canada) told us what happened
when a Starbucks opened across the street from a current Second Cup.

"The lady was furious. She had invested her entire life savings into the
Second Cup, put so much energy into getting her store off the ground, and now
when things were finally looking up, Starbucks moved in."

What ended up happening according to Sean O'Dea, the Professor giving us the
lecture, was that her Second Cup sales WENT UP 25%. The extra competition
somehow begot more coffee sales for both parties.

~~~
mechanical_fish
Makes sense:

When the line at Starbucks is long and yours is short, people come to you.

When people want variety, they come to you. I don't go to the same restaurant
in my neighborhood each time - I mix them up. People don't necessarily want
the same coffee every day.

Because there are coffee customers in the neighborhood that aren't already
yours, you have an audience for your specials and sales that is relatively
easy to reach. People won't go five blocks out of their way for a one-day, 20%
off sale on bagels, but they might go five feet.

Starbucks marketing is so much more effective than yours that they will
attract customers that you never could. Once they're in the neighborhood,
these customers are much more likely to come and taste your coffee - after
all, if your coffee sucks, they can always spit it out and go back over to
Starbucks. If your coffee doesn't suck, some of those customers will become
regulars. _Many people_ prefer local shops over chains... if the effort to
switch is low, and if you make it easy to switch back.

I remember reading that this is why specialty shops often tend to cluster in
specific districts of a city. You would intuitively think that the best spot
to open a new store is an underserved location far from existing shops . But,
in fact, you're often better off opening a store one block away from your
competitor, where there's some pre-existing traffic that is happy to do some
comparison shopping. I once talked to a computer store operator who had
deliberately set up shop across the parking lot from a new Micro Center, and
he told me the same thing.

~~~
jmzachary
To get my coffee fix, Starbucks is always the second choice. The only time I
drink that sewage is if I'm stuck in an airport. In Baton Rouge, there is a
local chain of coffee houses called CC's that serve much better brew. The mom-
and-pop shops do pretty well, too.

------
palish
Wow, guys. This is pretty disgusting. The first set of comments were really
interesting, then.. What? I'm a bigot? What by'view said was bullshit?
Wonderful. Grow up.

Yeah, maybe it was silly to call attention to the fact that he's approaching
60, but guess what? People get old. When they get older they get more and more
tired. So it's really great, even _inspirational_ , that he is still fighting
the good fight even though he's done this kind of thing his _whole life_.

Jeez.

------
sethg
We have a florist's shop a block away from our house, and another one farther
down the street. A year or two ago, a Kabloom opened up on the same block as
the local florist. The florist was pissed, partly because the Kabloom
franchisee had gotten a grant from a quasi-public agency that promotes
business development in our neighborhood.

I don't know if the local florist has gotten more or less business since
Kabloom showed up, but she's still _in_ business.

------
jdavid
In Milwaukee, WI on Brady st. there are 3 cafes within walking distance, a
Starbucks and two local establishments; Rochambo, and Anodyne. I find it odd,
and awesome that either of the local establishments have more business than
Starbucks does. In fact there is so much more business in these other two
cafes that a 3rd could probably still spring up and beat the Starbucks.

~~~
run4yourlives
Heh, in Vancouver BC, there are two Starbucks' kitty corner from each other.

Quite a sight actually.

------
jmzachary
at 50, john is way too old to have a startup mentality. he has kids, mortgage,
etc to worry about. didn't you read the other posts at this site?

~~~
edw519
Is this flame bait, or are you really that stupid? One key principle in
business is to assume nothing. Another is to never underestimate your
potential competition. You just violated both in one sentence. Oh wait, you're
too young to know any better.

~~~
jmzachary
Neither. It's called "sarcasm" and was meant to hint at the set of links that
typically appear on the front page related to the topic of age and
entrepreneurs. I apologize that you are so severely offended.

~~~
edw519
No need to apologize. I'm not offended. Just too old to know any better.

------
blored
_If you have the time, this is the most inspiration story I've read this
week..._

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children,
the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be
forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated
staff, he offered a question: "When not interfered with by outside influences,
everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn
things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do.
Where is the natural order of things in my son?"

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. "I believe that when a child like Shay, physically and
mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true
human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that
child."

Then he told the following story:

Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were
playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?" Shay's
father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their
team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it
would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be
accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting
much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, "We're
losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on
our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning."

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team
shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his
heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom
of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by
three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the
right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just
to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father
waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team
scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning
run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the
game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all
but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly,
much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the
other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in
a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The
first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a
few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in,
Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could
have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and
that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out
of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started
yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!" Never in his life had Shay ever
run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline,
wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" Catching his breath, Shay
awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.
By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball
... the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero
for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag,
but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the
ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base
deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, "Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay"

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by
turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third! Shay,
run to third!"

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on
their feet screaming, "Shay, run home! Run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on
the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game
for his team.

"That day", said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "the
boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this
world".

Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never
forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and
seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

~~~
kkim
<http://www.snopes.com/glurge/chush.asp>

~~~
jamongkad
You are such a wet blanket! ha ha

