Entrepreneurs
Why Howard Schultz Is So Successful

Howard Schultz is the American chairman and CEO of Starbucks. Although Schultz is most famous for his Coffee business, he was also the former owner of the Seattle SuperSonics and was on the board of directors at Square Inc.
Early Career
Schultz graduated from Northern Michigan University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and proceeded to gain employment as a Salesman, selling appliances for Hammerplast who sold European Coffee makers across the USA. In five years, Schultz had climbed the ladder to become director of sales and he observed that he was selling the most coffee makers to a small coffee business in Seattle, known at the time as Starbucks Coffee Tea and Spice Company. He was selling more to these few stores than he was to Macy’s.
Schultz knew he had to go to Seattle when the increase in numbers never stopped. He was selling more and more coffee makers to them every month. Schultz still fondly remembers the first time that he walked into the original Starbucks and at the time it was only 10 years old and only existed in Seattle.
Howard Schultz’s net worth is an estimated $2.6 Billion
Howard Schultz and modern Starbucks
In 1982, one year after meeting with the founders of the original Starbucks, Schultz took the position of director of retail operations and marketing for the rapidly growing coffee business. At this time, they were only selling coffee beans and not coffee to drink. Zev Siegl, one of Starbucks’ co-founders highlighted Shultz’s “fabulous communication skills” as a major strength.
Schultz was determined to have a big impact on the company from day one and made Starbucks’ mission his own. It was whilst travelling Italy in 1983 that an important idea struck him. He realised that Starbucks should not just sell coffee beans but sell coffee drinks as well. He recalls that it wasn’t just the romantic idea of coffee, it was the sense of community and the connection between the people, the coffee and one another. He couldn’t wait to get back to Seattle and describe how he had “seen the future”.
“I think if you’re an entrepreneur, you’ve got to dream big and then dream bigger.” – Howard Schultz
The company’s founders did not have the same enthusiasm for opening coffee bars within Starbucks’ stores and they insisted that it wasn’t for them. However, Schulz was persistent until the owners finally allowed him to open a coffee bar in a new store that was due to open in Seattle. It was an immediate success and it was attracting hundreds and hundreds of customers per day.
However, the rapid success of the coffee bar confirmed to the owners that they didn’t want to go in the same direction as Schultz and they didn’t want to get too big. A disappointed Schultz left Starbucks in 1985 to open a chain of coffee bars on his own, called Il Giornale and it quickly became successful.
“At an early age, my mother gave me this feeling that anything is possible, and I believe that.” – Howard Schultz
A couple of years later, Schultz was able to purchase Starbucks with the help of investors and merged Il Giornale with his former employers. He then became CEO and chairman of Starbucks, which was to be known as the Starbucks Coffee Company. Schultz had to use all of communication skills to bring investors around to the idea that Americans would pay high prices for a drink they were used to getting for 50 cents. At that time, most people weren’t aware of the differences between high quality coffee and the instant varieties, this was on top of the fact that coffee consumption was on the decline in the USA.
Schultz publicly resigned as Starbucks’ CEO in 2000, however, he returned as the company’s boss in 2008 and in 2009 he famously said, when describing Starbucks’ mission; “We’re not in the business of filling bellies; we’re in the business of filling souls.”
The Continued Success of the Starbucks Coffee Company
The growth of Starbucks has allowed Schultz to be ranked in Forbes magazine’s “Forbes 400” list, which highlights the 400 richest people in the USA.
There is no single company is selling more coffee to more people in more places than Starbucks. The company had expanded to include more than 17,600 stores in 39 countries all across the globe by 2012. By 2014, Starbucks had surpassed 21,000 stores with new stores reportedly opening every single day and the company now attracts in excess of 60 million customers per week.
Howard Schultz: 6 Habits of True Strategic Thinkers
Conclusion
Howard Schultz has combined incredible communication skills, persistence, strategic thinking and a clear vision to impact hundreds of millions of people’s lives and make himself a billionaire in the process.
Schultz’s story teaches us that although others may not share our vision, we have to remain true to what we believe is possible and pursue that vision anyway.
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How You Can Start Networking in Style in 2023
By investing your time and effort in networking, you will gain more business through the relationships you make

Are you completely new to networking?
Then this article is a great place to start. Networking isn’t hard on paper…you go along to online and in-person meetings, make new connections and build relationships, and those relationships lead to more work so you can grow your business! The challenge is that in reality, it isn’t quite so straightforward, as our emotions get involved and make things much tougher.
It’s incredibly common for nerves to creep in and to feel overwhelmed and apprehensive when it comes to networking – even when it isn’t new to you. But how can you become more successful at it, feel less self-conscious, and make networking work for you and your business?
Here’s a few tips to help you embrace every business networking opportunity you get, so you can grow your business and achieve your goals.
Rock up with confidence
If you want to keep those nerves at bay and ooze confidence at networking get-togethers, you’ll need to downplay it rather than seeing it as a big occasion. Try not to put pressure on yourself and see it as a casual meet-up with a bunch of people with similar goals to you. To help you relax in the run-up to the event, be sure to set achievable goals and expectations before you go.
Keep your chin up and your goals in mind – positivity is key. One easy goal for your first networking meeting is very simply to speak to one other person and see where the conversation goes. Introduce yourself and your business, but take the time to listen to their story, too. It’ll only take a few minutes and will be over before you know it, so it’s nothing to fear. You may even enjoy it and want to speak to a few more people, too!
Where to go networking
If you’ve never been networking before, it might not be very easy to find a group – but only because there’s so much choice and you don’t know where to start your search! Groups come in different sizes and styles, so it’s important to find one that suits you and your business. Informal, formal, big, small… the choice is yours.
For your first meeting, start small to ease yourself in – a big group could prove too daunting, and stop you from feeling comfortable enough to get involved. After all, you want to make a strong first impression!
If you’re wondering which group to opt for in the long-term, give a few a go! Get a feel for them, speak to as many people as you can, and see which one suits! You’ll know when a group feels right for you, and you can see where those all-important relationships are most likely to be built. If a group doesn’t feel like the right for you, give a different one a go.
Get more leads and referrals
This will happen for you, as long as you put the effort into building those relationships. If you take the time to get to know people, and then check in with them and support them, they’ll see you as a trustworthy and reliable contact who they can call on. And when they feel that way, those leads and referrals you’re looking for will come a-knocking.
Once you’ve made relationships with people who you trust, and they’ve had a positive experience working with you, you can even ask for referrals! But don’t rush this, as you don’t want to inadvertently push people away or try and force the relationship along too quickly.
When you do get an opportunity to work with someone you’ve met at a networking group, go above and beyond to offer more value than they’re expecting, as then, they’ll be much more likely recommend you and introduce you to more of their contacts!
Grow your business
By investing your time and effort in networking, you will gain more business through the relationships you make, and you will be able to grow your business.
We know that it’s not easy, going networking for the very first time. And that’s why we want to give you all the advice and tools that you need so you can walk in with confidence and make the most of the opportunity.
2023 is just around the corner, and you have the chance to make it the year you make networking work for your business. And the benefits could be incredibly amazing for your business, just like they have been for ours, and many business owners we have worked with over the years.
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