When kicking off a new startup, most entrepreneurs put tons of time into creating the product and then obviously trying to find the best way to promote and sell the product – growth hacking. That’s all great, and those are integral aspects that must be researched in order for any business to try and reach its target market share. However, should today’s startups take into account aspects that certain corporations use? At the end of the day, the cultures we see at a startup in Silicon Valley are both similar and very different from those that we’ll see in downtown New York. It’s a question that we don’t have an answer to, but we definitely think that there is one corporation that startups should start trying to imitate – Starbucks.
Startups can learn everything from Starbucks, and it starts and ends with the way in which they carved out an identity for their coffee shops that went beyond the product – coffee.
Having a Mission and Values
To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.
Along with this mission statement, Starbucks has created their own line of unique values to help the entire team ensure that the mission is met. One of these values being: “Acting with courage, challenging the status quo and finding new ways to grow our company and each other“.
Let’s take a certain startup that has seen amazing growth for example – Uber. The company could stand to adapt a new mission statement and core values that could work hand in hand to help the company reach maximum profits. The company’s recent history shows that it is interested in using unethical and below-the-line tactics to gain an advantage on the competition. They do have a mission – take more cars off the street and stop hurting the environment. Unfortunately, we don’t feel that mission in their marketing.
Uber was an obvious pick, but more startups need to adapt a “family” system to help back the company. Is a mission statement and list of values a 100% guarantee that all unexpected PR fiascoes can be avoided? No it is not, however if taken seriously the mission and its values can help minimize that risk (and maybe make the consumer feel very welcomed).
Take Tinder, for example, that had to answer for a sexual harassment lawsuit from one of its own co-founders. Tinder is a major player in the dating world. Had they taken a stance early on to create a smarter and more “family” oriented mission statement with similar core values this could have been avoided. “Swiping right to find the one that matters more than everything”…that sounds like something they could have built around.
Know customers and employees
Successful startups that end up evolving into much more – corporations and businesses – do a pretty good job with this and hence they reach a stage of profit. However, for every one successful startup there are dozens of failures. A lot of those failing startups have nothing to do with a lack of not having the right product. On the contrary, many have good products, but there is a missing link.
Richard Branson shared the following with Entrepreneur:
First, the scientific evidence: Research released this month by the University of Warwick in Britain confirms that on average, happiness makes people 12 percent more productive. One of the researchers, Andrew Oswald, said in a press release: “Companies like Google have invested more in employee support and employee satisfaction has risen as a result. For Google, it rose by 37 percent; they know what they are talking about. Under scientifically controlled conditions, making workers happier really pays off.”
At Starbucks, being personal means that the barista knows the names and tastes of the customer, and it means creating a conversation.
Why keep customers happy? For the exact same reason as above, and add this: the work and money that goes into keeping an existing customer is less than that of attracting new ones. Bonus: the best marketing strategy is “word of mouth”. With happy customers that becomes a piece of cake.
Be Innovative
Startups are known for this small detail. It’s what has enabled Facebook, Air BnB, Dropbox, KickStarter, Lyft, and others to get to where they are today. However, those same startups and many others are adding innovation not only to the soup for their R&D departments, but also to the soup that the rest of the company is eating.
At starbucks, aside from innovation when it comes to new drinks, snacks, and other product (like The Clover® Brewing System), the team is thinking outside-of-the-box on other fronts:
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their mobile app is the most downloaded food and drink app in the industry
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digital tipping, shake to pay, mobile order and pay
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the Starbuck’s mobile truck
- talking race relations with customers
The company has chosen to be innovative as a whole, and new startups should too. Startups need to go beyond the product, and beyond current growth hacking to rethink how to better interact with customers and employees, while also doing the little things that will open the eye’s of the current or potential consumer so he/she can’t resist becoming part of the community.
Think about a regular coffee shop chain, and then think about what Starbucks has done. The difference is innovation.
Fit in the Region
If you walk into a Starbucks in the US and then walk into one in Mexico, or even London, odds are that you will get a different vibe. Those odds all come back to the culture that Starbucks has built around coffee. Starbucks failed before they succeeded with this concept. Israel, one of the more “western-minded” countries not located in the west does not have a Starbucks, but the company did try. The failure of this branch several years ago, coupled with other movements in other countries, like the UK, led the leadership and Starbucks to make sure that when entering a new location, they’d meet that location’s cultures and bring the Starbucks way along with it.
What does that mean for startups? It means that you don’t have to have the same site for all visitors. Some cultures are drawn to certain colors more than others, and entrepreneurs should use that to their advantage. Going to a tech-event in Asia? Bring products, and accessories that match the regions needs and wants. Ultimately, not every tech-lover or business owner in Asia or Europe has the same inner needs as their American counter parts.
Leadership
Plain and simple:
