It wakes us up in the morning. Brings friends together. It’s even become its own subculture and a billion-dollar business.
I’m talking about coffee.
Once thought of as a West-Coast indulgence, coffee brands have changed our taste in beverages, shifted our culture and succeeded commercially.
Let’s learn what two pioneering coffee brands, Starbucks and Philz Coffee, can teach us about entrepreneurship:
1. Do something innovative of real value.
Starbucks has done this by offering one of the most successful rewards programs of all time and introducing an ingenious mobile payment system with the Mobile Order and Pay feature in their app. As the name implies, this feature allows customers to order and pay within the Starbucks app, then pick up their drink in the store, bypassing the line completely.
This accounts for 25 percent of their total transactions and is expected to rise. In this way, they have smartly combined their rewards program, their branded app, and an exclusive mobile payment system — a pioneering move in the retail and restaurant industries. Insiders in the mobile payment industry note the correlation between rewards programs and mobile payments, and cite Starbucks as a clear leader in this arena.
2. Create experiences, not just a product.
Whether it’s for a coffee date, a catch up with an old friend or even an interview, going to Starbucks or Philz is an experience, and entrepreneurship means understanding how to create a feeling, rather than simply sell a product. These two coffee titans have tapped into that by focusing on creating a community and positive experiences between people as a foundational piece of their businesses. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was inspired by Italian coffee culture and how they…