Whale of A Good Time

Howard did …

Howard was the general manager for a company selling stylish kitchenware … one day, he noticed that a tiny retail store in Washington state was buying more of a certain product than Macy’s, one of the largest department stores in the country. He wanted to find out why.

The tiny store was run by three passionate academics who had named it after a character in the famous novel Moby Dick … Howard was amazed and before he got home decided he wanted to be part of the operation.

It was not an easy sell however … It took Howard over a year but he finally won the owners over.

After learning everything he could and helping expand the chain, he suggested maybe a change in the store format would be good. However, the owners weren’t keen … but, with their blessing, he went out on his own. Howard pitched his format idea to investors … and was rejected more than 200 times .. but eventually found enough financing to open his own stores.

When the original store owners wanted to sell, Howard bought them out and decided to expand under the original name.

Today, Howard’s company has more than 17,000 locations in over 50 countries .. and is still named after the first mate in Moby Dick … Starbuck.

Starbucks is a Great Idea because persistence and passion are key to brewing up a winning business.