Consistency Is Key

I’m going to mix it up here today. We like to lean into conversations that we are passionate about, but another big aspect of all this is the business. We want to create a business that helps make people better. That means having meaningful conversations with delicious beverages, but it also means equipping our employees with the tools to succeed in our shop and in the world as they continue on from our employment.

I can hear you all saying, “wait a second, you don’t have any employees.” That is true. We are still in the forming stage. Our business is but a fetus, forming arms and legs before we are sent out in the harsh reality of life. That means we need to figure out what the hell we’re doing!

Which brings me to the point of this post.

We need to develop our business, not just that we are going to sell Damn Fine Coffee and have meaningful conversations with delicious beverages. It also means figuring out how we operate. If we don’t lay out how we are going to operate, then our inconsistencies will be accentuated when we hire staff.

An example of something we have done so far. Back when I was roasting under the old label, I got stuck in seeing cost and margins. Because of that, I started purchasing coffee that wasn’t very good…because it was cheap. Once we re-branded, AJ presented the idea that we won’t put anything out to market that we ourselves are not proud of. Now that we have that rule, we had to expand it to cover our whole business, which includes cold brew. We could have easily fallen into the old trap of buying cheap coffee knowing full well that everyone puts so much cream and sugar into cold brew that they can’t taste the coffee anyway. BUT! We weren’t going to buy a coffee and put it to market if we weren’t proud of it. So, even when we could have cheated, we didn’t. That is our first consistent operational decision.

Inconsistencies are always brought to light as soon as pressure is applied. Inconsistencies also kill staff engagement almost instantly. When they see us make decisions contrary to the mission and our goals, they will see a lack of integrity. That breaks down into distrust and resentment. They will start to ask, “why should I care if he/she doesn’t actually believe what they say?” Once an employee checks out, they don’t usually check back in. Then you have turn over and that costs money.

Consistency from the start will allow us to operate more efficiently. Consistency will help maintain the trust of our staff. Consistency will gives us the reliable foundation on which we can build something great.