I have found I very much appreciate down to earth folks who happily share their successes and challenges in an effort to help others. I met such a person this evening.
Greg Ubert was the guest speaker at the first Entrepreneurial Roundtable. He is the Founder & President of Crimson Cup (which is 18 years old!). Crimson Cup has a unique francishing model. They not only sell Crimson Cup products to independent coffee owners, they train the coffee shops on how to operate a coffee shop, from beverage preparation to marketing.
Greg started out by telling us that entrepreneurs are the backbone of the American economy. With a group of entrepreneurs sitting around the room, we instantly felt a kindred spirit.
Greg said he didn’t want to work where employees punched a clock. He wanted to do something he was passionate about and have folks around that were passionate.
In 1992 he walked into the OSU Student Union coffee shop and saw the line move quickly. No wasted motion. No wasted steps. Everything set up for efficiency. Menu was arranged based on item popularity. He hired that guy full time in 1995. He’s still their lead trainer (and has the most awesome title of CEO - Chief Expresso Officer). Since having great coffee is a function of how well its prepared, Greg decided it was necessary to teach coffe shops how to prepare coffee, not just sell them coffee.
He found it is hard to teach someone who is not of similar mindset. In 2001 Crimson Cup decided to really focus on the franchisee type model. Crimson Cup chooses to work with entrepreneurs who know they don’t know it all and want help.
As intended, the majority of the Roundtable was a discussion. A LOT of questions for Greg.
"Did you come from a family of entrepreneurs?"
Greg: "No. I read that 57% entrepreneurs come from entrepreneurial families. I was not."
“Why coffee?”
Greg: "I enjoy drinking stuff that tastes good. Its really that simple."
"What response did you receive about your idea to start a coffee company?"
Greg: "My parents encouraged me but few others did. A teacher here said I’ll have my father find you a real job. Probably because folks did not understand the coffee industry. Back then the coffee industry was not as strong as it is now."
‘How is your product different?“
Greg: "We want to leave people feeling better. Great product. We learned the product was great leaving the back door but then what happened to it once it hit the consumer? That’s whywey include the training now. We needed to teach how the coffee is brewed.
“How is your marketing different now than it originally was?”
Greg: "Started with cold calling businesses. Now we are using social networking. Kind of scary. Loss of control. Use of social media has worked for us. ½ of Anna’s job is social networking. Find the right person who is excited and passionate about your product and the social media."
“You are known as a great place to work. Which probably means you can be choosy. What do you look for when hiring folks?”
Greg: "People who want to have fun. People who are not curmudgeonly. People who have their own individuality. People who are passionate about things other than coffee. My Advisory Board even said find a banker like you. I think I may have found one."
“What challenges have you encountered?”
Greg: "I would have started an Advisory Board earlier. I just started one 3 years ago. Advisory Board members are usually paid. We have a good deal of support for entrepreneurs. Aileron – Dayton facility for entrepreneurs. Local resources like Business First are really important. The other thing is process. I’m not a process person. Process is very important. I like the book “E-Myth” which is about why most small businesses don’t make it."
“What does your Advisory Board do for you?”
Greg: Each meeting they talk about 3 items that are high level issues. They also know folks. Mistake is to have an Advisory Board of folks who are family and friends. You want people who will tell the hard truth. Takes time to find the right people. You get out of it what you put into it.
“First year and a half you were building the business out of your parent’s house. What was the defining moment that you felt you could really do this?”
Greg: "Having the customers and the financial stability."
“Did you worry it may not work out?”
Greg: "I still worry. What happens if a major customer does not pay? And how do we keep evolving?"
“Have you made decisions based upon your values that may have reduced your growth but you felt it was the right decision?”
Greg; "Around 2000 we figured out what we do best which is working with independent coffee shops. I hate to see entrepreneurs fail. We make sure they are financially stable enough to get into the coffee shop business. If someone is willing to listen the chances of their success goes up. We say no to potential clients if we think they will not succeed. We don’t want to see them fail.
“What is the branding?”
Greg: "We are like the Intel inside."
“What is your internet strategy?”
Greg: "We now want it to be more interactive and lively. We want our online presence to represent our brand and static is not our brand. Recently had a brand refresh. Website needs to reflect brand."
“The Crimson Cup blog has 4 contributors include the delivery guy. He cites names. Its very personal for a commercial blog.”
Greg: We’ve been told that people think its great we blog about things other than coffee. I just blogged about a mistake I made while introducing a speaker. I blogged about that experience and what it meant to me.
Wow. Time flew because the conversation was so amazing I tried to end the Roundtable with Greg referring to how he loves to talk to customers. He stopped into the Crimson Cup storefront recently and time flew because he loved talking to the customers. My attempt to end the conversation failed. Folks just kept asking great questions and Greg kept answering them.
The Entrepreneurial Roundtable was organized by ShinyDoor, supported by Jan O'Daniel and hosted by Qwirk. All of whom believe in the value of conversation; the value of learning from others and the importance of entreprenuers to our local economy.
