The Starbucks Story: Howard Schultz's 15 Money Making Tips

The huge success of Howard Schultz is used as an example to inspire everyone who wants to pursue their ambitious goals instead of only working and making ends meet.

Simply put, the prior proprietors of this business just sold it to the present owner of the Starbucks coffee company.

People believe that these previous owners started Starbucks merely because they were “born with a silver spoon in their mouth,” as they say in America. Yet, the situation isn’t precisely that way.

Coming from a low-income background, Howard Schultz started this substantial business from nothing. Although his road was difficult, it helped shape him into the person he is today.

Although Schultz is no longer the official owner of the famous coffee brand, his innovative methods and the success he brought to the company will never be eradicated.

Howard Schultz is one of the most famous figures in the business world and the man who built the popular Starbucks chain.

It all started with a trip to Italy in 1982, where Schultz remained fascinated by the Italian way of drinking coffee, so he decided to offer something similar, in the form of ‘coffee to go’, to Americans – the rest is history.

Where Howard started and how he managed to make Starbucks – a biggest coffee brand, find out below!

Childhood and Schultz Early Beginnings

Howard was born into a low-income Jewish family living in the poor neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York in 1953. His father served in the army, then was demobilized and worked as a driver.

It is believed that in America, people always live in abundance, but the reality is actually quite difficult.

On one occasion, Howard’s father broke his leg and was fired from his job as a result.

There was no health care, and the Schultzes barely made ends meet for most of Howard’s childhood. How the family survived the whole time is hard to imagine.

Howard’s parents fought for survival all their lives, and they taught Howard what it means to be hardworking.

On one occasion, Howard stated that his father never earned more than $20,000 a year, which was very little to support a family of five.

Schultz never spoke ill of his father in public, but there were allegations of violence when he was growing up.

Although they had no education themselves, they tried to pass on all their good qualities and work habits to young Howard – which turned out pretty well for him in the end, didn’t it?

In the USA you can study for money, but there is one loophole – sports. Most universities are willing to accept poor students if they play basketball or football well.

Howard saw it as a good opportunity and got involved in sports and was then accepted at Northern Michigan University.

He was the only one in the family who graduated from any university and he had great respect from the family because of that.

Starbucks Meeting

After graduating college, Howard immediately went to work. He got his first job in 1975 at a ski resort in Michigan.

Then he was hired at the Xerox company where, after three years of work in marketing and sales, he managed to acquire great business knowledge and good communication skills.

He was then placed in a staff position at a housewares company. After that, he moved to the New York company Hammarplast, where he sold home and commercial equipment, including coffee.

Manager Schultz was good, so the management entrusted him with working with large customers. One of the important buyers was Starbucks from Seattle, which wanted to buy several expensive coffee-related products.

Howard flew to Washington for talks, and then a fateful meeting with the management of this company took place. Starbucks saw potential in young Howard and immediately hired him.

Schultz got a job at Starbucks in 1982 as a manager, when the company had only 4 stores. At that time, Americans were still not so crazy about coffee, so they drank it out of pure necessity.

No one enjoyed it nor was it drunk for a longer period of time. Coffee’s popularity in America was on the wane during this period.

Schulz noticed this and, together with the aroma of earthy roasted grains, breathed in the incomparable smell of profit.

Establishment of II Giornale

Howard held a marketing position at Starbucks at the time, and was sent to Italy by the company’s management. There he managed to see a completely different way of life than the one in America.

People drank coffee several times a day with pleasure, sat for several hours in cafes and gardens, and often had business meetings in such places.

Howard collected ideas from Italy, and returned to America ready to present them to the company’s management. But, in Starbucks at that time, Schultz’s idea was not quite accepted.

The managers believed that Italy – is one thing, but America – on the other hand, and the principles adopted in the Old World are not rooted in the new.

Money is considered time in America and people there are not going to sit and talk for hours while drinking coffee. Howard achieved nothing with his Italian idea.

The Starbucks company continued to operate under the same principles as before his arrival, and it did not want to implement the “Italian concept”.

After much thought, Schultz decided to quit his job at Starbucks because he saw that his idea was not working there.

He founded his own brand and called it II Giornale. To open the company, it was necessary to secure the appropriate level of necessary money, according to Schultz’s budget – 1.6 million.

He did not have enough of his own money, and investors did not want to invest, agreeing with Starbucks’ opinion. Howard, raising the necessary amount of money, met with hundreds of business people, trying to get them to like his idea, but he failed.

Later in his career, Schultz reluctantly recalls those days, and believes that he was quite humiliated in such business circles. It is always difficult for a fascinated person to hear statements about the worthlessness of his thoughts.

Nevertheless, he managed to open Il Giornale cafes, and they, contrary to pessimistic forecasts, became very popular.

After a few years, specifically in 1987, he returned to Starbucks intending to purchase the company, which at the time had a presence in 17 locations, and he also assumed the position of CEO.

Starbucks Growth

After Howard’s return to Starbucks, things took a turn for the better. Howard implemented many innovations and ideas in the company, and the general interest in their coffee increased drastically.

Schultz never takes full credit for the huge success of his company, but claims that all employees are equally responsible for development.

Today, Starbucks has more than 32,000 stores in 80 countries around the world, and is by far the most popular coffee brand in the world.

They offer all kinds of coffee for every taste, adapting to different national traditions.

Today, Starbucks owns over 20 stores in Italy as well, and they are dedicated to preserving the Italian customs of drinking coffee.

Howard Schultz was the official interim CEO of Starbucks since 2022 until recently, and during his career he has received numerous awards and recognitions, some of which are the Distinguished Leadership Award from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Business Ethics.

He is one of the richest people in America who managed to make a huge fortune out of complete poverty. His fortune is estimated at 3.8 billion dollars as of 2023.

He is a real example of how persistence pays off, and that one should never give up on an idea that we know can be successful – even when everyone says it’s unachievable.

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