Assignment 20A – Growing Your Social Capital

It's Who You Know, Not What You Know

The following are the experts I selected for the coffee shop industry.

1. Expert on my Industry

I selected Starbucks as my industry expert. They are the most successful coffee chain in the world and would have valuable information to give on the industry. I'm still waiting for a response, but was hoping to find out a little more about what the most popular beverages are in my region. Knowing which products they sell the most and least of would help me to better select what to offer in my future coffee shop. I emailed them using the form found on their website (https://customerservice.starbucks.com/app/contact/ask_retail_stores/). Having Starbucks in my network would greatly expand my knowledge of the coffee industry. They would be a very valuable asset in helping me learn more about product preferences, retail locations, coffee suppliers, and more.

2. Expert on my Market

I chose Ellianos Coffee Company as my market expert. They have coffee shops in many smaller, southern cities (including two neighboring cities) so their market would be very similar to my market. They also have expertise on my industry. Ellianos was started by a husband and wife team of entrepreneurs in Lake City, Florida, and they currently have 14 coffee shops in the Southeast United States. Their coffee shops have double drive-up windows to offer quicker service (I thought that was a great idea). I contacted them through the contact form on their website, https://ellianos.com/contact/. I haven't heard back from them yet, but I asked about what types of criteria they look for when opening up a shop in a new location. I'm hoping to learn from their expertise on the area to see if a similar shop would be successful in my small town. With about 18 years of experience in the industry, I feel like they would be a very valuable source of information, but could also be potential competition since they are still opening new coffee shops in the area.

3. Supplier to my Industry

I decided to go with Grassroots Coffee as the supplier to my industry. I selected them for many reasons. One, they are located in Thomasville, Georgia, which is only about 2 hours away. Another reason is that they offer Fair Trade certified and organic certified coffee. They also offer many varieties of coffee and wholesale prices. They are experienced suppliers who currently sell to many Whole Foods Markets and Publix retail locations, as well as, to coffee shops, bakeries, and restaurants. They also roast and ship the same day so their coffee is always fresh. I contacted them through their website (https://www.grassrootscoffee.com/georgia-wholesale-coffee-roaster). I am still awaiting a reply, but hope to learn more about prices and other information pertaining to purchasing wholesale coffee.

This assignment helped me to better realize the importance of having experts in my industry as a part of my network. Their advice can be priceless when you are new to an industry. It also made me dig deeper to figure out what type of experts and information would help me the most. I think it's critical to network if you want to be successful in any business.