OUTCOME-ORIENTED

HOWARD SHULTZ

Outcome-oriented means that they are more interested in the final outcome rather than going through a process. Even though the entrepreneurs with this trait are focusing more on the results but the process must be done with integrity.

For example, the entrepreneur with this personality is Howard Shultz. He is an American entrepreneur and the CEO of Starbucks Coffee Company, which is well-known as one of the largest coffee store chains in the world. Howard’s breakthrough towards his dream is not an easy one to achieve.

He was born on July 19, 1953, in Brooklyn, New York. His family was literally too poor to put food on the table. Determined to build a better life for himself, Schultz channeled his energy into high school sports and earned an athletic scholarship to Northern Michigan University. He graduated with a bachelor degree in communications. Schultz started to notice a small Seattle company named Starbucks while he was at Hammerplast for a job trip. Starbucks was originally founded in 1971 as a single store. Starbucks sold freshly roasted gourmet coffee beans as well as teas, spices, and various coffee making accessories.

Gerard Baldwin and Gordon Bowker, the Starbucks owner was very impressed by Schultz’s energy and marketing skill. Both the owner of the Starbucks possesses very little business knowledge and they asked Shultz to become part of their operation. In 1982 Schultz joined Starbucks as head of its marketing and retail operations.

A year after that Schultz has learned the idea of opening a coffee bar in Seattle but the idea was rejected because Baldwin and Bowker were unwilling to move beyond the store’s core product offerings. Schultz left Starbucks in 1986 to open his own espresso bar. The venture was a hit but he needs more funding to expand the business. He was very lucky because a year later Baldwin and Bowker wished to sell their outlets. Schultz purchased the original Starbucks chain for $3.8 million and merged with his own.

Schultz set out to completely overhaul Starbucks according to his vision. He expanded Starbucks’ offering to include more exotic coffee beverages such as espresso, cappuccino, café latte, iced coffee and café mocha. The most radical change Schultz made was to improve the way of his company dealt with its employee. Schultz was sure enough that efficient service would boost sales, he instituted a training program designed to groom knowledgeable employees who would enjoy working behind a counter.

As a result of Schultz’s vision, Starbucks experienced unprecedented growth throughout the 1990s, blossoming from 425 stores in 1994 to more than 2200 store in 1998. With annual sales topping $1.7 billion in 1999, Starbucks Corp. reigned as the nation’s  number 1 specialty coffee retailer. Now Starbucks has more than 24000 stores in 70 countries.