I imagine some Quality World readers wouldn?t pick up this book because they?d expect it to be lacking in quality management news. However, the truth is they?ll be missing out.
Martyn Dawes, founder of Coffee Nation, transformed our daily lives with his takeaway gourmet coffee business. His story is fascinating, giving a unique perspective on business from a raw hand-to-mouth starting point to a £23m pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Dawes says he wrote this book to help budding entrepreneurs establish their businesses but the title isn?t so much a ?business build kit? as a beneficial case study to learn from. Every entrepreneur?s idea will be personal and the route to (hopefully) success will be diverse, but Dawes? rollercoaster ride definitely would have broken weaker men.
There were many decisions that didn?t work for his business, such as recruiting his first operations director, but his real-world story helps readers develop empathy but for leaders who make these types of decisions on a daily basis. Although there?s a lot of anguish in his story, such as delayed development of new dispensing stations, Dawes? understanding of commerce and markets has developed profoundly over time and improved his ability to handle situations.
Although this is predominately a business book, the story has several quality aspects. For example, a prime foundation of both business and vision is customer experience and needs. By tapping into this, Dawes was able to develop a successful coffee product and process which maximised customer value while minimising costs ? which is quality in a nutshell.
Quality professionals are often criticised for being remote from the real world, so I encourage you to read this book and try to put yourself in the position of the team who grew this business from scratch.
