Key Question:
A: We learn from the Souto family that is it best to start a business around what you already know. If you are young, you should choose what fascinates you most and stick to it until you find the niche or opportunity that makes you rich.
Key Question:
A: The Souto family story is a perfect example of this idea.
People who accomplish one goal are likely to accomplish the next goal they set. Mr. Souto had what it takes to build a company because he had already done it. Also, success builds confidence and this quality is absolutely essential for a small business owner. If you don't have confidence that your idea will succeed, you will not attract employees or customers.
The Soutos fled to America when Castro took their coffee business away from them. Once in Miami, Mr. Souto looked around and calculated that all of the other Cubans who had escaped to freedom would want to drink the cofffee he had sold to them in Cuba. It was smart of him not to open a restaurant or a construction company.
Castro could not take away from them the experience-based knowledge of how to start, run and grow a coffee roasting company. There are many entrepreneurs in our library that have succeeded because they stick to what they know.
Another example is the founders of XTO Energy, Bob Simpson and Steve Palko were ousted from Southland Royalty by a hostile takeover. They took a breath and started over doing the same thing with many of the same people. They had built Southland Royalty and established themselves in the oil and gas business. They had long-standing relationships with people who trusted them and whom they could trust. When they were ready to start Cross Timbers, it only took a few hours to raise $35 million and people lined up to follow them wherever they were going to go.
Always remember this: if you have a good idea, the most important ingredient to success in business is people. Starting with nothing and working on borrowed furniture, Bob and Steve attracted leadership talent who were willing to bet on the outcome. No one took salary in the early days because everyone had faith. Bob and Steve had done it before and they could do it again. Do what you know with whom you know, and you'll build a better business faster.
To gain experience and confidence, go to work for a company in the industry you would like to be involved with. Ask someone who is already very successful in the industry to mentor you or go ahead and start the business you want but hire someone with rich experience.
Key Question:
A: It depends. If you are young, you start small. If you have vast experience and access to cash, you can start with a very big idea in mind and grow quickly using OPM (Other People's Money) and by hiring a top-level leadership team. Most business owners start with an idea that they can visualize and fund themselves. Then they proceed to grow using their own earnings.
Think about it
Where is your education lacking?
Where is your experience lacking?
Who would you like to learn from?
What do you need to learn now so that you can grow your business?
Clip from: Cafe Pilon, Rowland Coffee & the Souto family
Meet the three Souto brothers; lovers of freedom.
Miami: In this episode, we open with pictures from 1961 just before Castro forced his ways into the homes and business of this family. And though he took over everything, he could not take over their spirit. This family left behind all their worldly possessions but came to the USA with their greatest possessions -- their integrity, their love of family and friends, their creativity, their love of Cuban espresso coffee, and the knowledge needed to rebuild their family business from scratch.
Meet the Souto family, owners of Rowland Coffee Roasters in Miami. They started with a coffee delivery business, bought Rowland, then Cafe Pilon, then Cafe Bustelo, Medaglia D'Oro Espresso, Java Cabana and more.
Go to all the key ideas and video of this episode...
In memory of José Angel ''Pepe'' Souto, the Patriarch of the family who died at the age of 91 on November 18, 2007.
Cafe Bustelo Inc.
Yvette Gonzalez, Executive Assistant
5605 NW 82nd Ave
Miami, FL 33166-4000
Visit our web site: http://cafebustelo.com
Toll Free: 800-990-9039
Business Classification:
Beverages: Coffee
Year Founded: 1962
Do What You Know
Hi. I'm Hattie Bryant, and this is the place for learning about how business works. We travel all over the country to meet the fascinating founders of companies that year after year after year serve customers and create jobs.
We call what will you experience now a Master Class. Your teachers are always men and women who have lived through what it is they speak about. Let's now visit a family that is rather new to the US, but brings a proud reputation and skill that we can all learn from.
(Voiceover) These men have it all. Their company, Cafe Pilon, is the premiere Cuban espresso coffee roaster in the world. Their company has happy customers.
Unidentified Man #1: Good coffee, Cuban.
Unidentified Man #2: It's Cuban coffee.
Unidentified Man #1: It's the best.
Unidentified Man #3: I love Cuban.
Unidentified Man #1: The best.
HATTIE: (Voiceover) They have happy, loyal employees.
JEAN-PAUL: Well, they treat me like brother and father and sister.
HATTIE: (Voiceover) And, most importantly, they have each other.
ANGEL SOUTO: (Voiceover) Of course, Alberto--he's likes to always come out with new ideas.
JOSE ENRIQUE SOUTO: (Voiceover) Angel, he watches the customers like a hawk. You take a customer away from Angel, he goes crazy.
ANGEL: (Voiceover) Jose Enrique is our oldest brother. You always look up to the oldest brother.
HATTIE: You do?
ANGEL: Yes.
HATTIE: So he hasn't let you down yet?
ANGEL: No, not yet. No. I don't think he ever will.
HATTIE: (Voiceover) Why so much success?
JOSE ENRIQUE: You got to want it. And then you have to go out and get it. It won't come to you, you have to go out there and get it. There it is, the best. Nothing but the best.
HATTIE: (Voiceover) In Miami's Little Havana, it seems everyone's drinking coffee, and much of it comes from Miami-based Rowland Roasters, which does business under the name of its most popular brand, Cafe Pilon. It generates $70 million in annual sales and has 175 employees. Owners Jose Enrique, Jose Alberto and Angel Souto are brothers who have coffee in their DNA.
ANGEL: (Voiceover) I drink every morning Cafe con Leche. It's milk with espresso.
JOSE ALBERTO SOUTO: OK. I have four a day. And it makes me work harder.
HATTIE: (Voiceover) Even though the Souto family has been in the roasting business since 1865, they had to start over with nothing when they came to Miami.
JOSE ENRIQUE: We came here in 1960, when Mr. Castro took over, and he took everything in Cuba and he made it all owned by the government. So it's a very, very difficult situation, and I ask myself the question sometimes. How would I react if here in the United States, somebody would come to me and all of a sudden say, `Hey, this is no longer yours. Now it belongs to the government.' Now it belongs to somebody else without you doing anything to deserve that. And it's really very hard to imagine going through that period.
