I spent this weekend at CoffeeFest in Seattle getting to know many of you and learning about your businesses. It dawned on me that our trade shows are a tribute to the entrepreneurial spirit and passionate innovation that burns in the heart of the coffee shop or stand owner. It also occurred to me that we live in a competitive world that can constantly challenge our definition of success.

You've heard about IQ, EQ, but have you spent much time thinking about EIQ? EIQ stands for the Entrepreneurial Integrity Quotient, or the ability to be successful without compromising your values or asking your employees or suppliers to compromise theirs.

We all know it, good business is about keeping good Karma, and good karma is the result of doing the right thing every time, all the time.....and most of the time, it is not easy. Often in the pursuit of keeping commitments, providing passion for the team, "WOWing" the customer, and just staying afloat, we find ourselves standing on that very fine line of EIQ and OOB (out of business). Doing the right thing can fly out the door when you are competing with "the dark side" for the hearts and minds of your customers.

But think about it...how do you measure your own success? Are you really successful if your tactics put all your competitors out of business? Can you be proud to have the best prices if it means your beans come from suppliers whose growers can't make a sustainable living? Is it okay to trash your competitor's reputation if it means their customers will come to your shop? If imitation is the highest form of flattery, is outright copying or stealing someone else's idea ok? Of course not....but it happens every day. By way of example, there was a coffee plug at the show that is a knock off of one of our StixToGo products. Some of you probably even buy them out of California. Its all about competition, not morality. The only actions and behavior we can control are our own. Our focus needs to remain on building our own businesses and always asking ourselves - Are we doing the right thing for everyone concerned?

Good competition innovates on other's ideas and continually improves the product and people while staying in the bounds of legality (aka just doing the right thing...). Bad competition is well, just bad and we all know what that looks like when we see it. The challenge for all of us is to keep our head high and our EIQ in check. In a world of perfect competition, supply and demand would (and to a great extent does) set the prices and determine how many shops are in town, the market would define what products we serve, we would all be environmentally conscious and our customers would all be appreciative, happy, and clean up after themselves! Oh yes, and we would all live happily ever after - might as well throw that in too :)

Its not easy, but amidst all the temptation and a lot of hard work, I'm continually amazed by the overall EIQ, the integrity, kindness, the compassion, the community spirit, and the smart wisdom I encounter in our coffee shop owners and their employees. You amaze and inspire me every day and that's why I'm proud to be in this business. Thank you! Tom