We are not in the coffee business serving people, but
in the people business serving coffee.
— Howard Schultz
For four crazy years I ran mid-market antiques shows.
It was often tempting to think the business was about logistics, because planning and executing a successful move-in and move-out consumed so much attention.
Collectors—the attendees—could have cared less; but dealers—the exhibitors—considered logistical snafus, even tiny ones, world-shattering.
Until the doors opened.
In that moment, the business's raison d'etre crystallized: the business supplied fixes to people addicted to fine gewgaws.
Don't be lured by language into believing you work the "wheelhouse" of some vast sorting machine.
Your raison d'etre is people—the ones you sell to, the ones you buy from, and the ones in between.
No one has relationships with brands.
Everyone has relationships with people.
