Starbucks takes a coffee break

See Starbucks. See Starbucks sell coffee.  See Starbucks sell coffee, sandwiches, muffins, newspapers, mugs, CD’s, and games. See Starbucks sales dip, see Starbucks regroup! Yesterday for the first time ever there was a nationwide coffee break. Check that: baristas nationwide closed shop at Starbucks on Tuesday for three and a half hours to relearn the basics of their business.

You can guess what happened next: competitors like Dunkin’ Donuts took advantage of their competitor’s employee training. They did the inevitable and offered specials of 99 cent lattes during that time frame so coffee drinkers could get their jolt of java. 

While Starbucks says they’ll close 1% of their current coffee shops in the US by the end of September and they’ll no longer sell their ham, eggs, cheese, and bacon sandwiches, it’ll be interesting to see if the powerhouse continues to flourish, if this is merely a blip in their business model to get back on track, or if Dunkin’ Donuts will take a hold on the market. Personally I prefer Dunkin’ Donuts but quite honestly, there is nothing quite like discovering a little mom and pop coffee shop with charm, character, and yes — coffee.

Blog is the new black!

Welcome back to my blog! Ok, maybe this is a note more for myself but I’ll be dishing on a daily basis as it relates to the latest business buzz. Whether it’s about the economy, jobs, new businesses that soared, start-ups that failed and lessons learned or an overall trend, this blog will cover a variety of angles.  Game on!

Super Fat Tuesday

The Superbowl.  The Primary Elections.  Fat Tuesday a la Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Here in Gotham there’s quite a buzz in the air. As the nation’s future lies in the hands of voters today for primaries across several states, there’s a certain excitement.

A sense of change. A rebirth, if you will.  As the underdog, the NY Giants proved to be victorious over an undefeated Boston team, one thing’s for certain: never rule out the little guy.  So as it comes to the economy and business how can we still have faith in a lagging recession?  Belief, conviction, and above all hard wor. That’s all I have to say. Good day!

Chainless Jobs

The numbers were startling: as the NY Times referred to the US Jobs Report published last week the number of people who were unemployed for six months or more as of January was 1.38 million.

That’s 1.38 people. 1.38 people. Let’s repeat it one more time for impact: 1.38 million people.  Ironic this report was published as I was working on a piece for the 175 Best Jobs Not Behind a Desk. Some people may be grateful just to have a job but isn’t there always the silver lining to look forward to?

Without sounding myopic, immersed in a global economy opportunities are everywhere. You need to seek them out and think out of the time zone such as working remotely for an organization in Singapore or being flexible regarding your working hours.  When it comes to true job satisfaction other than simply being employed and snagging an “ideal” job, what really gets you going? Better yet, what constitutes  “ideal”?

Is it the job? The boss? The challenges, not to mention the salary? The perks (sure we all enjoy free office supplies every now and then) but as for me? This killer view of the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building of a sparkling skyline is reason enough.

While all these factors play into the bigger picture of job satisfaction when it comes to environment, where do you truly work best? For lack of a better word, are you chained to your desk and a slave to e-mail? Or are you out and about working “on location”?  Working off-site, remotely or is it consistently out of the box, er cubicle?

After interviewing the author of this book for my piece I couldn’t help but wonder. While some jobs are at a desk 24/7 and others are completely desk-free (think: nurses, construction managers, teachers), there are jobs in between. I guess the key here is finding a job you enjoy, one in which the environment equates to the sum of its parts.