The Competitor In the Mirror
TJ, my Northern Vessel business partner, received a phone call from the Des Moines Register a few days ago. The reporter wanted to know what he thought about Caribou Coffee opening a new location right next door to our Northern Vessel shop. First, that was the first time either of us had heard about Caribou's plans. Second, we did have thoughts!
I'm not sure what the original intent of the article was. I'm being somewhat presumptuous here, and I certainly don't want to put words in anyone's mouth. In short, I think the general idea is that yet another big, national chain location is moving in on local small businesses. This would make sense, as Caribou has more than 750 locations in 11 countries......while we are one of one. This also makes sense, considering it's the prevailing sentiment in our culture right now. Support small. Support local. Stop letting corporations kill the little man.
What TJ ultimately told them was an entirely different story. He talked about how he was excited to have Caribou join the neighborhood, as it would bring more traffic to our little corridor. And if that happens, perhaps we'll have the opportunity to serve those people. Awesome! Here’s an IG Reel he posted about the situation.
I don't fault Caribou for moving in—good for them! This isn't about big business vs. small business. It's not about local vs. national. It's not about who deserves to be here vs. who doesn't. It's about excellent vs. not. Will we be excellent? Will they be excellent? Caribou has every right to set up shop and try to be successful. We don't feel oppressed or victimized. Instead, we're grateful. We're grateful for the customers who trust us, for the brand we're building, for our team driving the mission forward, and for the opportunity to get 1% better each day.
It reminds me of something my friend Michael once told me in a coaching meeting: "Losers focus on winners, and winners focus on winning." There might have been a few f-bombs dropped in that sentence, but this is a kid-friendly blog.
Here's the last line of the Register article, a quote from TJ: "At the end of the day, excellence wins." TJ is so right about that one. Our only choice is to be excellent. Luckily, our only desire is to be excellent.
Regardless of what you do, I have a challenge for you! With so much noise all around us, it's so easy to get distracted and sidetracked from the mission. It's easy to take offense, feel threatened, get jealous, and feel robbed. Those aren't choices.....at least not productive ones. Instead, let's just focus on being excellent. After all, our real competition is the person staring at us in the mirror. Excellence always wins. Just be your best today, get 1% better, and do it again. The rest will take care of itself.
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