6. Schultz was rehired as CEO in 2008. He left the company for a while but it began to falter and he returned to the position.
7. For Schultz the biggest barrier to entry would have been his lack of education and experience. He does not possess an MBA and was working in sales when he joined the company. But Starbucks was very small and he was able to take on an important role immediately and rapidly expand on that.
8. Schultz immediately liked the Starbucks shop. Since he was selling coffee equipment he was aware that it was superior to others in the area. He then took a trip to Italy and noticed the cultural role that coffee shops played there, something that was not the case in the United States at the time. He felt this cultural role could be introduced successfully into the United States.
9. Schultz came back to the U.S. from Italy and set up a chain of his own. It was successful enough that he was able to obtain financing to buy Starbucks when the original owners decided to sell. He then sought additional venture capital in order to begin rapidly expanding the business before taking it to the stock market.
10. Schultz was raised in a poor family, and this might have colored his abilities as an entrepreneur. He learned about hard work, as he became a successful athlete and earned a scholarship. He also became resourceful and this helped him learn how to be creative in finding solutions to problems.
1. Michael Kittredge was able to carve out a niche by producing a product in scented candles that had more appeal than other businesses realized. He gained first-mover advantage and built a strong brand. Ultimately, there were other scented candles out there but he was the first one to consider it to be a serious business opportunity.
2. Kittredge succeeded in part because he had access to a good support network of people who helped him with the business during its formative years.
3. There...
During the latter phases of the business, he received a cancer diagnosis and that more than anything convinced him to cash out of the business rather than press forward.
4. Kittredge started Yankee Candle while still in high school. At the time he really did not have any education or work experience to speak of.
5. Kittredge was able to build the company by successfully marketing it. There were two distribution channels chosen -- through large third-party stores and through company stores and both proved successful. Juggling these channels has been one of the keys to success for Yankee Candle.
6. Yankee Candle was sold off and is now in private hands. The current CEO's name is Harlan Kent.
7. The biggest challenge for Kittredge was to find markets for the candles. They were popular immediately but in order to grow the company into a significant business, he faced a challenge in getting large retailers to carry the candles. Building a business in an industry that really didn't exist at the time was definitely a challenge that needed to be overcome.
8. Kittredge learned that there was a market for scented candles from his neighbors. Company folklore holds that he made candles for his mother and when his neighbors saw those they wanted some too. The idea then snowballed from there into a viable business idea.
9. Kittredge had a lot of help. He received early financing from a friend, and business support and ideas from his parents. As the business grew, it quickly became self-financing.
10. Kittredge had a lot of help from his family. His father was able to help with some ideas on the production side, as were his friends. His mother was the original customer and her friends contributed to the original demand. The launch of Yankee Candle was very much a team effort in that regard.
