How a Simple Idea Became a Huge Business

我怎樣白手起家

要是我有個(gè)水晶球能窺見(jiàn)未來(lái)，我會(huì)怎么樣呢?許多人一遇到障礙就打退堂鼓，但我不會(huì)這樣。我一旦有了目標(biāo)，就必然鍥而不舍，全力以赴。我相信人生中充滿(mǎn)機(jī)會(huì)，但我們往往不懂得把握。

By Howard Schultz

霍華德·舒爾茨

[1]When I was a child growing up in public-housing projects in Canarsie, Brooklyn, I remember lying in bed at night thinking: what if I had a crystal ball and could see the future? But I quickly shut out the thought. I realized I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. All I knew was I had to get out of the projects, get out of Brooklyn.

[1]小時(shí)候我住在紐約市布魯克林區(qū)卡納西的房租低廉的住宅區(qū)，有一天夜里躺在床上思量：要是我有個(gè)水晶球能窺見(jiàn)未來(lái)，我會(huì)怎么樣呢?不過(guò)我迅即拋開(kāi)了這個(gè)念頭。我知道自己在人生路上仍然漫無(wú)目標(biāo)，只知道必須設(shè)法離開(kāi)這里，離開(kāi)布魯克林。

[2]I was fortunate to go to college, but I didn't know what to do next. I had no mentor to help me sort out my options . My main goal was to escape the struggles my working-class parents lived with every day.

[2]后來(lái)我有幸上了大學(xué)，卻不知道下一步該怎么走，也沒(méi)有人替我指點(diǎn)迷津。我的父母都是工人階級(jí)，每天都必須操勞，而我當(dāng)時(shí)最大的愿望就是不步他們的后塵。

[3]Eventually I discovered I had a talent for sales, and was hired by a Swedish housewares corporation. By age 28, I was vice president in charge of sales in the United States. I had an excellent salary and a co-op apartment in New York City, and was happily married to a beautiful woman, Sheri. My parents couldn't believe I had come so far so fast. The life I was leading was beyond their best dreams for me.

[3]我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己善于推銷(xiāo)，便進(jìn)入了一家瑞典人開(kāi)的家庭用品公司工作。我表現(xiàn)出色，28歲就晉升為主管?chē)?guó)內(nèi)銷(xiāo)售的副總裁，薪金優(yōu)厚。我買(mǎi)了套住宅，又娶了如花似玉的妻子--雪瑞，生活舒適愉快。連我的父母都不敢相信我會(huì)如此飛黃騰達(dá)。他們從未夢(mèng)想過(guò)我能過(guò)上這樣的生活。

[4]Most people would be satisfied with all this. But I was getting antsy . I wanted to be in charge of my own destiny . It was around this time, in the early 1980s, that I became aware of a strange phenomenon. A little retailer in Seattle was placing large orders for a drip coffee maker: a simple plastic cone set on a thermos . The company, Starbucks Coffee and Tea, had only four small stores, yet it was buying our product in quantities larger than Macy's was. Why was Seattle so taken with this coffee maker when the rest of the country was using electric coffee makers?

[4]一般人有了如此成就，也許會(huì)志得意滿(mǎn)，我卻還想更上一層樓，決意要主宰自己的命運(yùn)。就在這個(gè)時(shí)候(80年代初期)，一個(gè)奇特現(xiàn)象引起了我的注意。西雅圖有家經(jīng)營(yíng)零售業(yè)的小公司向我們訂購(gòu)滴濾式咖啡壺。這家公司名叫"明星咖啡連鎖公司"，只有4家小店，向我們買(mǎi)這種產(chǎn)品的數(shù)量卻超過(guò)百貨業(yè)巨擘梅西公司。當(dāng)時(shí)美國(guó)各地普通使用電氣咖啡壺。何以此器具在西雅圖那么受歡迎?

[5]I had to find out, so I went to Seattle.

[5]為了查明原委，我前往西雅圖。

Fresh Approach

濃郁香氣撲鼻而來(lái)