A user I connected with years ago on StumbleUpon (AbleReach) recently shared a video with me that you must watch if you’re a business owner of any kind. This video was uploaded to YouTube by CHOW.com and features John Nese, the owner of Galcos Soda Pop Stop in Los Angeles.
There are business lessons to be learned whether you’re online or offline.
Entertained At First…
At first I was entertained, mostly because of the nostalgia. I remember drinking ice cold glass bottles of strawberry soda with Oreo cookies almost daily during the summer. When I started watching I was expecting this to be a story of how this unique store was going out of business.
…Then Inspired
As I continued to watch and more importantly, listen to how passionate John was about soda, I felt myself becoming passionate about reviving my own soda pop cravings of days past. John’s passion inspired (or created) my own passion. I wanted to love it as much as he did.
How hard is it to transfer your passion to your readers, clients, and customers?
Passion Equals Success
As you watch farther into the video John starts to discuss his business philosophy a bit more. It’s evident when listening to him that he loves what he does, but it’s also clear that he’s not just in business for himself.
He’s also in business to bring joy to those he interacts with. He’s genuinely concerned with the happiness of his external customers (people who shop at his store) and also his internal customers (the manufacturers) of the many varieties of soda he carries.
Make Your Own Path
What I especially love in this video is when John discusses being approached by a big name soda distributor. Not once, but several times. Each time he declined to carry that worldwide brand, the distributor thought he was crazy.
John decided to go his own way. He stuck to his passion and his belief about the direction and market for his business. It’s a very brave thing to do, and apparently, it’s paying off very well. I don’t necessarily mean financially either because I have no idea what kind of revenue his business takes in.
When I talk about it paying off well, I’m talking about customer loyalty and personal satisfaction. If you do a quick Google search on “galcos soda pop stop“, you’ll find that many others have written about this place and their affection for both John and the business.
What are you doing to gain that kind of affection from your customers?
Take 12 Minutes, It’s Worth It
Video Description
John Nese is the proprietor of Galcos Soda Pop Stop in LA. His father ran it as a grocery store, and when the time came for John to take charge, he decided to convert it into the ultimate soda-lovers destination. About 500 pops line the shelves, sourced lovingly by John from around the world. John has made it his mission to keep small soda-makers afloat and help them find their consumers. Galcos also acts as a distributor for restaurants and bars along the West Coast, spreading the gospel of soda made with cane sugar (no high-fructose corn syrup if John can avoid it).
