A friend of mine is a
business development manager in an IT company. He met me at an after-work networking
event at 7:30 PM one evening. He looked a bit pale and restless. I asked him,
‘Are you ok?’ He looked relived that someone had asked him. He pinned me to the
wall, and with a wild look in his eye, said, “I’ve had fifteen cups of coffee
today.” I remember having had seven cups
on a bad day. “Why does meeting people always involve coffee?” he asked in a
desperate, tremulous voice. “I’m sick of it.” Later I did a quick search on articles about
coffee and meetings. These are some of the title that came up:
1.
10 things
I learned over coffee.
2.
How to ask
for coffee.
3.
Keys to a
productive coffee meeting.
4.
Why a coffee
meeting is necessary.
5.
Coffee
review for business people.
6.
Coffee meeting
etiquette and questionnaires.
7.
Coffee and
start-ups go hand in hand.
8.
Coffee and
young professionals.
9.
Who should
pay the coffee bill?
10.
The power
of a coffee meeting.
So, it seems that
coffee is an obligatory business custom in the western world. In the developing
world it is also becoming the standard - instead of street tea, the younger generation
is buying coffee which is ten times more expensive. Having coffee is clearly
more than a drink and it clearly represents a change of status. “Let’s have coffee” means literally:
1.
“Let’s meet.”
2.
“Let’s discuss this.”
3.
“Can I
visit you?”
4.
“Can I say
‘hi’?”
5.
“I’ll see
you off. Let’s meet for coffee.”
6.
“Let’s
discuss the project in detail.”
7.
“This will
be a good ice breaker in a new relationship.”
8.
“It’s a
good chance to get to know each other.”
9.
“Let’s
have a strategic brain storming session.”
10.
“Let’s
plan!”
Is this obsession with
coffee only for people in the start-up phase of business? Perhaps the
equivalent for more accomplished people is a lunch or dinner.
From a pure business
perspective, Australia's coffee bean market is worth more than $100 million per
year, with about 1.3 million coffees taken a day by the average drinker. If you
take $3 a cup as a standard price in cafes, it’s has a street value of $5
million business a day. So, while coffee can give you a buzz or make you feel
frazzled and frenzied, it is inseparable from business. The names of café even
reflect this relationship, as in the following examples:
1.
“Coffee
Means Business”
2.
“Business
means coffee”
3.
“Coffee
& Business”
4.
“Coffee Networking
Hub”
5.
“Expresso
Meeting”
6.
“Coffee
Connection”
7.
“The
Business Lab”
8.
“Café Biz”
9.
(B 2
C)offee
10.
Café
Coffee Meet
So, coffee is not just
a drink, it’s part of our subconscious mind, wrapped up with our culture and lifestyle.
It’s as ubiquitous as Facebook and Google or writing something is Microsoft Word.
‘Science may never
come up with a better office communication system than the coffee break.’ - Earl
Wilson.
I have a whole lot of other observations, but I need to go and have a cup of coffee.
I have a whole lot of other observations, but I need to go and have a cup of coffee.
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