CONCLUSION

I want everyone to be clear that times have changed here in the U.S.A. and we must change with them.

It’s no longer enough for any of us to “slide” through a shift here at Lakota. This relies more than ever on management and staff being willing to re-double their efforts towards improving all aspects of the company we represent.

There is more required of everyone involved, to be able to excel...even survive, in the current marketplace. We're not proponents of "doom and gloom" but the times do suggest extra effort. The economic stability of this country and the world is more in question right now than at any other time since the great depression. Jobs are difficult to find, especially good ones.

One of our major goals is to make employment at Lakota - better than a good job. We want this to become a “great job”, with career implications, by improving the workplace environment here at Lakota.

This goal includes the following:

1. To finally implement an excellent training program to increase product knowledge and customer service skills.

2. To require accountability from our staff and management to step up to the challenges that our current economy demands and the new/old ideas presented in this manual.

3. To smooth out all of our systems by the implementation of our checklist system for dramatic improvements in all facets of this company.

4. To reach a point where we can begin to give raises, bonuses, and benefits and offer career opportunities to our valued staff without the fear of driving ourselves into bankruptcy. (even profit sharing is being considered!)

5. To implement a security system that will protect the integrity of the company to the ultimate benefit of ALL.

6. To dramatically increase the use of our website to increase sales of coffee and other products to a growing niche of people who have moved away from the big city environment and can no longer get the excellent coffee products that they had gotten used to. The real point of this effort is to put Lakota Coffee Company in a position where we no longer rely strictly on our local environment for our financial well-being.

7. To thoroughly examine all Lakota operations, one by one, making the necessary improvements in all areas possible. For this we will be asking for valuable help from our key people.

How Can You Help?

We want you to pay more attention to the details of great customer service and take pride in helping us “run a tight ship”. We want you to share your ideas with us to make improvements and then assist us in their implementation.

Your time spent with this company is a stepping stone to your future and should be done with the same devotion that you pour into everything you love.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun here anymore. Quite the contrary, with marked improvements in everything we do, everyone should be able to enjoy work here more than ever! After all, a big part of service to our customers (and yourselves) is in knowing how to create a fun place for people to hang out! The last thing we want is a bunch of mindless drones, slaving away in misery!

We do require, however, that you begin to take your responsibility here at Lakota more seriously by doing everything you can to support us in our goals.

What’s the overall goal? To make Lakota Coffee Company the very best it can be, offering great value and benefit to everyone involved; from customers, to community, to owners, to management, to seasoned veteran Baristas, to new hires.

Sure, this is somewhat lofty, but we are determined to see this through and we’re willing to put ourselves to the test to make it real. In fact, it may well be critical to our company’s survival.

Please understand that what I’m sharing here isn’t some kind of indictment towards our existing staff. We know that some of you already have the kind of professional attitude that we want to see more of. We value your work very highly and are very clear that we can’t accomplish our goals without your dedicated assistance. We also rely on you to pass your great attitude and work ethic on to the new people that you will likely be training.

However, there is always room for improvement and what we are doing here is no small task. Change is tough for most and we expect a transition period from the old way of doing things to the new. Difficult economic times can be turned to advantage. They severely weed out strong companies from weak ones. As a result, several local coffee shops have already gone under. We think it would be lovely if we are not added to that particular list.

Skip DuCharme has created a unique environment to showcase the finest coffee products in the world. Personally, I want to support him and his family in fulfilling our collective dream of making this the best place of its kind anywhere in the world.

I have created this website to support that very idea. Just Google “World’s Best Coffee” and see what comes up. This website, believe it or not, has sold coffee nationwide, and has made Lakota an International company, selling retail bulk coffee in nine different countries so far! Specialty-Coffee-Advisor.com sold over two-hundred pounds of coffee in June of 2010 and it’s functioning at only a tiny fraction of its capacity.

Am I tooting my own horn? Well maybe a little. I am proud of the website. But the point is that I need your help so that I can stay focused on improving this websites ability to gain a greater market share. A very small percentage of this “niche” can make a company VERY wealthy. How can you help? Simply by catching the vision of this and becoming more committed to your work here at Lakota.

What’s In It For You?

It will also make it possible for us to always have the very best in equipment, and anything and everything available that supports our goal of making life better for everyone around here. It even opens up more possibilities for growth and expansion within the downtown location and other local spots if we so choose.

O.K. but I’m just passing through; coffee’s not my life…

Of course that's perfectly fine, but everything you do while you’re here that supports our efforts to improve Lakota’s financial prowess, makes your time here more enjoyable AND your “job” more secure. It also helps to ensure that we can provide good work for dozens of people... for many years to come.

The last thing I would like to ask of each of you, is that you candidly share with me your experience of this training manual and the test that follows. I rely on you to help me make improvements and I value your thoughts and ideas along these lines. Please take advantage of the communication tools that I have provided to assist you in helping us to make and implement all around improvements here at Lakota.

Many thanks to all of you.

On behalf of the owners and management, I would like to say that above all, we sincerely wish your time here at Lakota Coffee Company to be extremely fulfilling and rewarding. Many of our finest goals will be met if your experience here is one of great value and hopefully, some fond memories that bless you for a lifetime.

If you are going to take the test right away, you may access it below, or if later, from page 2 in The Table of Contents.

Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Lee Eckel and Lakota Management

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