Brand Value Comes From Growing Right, Not Fast With Steve Kraus, Founder and Partner at Press Coffee Roasters
Steve Kraus is Founder and Partner at Press Coffee, which he and his wife, Tram Mai, launched in 2008. Their passion and commitment for great coffee built a loyal customer base, and Press Coffee’s care and preparation set it apart from the competition. Steve’s wife is a local news anchor in Phoenix, and they are parents to twins Zak and Zoey.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
Steve Kraus explains why he and his wife decided to launch Press Coffee despite the saturated marketplace options
How Steve and his wife came up with the Press Coffee name
Steve talks about the keys to the brand’s growth from one to 12 locations
What effect did the pandemic have on the business?
Steve discusses how Press Coffee utilizes its app and his plans for the future
How Press Coffee helps people connect to its brand
What would Steve like to see from his company in 10 years?
Why keeping his employees happy is important to Steve
What you’ll learn in this episode:
Many business owners in the restaurant industry aspire to expand beyond one location. However, there are many elements to assess and prioritize before making that move. What components can be easily overlooked, and what key factors should you consider?
Before making your move, bear in mind that adding additional locations increases stress, critical decision-making, and requires a keen sense of structure. As a multiple-location restaurant owner, Steve Kraus of Press Coffee explains how organic growth is mainly about dealing with situations that immediately arise. However, expanding into an additional location requires a solid foundation from which to build. Depending on the area you decide for a new location, you must familiarize yourself with that region's rules and regulations. You also have to consider how you'll handle payroll, the development and execution of employee onboarding processes, not to mention company culture, hospitality, and service. Many leaders find that the workforce is the most challenging part of the puzzle, including ensuring they're happy and have a safe and exciting work environment.
On this episode of From Persona to Personal, Roger Hurni is joined by Steve Kraus, Founder and Partner at Press Coffee, for a conversation about effective growth versus rapid growth. Steve talks about the challenges of continuous growth and why labor is the hardest aspect to manage. They discuss the most effective ways Press Coffee can use its mobile app and how AI can help extend the customer experience beyond the store.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
This episode’s sponsor:
Today’s episode is brought to you by Off Madison Ave. At Off Madison Ave, we create meaningful moments of brand trust and influence how people interact and engage with brands.
There is a science behind tapping into your audiences’ desires and motivation. After all, if you’re not changing your audiences’ behaviors, you can’t truly unlock all of your brand’s potential.
The proven models and methods of Behavior Design is the strategic foundation for your brands’ success.
Episode Transcript
Intro 0:02
This is From Persona to Personal podcast. Today's episode is brought to you by Off Madison Ave. Off Madison Ave creates meaningful moments of brand trust and influences how people interact and engage with brands. The science behind their approach taps into your audience's motivations and desires. After all, if you're not changing your audience's behaviors, you can't truly unlock all of your brand's potential. Now, let's get started with the show.
Roger Hurni 0:35
Hello, everyone, I am Roger Hurni, the host of From Persona to Personal where I get to speak with top leaders changing customer behavior so they can propel their brands forward. Before we get to today's very special guest. This episode is brought to you by Off Madison Ave, At Off Madison Ave, we use behavioral science to create meaningful moments of brand trust, which influences how people interact and engage with companies our behavior, the approach taps into your audience's motivation and prompts them to shift behavior. And if you're not shifting your audience's behaviors, you truly can't unlock all of your brand's potential. These proven behavioral models and methods are the strategic foundation for your brand success. Visit OffMadisonAve.com. To learn more. I have with me, another Arizona boy toy, the happy to have a little girl on the show. His name is Steve Kraus, and Steve is the founder and partner at press coffee. It is an amazing place to have coffee here in Arizona. Maybe even more importantly, and I think this says a lot about Steve since his bio said, please include that he's the father of twins in Zak and Zoey and husband to queen Tram Mai, who is a local legend and news anchor here and a lover of all things coffee. So I think that bio sort of speaks volumes about him. Steve, welcome to the show.
Steve Kraus 1:50
Hey, thanks for having me. I appreciate it. And the kind words of course.
Roger Hurni 1:54
Well, hopefully I didn't mess anything up there.
Steve Kraus 1:57
Not at all. She is the queen.
Roger Hurni 2:03
Well, I know that Press started in 2008, I believe. But I'm kind of curious as to what the inception was for the idea. I mean, certainly, there are plenty of coffee options available. So why start Press?
Steve Kraus 2:18
Well, to go further back, I had originally wanted to start a franchise Buffalo Wild Wings. And it was going to be far more challenging than I anticipated because of the amount of capital that was necessary to do it. So understanding that number, my wife stepped in and said, we should do a coffee shop. I spent all my years at UCLA searching for coffee shops, sitting in coffee shops studying at coffee shops. I said, okay, that sounds like a pretty, pretty interesting idea. From that point on it was, it was spent a year building a business plan and putting together what we thought would be above and beyond what people would expect from a local coffee shop. And so I went to coffee conventions. I did coffee school, I did barista school, and I knew that there was just going to be things that I was doing on the background that would separate us once we got the store open. And that's kind of where the idea came from. The name itself is, I shouldn't disclose this. It was originally Perked Java House. And they kept trimming up at night wondering does that really fit with who we are. What are we going to be is perk really it. And so she wakes up one morning and she says I've got a new name. I'm like, What's that? She goes, well, we're going to do French press. We're going to do panini press. We're going to do x, we're going to do y and so there's the press there. And she was of course I'm in the press. I said so let me guess You want to name this Press. She has yes, it's going to be Press Coffee. Moonwalk. And so that's where it all got started.
Roger Hurni 3:53
It's a very nice origin story. I love how people decide on company names. And that's a very good one. Well, since 2008, it's, it's grown quite a bit. I'm not exactly certain how many locations you currently have. So how many and how do you manage that growth?
Steve Kraus 4:13
Yeah, are currently at 12 locations. It has been a challenge to continuously grow. Because with growth requires, I call it more stress, more decisions, more structure. And when you're organically growing, you're trying to figure out what's best for each. Each situation may arise. Labor is single-handedly the hardest part to manage. There are things that you've got to follow rules, regulations, making sure the payrolls complete, making sure that there's onboarding processes for your employees. And then of course, there's the culture side. And so it had, has been a challenge. It's it's continuous with us going forward as we speak. There's nothing that ever says we have to settle down and rest Now, because we've got it all figured out, it's continuous, there's always a challenge in place, that we try to make ourselves better. And that's what we've always prided ourselves on. It's trying to make ourselves better in every aspect of of the show, from coffee to equipment, to structure to the brand itself, the identity. And then of course, the employees, are they happy? Are they getting everything they need? We just want to make sure that there's an environment for them to work and that it's safe, and exciting. And it gets to learn more about coffee. And of course, the hospitality and the service piece is always huge.
Roger Hurni 5:33
It sounds like you're attempting and rightfully so to grow smartly, not necessarily grow fast. You seem like a person who you have a certain culture and you want to make sure that that's protected. Is that Is that accurate?
Steve Kraus 5:48
Yeah, I would, I would say it's pretty accurate, you probably would have asked me that last year, I would have said something differently since we opened five new stores last year, but there was this little thing called COVID. That kind of put a pause and everything. And so last year was a long, hard year. But we got it, we got to figure it out. I think we were successful and opening the stores that we needed to open. And now we are given the opportunity to work on the business, he said have been the business as ours was.
Roger Hurni 6:15
Since you mentioned COVID. Let's go there for a minute. A lot of companies in particularly in the food and beverage space had to do quite a bit of pivoting, or they put plans on hold. It seems like it slowed your growth down. So how else did it affect you? And what kinds of lessons did you learn coming out of it?
Steve Kraus 6:35
I'm probably one of the few companies out there that I think benefited from it. And I know that's a weird thing to hear when it comes to COVID. But in Arizona, we were told to shut down completely. For us, we said to the staff, we're not firing anybody, you can continue to work, there'll be less hours, but we have an app. And so people utilize the app, and they were able to come in and grab their drinks. And as that time Our time went on, you could also come in and order. But in the background for us as owners and the leadership team, we were really able to kind of just settle down and take a look from the outside in and say where can we improve on. And I would say that long that year of COVID allowed for us to develop better strategies, better processes and process seeds to to make the company but as we tried to grow and so yes, it was difficult. Nobody liked going through COVID. But I think from our standpoint, we used it as an advantage to really able to take that time and effort to better the company.
Roger Hurni 7:42
In times of adversity, I know that the deep companies can find a way to get through it and grow and come out the other side. And usually COVID Being out once every 100 year kind of a thing may be that recession, any other sort of downturn? You know, that sort of just shakes out the people who don't run their businesses? Effectively? Um, you mentioned something else in your answer there that you know, you have an app. And that's what you use to pivot. And that's one of the primary marketing communications customer experiences channels that the food and beverage industry, quite frankly, hasn't brace far more than then I think any other industry that I deal with. And you know, before 2020, no one knew what's the deal? No one who had to deal with a QR code, right? And third party delivery systems. And also, I'm kind of curious as to what kind of value you still see with your app. And where do you see that going?
Steve Kraus 8:45
You nailed it. It is absolutely a major part of this industry right now. We were just at the restaurant leadership powered brands here in Arizona a couple weeks ago. And it was such a massive piece of conversation. third party app, how does AI play a role into that as well. For us, we wanted to create a convenience for people without adding a drive thru. We don't want to be a drive thru company we don't see ourselves as a drive thru company. We believe that our brand is just above what a drive thru is. And I don't want it to mean any other coffee companies out there. It's just you wouldn't go to a really beautiful Steakhouse and pull up to a window and grab a really nice steak. And this is kind of how we see ourselves. So the app itself has provided us the ability to grasp on to what people are looking for what their buying habits are. What does that convenience look like all the way up into dedicating a couple of parking spots for those for those places that we can actually do that. And so we find it as something that has been huge and beneficial for us and I think it's only going to get better boy.
Roger Hurni 9:55
Yeah, in full disclosure, I'm involved in another company that actually does An AI specifically or mobile apps, and everything that we see it and we work in a lot of other industries that we see is that it is, it is become the one tool that allows you to expend, extend the customer experience beyond the actual in store experience. And it's a way to have that consistent conversation. And I know that layering and AI on the mobile app slowly make that experience get get better and better. So you're in the same camp as a lot of a lot of people, but you'd be surprised to see that many, how many organizations still use it like, it's a utilitarian tool? Yeah, you can order it, you can use it as a, you know, collect your rewards Find a location. But they're not. They're not intelligently looking at the behavioral data. And I'm glad that you're looking at those habits. And it helps does make it does make informed decisions for you.
Steve Kraus 10:56
Oh, without a doubt, absolutely, we're getting ready to probably transition to a new platform or an app. Just because I think we've outgrown the current one. It's worked for us, but it has its challenges. And I think they're just gonna stay where they're at where they're happy. And for us, we're moving forward. And part of that is what you stated, this is the AI piece that needs to be attached into the app. Because that is important to understand the habits of our customers.
Roger Hurni 11:22
The app is the burden the hands were to in the bush, because it really extends the experience, as we said, but else. What do you else? What else do you do to help people get to know who presses and what you're all about?
Steve Kraus 11:35
So, you know, for us going forward that the app and the POS system, they need to tie together. And it's an important aspect of what that is. And we're excited to see where it goes. I mean, it's, it's a major, major competitive edge. Having that ability and having that advantage and understanding your customers and the customer. It has to be friendly customer has to be friendly, user friendly, for that matter. And I think there's so many of them that are out there now that are convoluted, bouncing from page to page, you don't understand what the pricing is, etc, etc. And it's so we find it intriguing to find out what that next level app is gonna be.
Roger Hurni 12:16
I’m kind of curious, you know, where do you see Press Coffee in 10 years?
Steve Kraus 12:22
Oh, gosh, it's a it's a good question. Because if you're looking at my business plan, it's always a year in advance. Because it's so hard to predict the future. I mean, you could have never predicted COVID If we go back to 2008, when I started this, we started right when the recession hit. And so I had no game plan for that. Nobody did. Right. I was at city north, this was supposed to be this conglomerate shopping center and it fell apart. And so for me to tell you where I'm going to be at in 10 years is probably nearly impossible. We could be in other states, we could have national distribution contracts with with grocery. I don't know, it's hard to say right now. Because, you know, sky's the limit for me. And as long as I have time to be with my family, time for myself and live that life where I'm at at my age. I think the opportunities are endless. They really are.
Roger Hurni 13:18
But there's no, I want to see it be this. I feel like your real interest. You know, what, 10 years now, if we're known for amazingly great coffee, I'm good. That's what they'd be like to cigarette?
Steve Kraus 13:33
Yeah, you're 100%. Right. I think I think as time went on, and people started to recognize my brand. Now more than ever, it's still it still puts that happy feeling in my stomach when somebody says, Oh, yeah, no press is awesome. I go there all the time, no different than that conversation you and I had before this started. There's a lot of sense of pride in that. Because I know where we started, I know where it's at now. So in 10 years, if I'm looked at as a national brand of specialty coffee. Now, of course, I'm going to be I'm GOING TO BE ON CLOUD NINE, to say the least. A lot of people would say, you know, I, I want to be here and I want to have this and I want to have that for me, I have an amazing family. I've got a great staff, the team that is working hard to make this company better. And those are the things that I gravitate to. Those are the things that make me happy. 20 years ago, I would kill I'd bought a BMW or I'd want a boat or this, that or the other. Now I don't care. I just care about the success of the people that work for me. And the continued success across and my partners I would believe would probably say the exact same thing.
Roger Hurni 14:39
Yeah, the very, very wise word said you can set everybody else on a path. You know, you'll see that your success is defined by theirs. And I certainly subscribe to that. Things are going well. You are in a really good position. So what keeps you up at night? What's that channel times that you're facing that you stress about
Steve Kraus 15:03
labor. And it's probably not just,
Roger Hurni 15:10
I'm sorry to laugh, but like, I know, but you didn't get it. That's the hard part, you've had the 80% of the answer that I get a zillion. People management is tough. And I
Steve Kraus 15:21
wouldn't say and this is no discredit to my braces, the things that keep me up at night are the people that are on my immediate team, and that are running everything. And so that part of it is important to me. Because they make the decisions, they step in, and they have support that the company the way I wanted to, so if they're not happy if they're not succeed, and that's going to be a difficult position to put me. And, you know, I wouldn't say we ride them on on skin and bones, but a lot of companies are right now. And I want to make sure that the people that are helping drive this company to where they are, are taken care of. They're in a happy place, and they feel like they're in a position where they're growing, personally and professionally. Um, so I would say if there was anything that kept me up at night, it's probably that and occasionally a piece of machinery that breaks in the middle of the day that I can't continue production on that would definitely bother me. But those days are kind of over. I've got the right, right equipment in place now. But, but staffing is, is probably one thing that keeps me out.
Roger Hurni 16:25
Okay, fair enough. Book. Good. Let's go to the other side of that question. What's, what's the thing that you're most excited about that's going on right now? Well,
Steve Kraus 16:33
without taking the top off the the excitement, we we are going to extend our relationship with sprouts. And so that shall shall happen late 2023 in early 2024 Are those are they you know, I have a store within a store at Sprouts right now. And I just feel like the two brands together are really, really powerful. And so look at that, to see that. When we opened up at seventh Ave and Osborn. It was pretty exciting. I mean, it was really exciting to see my my side up on a big grocery store. And it's pretty crazy, man, I just could never have envisioned this. So when you asked me what what I see in 10 years, I didn't see this three years ago. And so I thought it was a really cool idea. It was a really cool dream that something would happen. And I'm like, Man, gosh, I mean, my wife walked in she's like in tears and, and and so on and so on. Because we open a lot of stores and people like Are you excited? I'm like, Yeah, I'm excited. But you know, it's like waiting to see the world series over and over again. You start to get used to it. It's a little job without sounding bad. Everybody who's in this business understands that manda sprouts, sprouts deal was like I was just it was so cool to be a part of. And I still feel that way now. So that's the part that I probably really excited about
Roger Hurni 17:56
where this year, you need more merch. So this way, when you're at the grocery store, when you're shopping through the President's got a press copy t shirt on, that'll be really good.
Steve Kraus 18:05
I I've seen that. I'll share quick two minute story I was I go to a golf trip each year with 12. Guys, and we were in Wisconsin planet, of course called Erin hills. And I have a press coffee bag. And so the guy the caddies walking up behind me say how do you know press coffee? And I'm like, founder and owner, he's you got to be kidding me? Are you serious? I'm like, Yeah, and he's like, I went to ASU, I spent all my time at your your coffee shop. So here I am in Wisconsin, and this kid walks out of left field my caddy no less talking about it. So I mean, those are things that just, those are exciting times when people recognize your brand. And you see a t shirt on somewhere you see my my mug somewhere. It's just a feel good all the way around. No matter what.
Roger Hurni 18:54
Those are also really good learning moments to ask. I know it's a one person focus group at that point. But toys find out what do you love about press? Yeah, and it's just a good, it's just a really good learning experience. I wouldn't agree with you've been really wonderful with your time, I do believe that everybody. Particularly if you start your own company, you end up getting lots of advice, and some of it ends up being pretty bad. And you have to navigate what you need to ignore, and what you don't and ignoring some advice every once in a while actually is really beneficial. So everyone's always asking, like, What's the best advice you ever had given that follow your passion? Um, I'd like to know what's the worst advice you've ever gotten?
Steve Kraus 19:40
Taking money when I don't know what to do with it. Taking money, taking money and growing your business. I can give you a million dollars right now let's grow this thing. I just don't understand how that process is through people's minds because there's just no way of of understanding where you're gonna go with money. It Just because I'm gonna open another coffee shop or buy a new piece of equipment doesn't necessarily mean that these things are going to get better. But there was a reason why I took on my partner. I mean, he came to the table with ideas, and branding and marketing and business development. That's what I need. It's not just I wasn't good at that, operationally, I can run coffee shops all day long. I can visit flow and equipment, but like to take this thing from one to three stores up to 12. Now, I needed that aspect. So the worst advice is somebody saying, I'll give you money, and we'll grow this. Don't do that. Don't ever do that. So you have everything, your ducks in a row, it's not worth it. Take somebody on that's going to work in the business, on your business, before you do anything else, because you need somebody as a support mechanism to make your business.
Roger Hurni 20:46
Yeah, I think that I think it's sage advice. There's, I think there's a residual effect of everybody who went to college in the 90s. That is a holdover from the.com era where the the business was start a company get VC go public get rich, like that was the business plan. Exactly. That was generally is not a good idea, as we've seen historically.
Steve Kraus 21:16
Yeah, I'm Wait, yeah, it's funny, one of the things you said is that the things you listen to, and you start to figure out are hilarious. I share this with, with a lot of my friends and a half and people know for us, and one of the things you're going to hear the most, especially in the hospitality industries, you're gonna have customers come up to you, and they're gonna, they're gonna give you the shirt odds. And they're like, What do you mean, the shut offs? I can't tell you how many times I've heard, you know, what you should do? Or what you should do, you should do? And I'm like, Oh, my gosh, you know what? You're probably right. But I don't think it's a good idea. So most people don't recognize I tell people, they don't recognize what's going on in the background, they don't realize that every decision you make is going to have an effect on your business. And that was the biggest struggle from growing from one to two to three stores to 12 stores. Because every decision we make now affects all 12 of Marshalls, right? So when we sit in a room, we have to make a decision that says, okay, we can do this, we can execute it. We can execute it at this level, but it has to be executed every store has community communicated right. So the short answer Great. In the beginning, I probably took a few of them that were worth something. But now it's like, you have no idea. I tried to tell him I just don't have an idea of why and what a decision is consistent.
Roger Hurni 22:31
Yeah. It didn't get really good advice. I think staying on the path without taking the right kind of advice, staying on the path without deviating veering off course you don't want to find yourself. Five years down the road going how did we build this? Because it's not what we set out to do. Yeah, you didn't want to ever be in that position. Well, you have been absolutely wonderful with your time, and I really appreciate you being on the podcast. I have been speaking with Steve Kraus. He's the founder and partner at Press Coffee. Steve, where can people learn more about you and press coffee?
Steve Kraus 23:07
Our website is presscoffee.com, p-r-e-s-s coffee dot com, Instagram same, Twitter's the same, Facebook's the same. Those are great ways to get started. And look, we're doing it. We also offer a one on one. If you're here locally, on Saturday mornings, I highly recommend signing up for one of those classes. It'll take you to to another level of coffee you never thought you know.
Roger Hurni 23:28
Nice. I like it. Okay, well, clearly, I've got my marching orders. Thank you again, everyone. I am Roger Hurni. This is From Persona to Personal and we'll see you next time.
Outro 23:41
Thanks for listening to From Persona to Personal, the podcast that takes a closer look into how organizations personalize their marketing. We'll see you again next time and be sure to click Subscribe to get future episodes.
