Tim Herbel is not your average entrepreneur, and Not Your Average Joe is not your average business. The always energetic and enthusiastic Herbel started Not Your Average Joe as a coffee shop that employs students and adults with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities. Unemployment among adults with special needs is a staggering 77.5%, and Herbel made Not Your Average Joe’s mission to reduce that number. Further differentiating Not Your Average Joe is that it operates as a 501(C) nonprofit with an entrepreneurial mindset when it comes to innovation and growth.
Originally started as a singular Oklahoma location five years ago with four employees, Not Your Average Joe has seen massive expansion. The coffee shop chain now has six locations and employs almost 200 people, with plans for more. On this episode of the “Only The Strong Survive” podcast, host Dan Kahn discusses with Herbel all that he has learned on the amazing journey that is Not Your Average Joe Coffee. From exploring successfully growing a non-profit to evolving as a leader, the interview is worth a listen. Click on the icon above to hear the full episode. Here are our top five takeaways:
The mission of your brand matters.
People won’t support your mission if you don’t have a quality product.
Non-profits should share their success with others to make the biggest impact.
Asking for help is critical to leadership.
Building an effective organization is more about circles than pyramids.
Your Mission Is Important
People want to connect with brands now more than ever that serve a larger purpose than solely making a profit. The mission of your company is absolutely important and not just a forgotten paragraph on a website. Not Your Average Joe is proof of this, as high school and college students have raised significant sums of money to help build new locations. They strongly believe in and support Not Your Average Joe’s mission and want to see it succeed.
“The altruism of college students and the wholeness of our mission are good combinations. So that fire started to spread across the city, and then local high schools started raising money,” said Herbel. “Our model moving forward is we need about $300K (to open a new location). Two high schools in Edmond, Oklahoma, Deer Creek High School and Edmond Santa Fe, went in together, and one raised $120K and the other $180K. That is our $300K magic number, so we will be in Edmond this fall. The students of Moore Public Schools just raised $228K. We have to get the other $72K, but we should have a store in Edmond and Moore by the end of the year.”
Having a Quality Product is Just as Important
Calling Not Your Average Joe a coffee shop is like calling a Ferrari a car. Yes, Not Your Average Joe sells coffee and food, but it is a far cry from a Denny’s. Both the coffee and the food Not Your Average Joe serves are absolutely exceptional. That quality matters because, while people might believe in your mission, it is hard for them to support it if your products are subpar.
“We did from the beginning know that we had to have great coffee,” said Herbel. “We focus on SCA, which stands for the Specialty Coffee Association, training. We have the first female roaster certified by the SCA in the state of Oklahoma. We are the only coffee shop in the state of Oklahoma to send a barista to the U.S. Barista Championship. Now, we have the first and only Native American female certified coffee roaster in the world. We did that, and then we put together a good menu, so arguably, we have the best turkey club sandwich in Oklahoma City.”
“Export” Your Success
It is easy to see that Not Your Average Joe is a success. However, Herbel doesn’t want to covet that accomplishment or keep it within the walls of his coffee shops. Not Your Average Joe's mission is to reduce the shockingly high unemployment among those with special needs. He can make a more significant impact on reducing that number if he can help other brands participate beyond Not Your Average Joe.
“Our voice has been able to be heard now among the biggest businesses in Oklahoma and beyond,” says Herbel. “For example, we have done corporate training with Boeing, for the Choctaw Nation and for the Metropolitan Library System. One of our income streams is going out and training businesses how to do what we do in terms of making jobs accessible and making the way attainable.”
Leaders Ask for Help
Business leaders often have pretty big egos, and sometimes, rightfully so. However, that same ego that helped build a business can also destroy it. Thinking you know the solution to every problem is a surefire way to slow or reverse your brand's growth. A true leader will recognize their limitations, ask for help and surround themselves with people who can assist them.
“I graduated valedictorian from high school and summa cum laude from college with a master's. I thought I had all the answers,” says Herbel. “It wasn’t until I failed and learned from failure that I learned what leadership is. Leadership is about being transparent and saying, ‘I don’t know, and I could use your help.’ Learning to ask for help as a leader is hard. But if you do it, you get surrounded by a good team.”
The Circular Org Chart
Most organizations envision their organizational charts as rigid pyramids. For Herbel, that approach doesn’t work and is outdated. Instead, he sees Not Your Average Joe as more circular and almost like a tire. Individuals form each section of the “tire” to create teams that can lean on each other for support. That “tire” then helps support the larger corporation and moves it forward.
“We are trying to build a circular organization chart here,” says Herbel. “The idea is that we are teams. Somewhere on that ‘tire’ where the rubber meets the road, there is an individual on that slice of pie or those spokes. They are in charge of that space, but they are not by themselves. You have to lean on each other to be strong. That is how the tire works. We don’t go anywhere without those tires.”
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