Honesty

Written on 4:29 PM by O

It was early summer last year when I had the chance to try Honest Tea. A classmate of mine brought some in as a representative of the group. She was paid to introduce her friends and acquaintances to something she loved. I was curious about the idea and decided to look on the website to check out the history of the mildly sweetened ‘real tea’. It was there I found the story and Seth Goldman, the man with the idea and drive who got the company started.

Like most entrepreneurship stories, this one began with an idea hatched years before any action took place. Seth Goldman and his professor Barry Nalebuff had an idea for a thirst quenching liquid that wouldn’t be sweet as soda or bland as flavored water. After years of doing other things (and doing them quite well if I may say), Goldman quit his job without guarantee that he would be successful in his venture, and began brewing tea in his kitchen.

There were other types of commercialized bottled tea in the market but this was not anything to worry about as far as Goldman was concerned. He found out from his long-time professor (now business partner), that most well-known brands of bottled tea they would compete with are made from the leftover dust and fannings not the real thing. To ensure the success of his brand Goldman would be honest with consumers; he would provide them with tea made from the good stuff.

The company has now grown from making $250,000 in 1998 to $23,000,000 in 2008 with only 52 employees. My good friend read somewhere and makes it a point to repeat: “Why not go out on a limb? That’s where the fruit is!” And perhaps there’s a point to be made about the choice of the brand name. The tea is healthy and gives the consumer a chance to enjoy something good, and the product is obtained via a fair trade agreement, so it is honest as production gets, hence: Honest Tea.

This is what true entrepreneurship should be about: giving a service or product worth paying for. Thus, it is the charge of the OBJectives to give this our best shot. We will keep each other honest about our motives and the process will yield a product worth the hype!

Drink of Choice for today: Honest Tea