How a Simple Idea Became a Huge Business

我怎样白手起家

要是我有个水晶球能窥见未来，我会怎么样呢?

许多人一遇到障碍就打退堂鼓，但我不会这样。

我一旦有了目标，就必然锲而不舍，全力以赴。

我相信人生中充满机会，但我们往往不懂得把握。

By Howard Schultz

霍华德・舒尔茨

[1]When I was a child growing up in public-housing projects in Canarsie, Brooklyn, I remember lying in bed at night thinking: what if I had a crystal ball『水晶球』and could see the future? But I quickly shut out『摒弃』the thought. I realized I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. All I knew was I had to get out of the projects, get out of Brooklyn.

[1]小时候我住在纽约市布鲁克林区卡纳西的房租低廉的住宅区，有一天夜里躺在床上思量：要是我有个水晶球能窥见未来，我会怎么样呢?不过我迅即抛开了这个念头。我知道自己在人生路上仍然漫无目标，只知道必须设法离开这里，离开布鲁克林。

【额外知识】Brooklyn：美国纽约市的五大行政区之一(其余四区是曼哈顿、布朗克斯、昆斯和里士满)，为黑人和穷人聚居区。

[2]I was fortunate to go to college, but I didn't know what to do next. I had no mentor 『导师;良师』to help me sort out my options『选择』. My main goal was to escape the struggles my working-class parents lived with every day.

[2]后来我有幸上了大学，却不知道下一步该怎么走，也没有人替我指点迷津。我的父母都是工人阶级，每天都必须操劳，而我当时最大的愿望就是不步他们的后尘。

[3]Eventually I discovered I had a talent for sales, and was hired by a Swedish housewares corporation. By age 28, I was vice president in charge of sales in the United States. I had an excellent salary and a co-op『合作』apartment in New York City, and was happily married to a beautiful woman, Sheri. My parents couldn't believe I had come so far so fast. The life I was leading was beyond their best dreams for me.

[3]我发现自己善于推销，便进入了一家瑞典人开的家庭用品公司工作。我表现出色，28岁就晋升为主管国内销售的副总裁，薪金优厚。我买了套住宅，又娶了如花似玉的妻子--雪瑞，生活舒适愉快。连我的父母都不敢相信我会如此飞黄腾达。他们从未梦想过我能过上这样的生活。

[4]Most people would be satisfied with all this. But I was getting antsy『热锅上蚂蚁般的;坐立不安的』. I wanted to be in charge of my own destiny 『命运』. It was around this time, in the early 1980s, that I became aware of a strange phenomenon. A little retailer『零售商』in Seattle was placing large orders for a drip coffee maker: a simple plastic cone 『圆锥体』set on a thermos『保温瓶』. The company, Starbucks Coffee and Tea, had only four small stores, yet it was buying our product in quantities larger than Macy's was. Why was Seattle so taken with this coffee maker when the rest of the country was using electric coffee makers?

[4]一般人有了如此成就，也许会志得意满，我却还想更上一层楼，决意要主宰自己的命运。就在这个时候(80年代初期)，一个奇特现象引起了我的注意。西雅图有家经营零售业的小公司向我们订购滴滤式咖啡壶。这家公司名叫"明星咖啡连锁公司"，只有4家小店，向我们买这种产品的数量却超过百货业巨擘梅西公司。当时美国各地普通使用电气咖啡壶。何以此器具在西雅图那么受欢迎?

【额外知识】

Seattle：美国西北部华盛顿州首府。濒临太平洋，著名的波音(Boeing)飞机制造公司坐落于此。

Macy's：即R. H. Macy & Co.梅西公司。美国资格最老、最著名的百货公司，总部设在纽约。

[5]I had to find out, so I went to Seattle.

[5]为了查明原委，我前往西雅图。

Fresh Approach

浓郁香气扑鼻而来

[6]Starbucks's flagship store was modest『朴素的』but full of character. The minute the door opened, a heady『刺鼻的;浓烈的』aroma『芳香』of coffee drew me in. Behind a wooden counter stood bins containing coffees from all over: Sumatra, Kenya, Ethiopia, Costa Rica. Along one wall was a shelf full of coffee-related merchandise『商品;货物』, including our thermos-and-cone coffee maker.

[6]明星咖啡连锁公司的总店朴实无华，却别具风格。我一推开店门，浓郁醉人的咖啡香气便扑鼻而来。木柜台后面有一列箱子，分别装盛从苏门答腊、肯尼亚、埃塞俄比亚和哥斯达黎加世界各地进口的咖啡。靠着墙的货架上摆满各种咖啡用具，包括我们生产的滴滤式咖啡壶。

[7]The counterman scooped『用勺舀』out Sumatran coffee beans, ground『grind的过去式。磨;碾碎』them, put the grounds in a filter『过滤器』 in the cone and poured hot water over them to give me a sample of their product. When he handed me the coffee, the aroma enveloped『笼罩;掩盖』my entire face. I took a tentative『实验性的;试探性的』sip.

[7]柜台服务员用勺子舀出少许苏门答腊咖啡豆，磨成粉，倒入滴滤式咖啡壶的滤格，浇下热水，冲一杯咖啡供我品尝。他把杯子递过来时，咖啡的香气笼罩了我的脸。我浅尝了一口。

[8]Whoa. My eyes shot wide open. It was stronger than any coffee I had ever tasted. By comparison, I realized, the coffee I had been drinking was swill『洗碟水;泔水』. That night I had dinner with one of Starbucks's owners, Jerry Baldwin. I had never heard anyone talk about a product the way Jerry talked about coffee. He wasn't just calculating『算计』 how to maximize『使增加/扩大到最大限度』 sales. He and his partner, Gordon Bowker, believed they were providing customers with something they ought to enjoy. It was an approach to business that was fresh and appealing『动人的;有吸引力的』to me.

[8]"哇!"我心里赞叹，不由得两眼圆睁。这是我有生以来所喝过的最浓烈的咖啡，以前喝的咖啡相形之下像洗碟水。当晚我跟明星咖啡连锁公司的股东杰里・巴登一起吃饭。我以前从未见过有谁像他谈咖啡那样谈论某些产品。巴登不只是努力推销而已：他和合伙人戈登・博格都相信，他们所卖的都是顾客会喜爱的东西。这样的经商态度令我耳目一新，也为之心折。

Inexplicable Attraction

不可言喻的吸引力

[9]I tried to persuade Jerry Baldwin to hire me-although it did not seem to be a logical career move. Taking a job at Starbucks would mean giving up my job and Sheri's job-and for what? Moving across the country to join a tiny outfit 『公司;机构』with four coffee stores? It didn't make sense to my friends or family, especially my mother. "You're doing well-you have a future," she argued. "Don't give it up for a small company nobody's heard of ."

[9]我想说服巴登雇用我--老实说，此举似乎并不明智。我如果去明星咖啡连锁公司上班，就必须辞去现在的职位，而我的妻子也必须放弃现在的工作。我的亲友，尤其是母亲，都认为我的想法没有道理。"你现在干得很不错--前途远大，"她劝道："不要为一个谁都没有听说过的小公司而放弃现在的工作。"

[10]I thought of the loss of security『保障』, remembering how when I was seven my father had broken his ankle at work. He was stuck at home for more than a month. He was a truck driver delivering diapers『尿布』, so when he didn't work, he didn't get paid. Our family had no income, no health insurance『保险』-nothing to fall back on. That image of my father-slumped『垂头弯腰地坐』on the couch, leg in a cast-was burned into my mind.

[10]我考虑的是失去保障，不禁想起7岁那年父亲工作时摔断踝骨，在家里困了一个多月的往事。他的职业是开卡车运送尿布，不上班就没有工资，我们一家人的生活顿时陷入困境。他一条腿裹着石膏颓然坐在长沙发上的情景，深深印在我的记忆中。

[11]But Starbucks held an inexplicable attraction for me. During the year after my first visit, I found reasons to get back to Seattle several times. Then in the spring of 1982, Jerry and Gordon invited me to meet board『董事会』member Steve Donovan.

[11]但是，对我来说，明星咖啡连锁公司有不可言喻的吸引力。其后我在一年之内又找借口去了西雅图几趟，到1982年春天，巴登和博格邀我去会晤公司董事史蒂夫・坦南瓦尔德。

[12]The meeting went exceptionally well. I told them how I had served Starbucks coffee to my friends in New York, how enthusiastic『极感兴趣的』they had been. Starbucks could be so much bigger, I argued. It could grow beyond the Northwest. It could become a national company.

[12]会晤时气氛极好。我告诉他们，我曾经用明星咖啡连锁公司的咖啡招待纽约的朋友，尝过的人都赞不绝口。我又指出，这公司其实可以大展宏图，冲出西北部发展成为全国大企业。

[13]The partners seemed inspired『振奋;感动』by my vision『构想;见解』. Back in New York the next day, I eagerly awaited Jerry's call. But they had decided not to hire me. "Your plans sound great," Jerry said. "But that's just not the vision we have for Starbucks." Instead of charming『吸引』them, I had spooked『使受惊吓;使胆怯』them.

[13]三位股东似乎欣赏我的见解。第二天我回到纽约，急切等候巴登的电话。但是他们决定不雇用我。巴登说："你的计划好极了，只可惜不符合我们经营明星咖啡连锁公司的方针。

A Trip to Italy

意大利之行

[14]I still believed so much in the future of Starbucks that I couldn't accept "no" as a final answer. I had to join this company.

[14]我对明星咖啡连锁公司的前途仍深具信心，不甘就此罢休。

[15]The next day I called Jerry back. "Jerry," I protested, "this isn't about me. It's about your company." I spoke and he heard me out, then fell silent. "Let me sleep on it," he said. "I'll call you tomorrow."

[15]第二天我又打电话过去。"巴登，"我说，"这不是为我自己着想，而是为你们公司…?quot;他耐心倾听，然后沉默了一阵。"让我再想一晚，"他说，"明天给你回音。"

[16]Perhaps he slept; I certainly didn't.

[16]也许他睡了一觉，可是我却整夜未眠。

[17]The next morning I picked up the phone on the first ring. "You have the job, Howard," he said. "When can you come?"

[17]次日早晨，电话铃一响我就拿起听筒。"我们决定雇用你，"巴登说，"什么时候来上班?"

[18]So many times I've been told something can't be done. But if I believe in it, I can't let it go. Part of my determination comes from my enthusiasm, and part is fear of failure. The example of my dad was always in my mind. An honest man who worked hard and loved his children, he was never able to take control of his life and climb out of the hole of blue-collar jobs-truck driver, factory worker, cabdriver-that left him a beaten man.

[18]许多人一遇到障碍就打退堂鼓。但是我不会这样;我一旦有了目标，就必然锲而不舍，全力以赴。我能如此坚毅，一方面是凭着满腔热诚，另一方面是畏惧失败。我常常想起父亲坎坷的一生。他为人诚恳、工作勤奋、爱护儿女，却一直不能掌控自己的人生方向，不能摆脱蓝领工人的地位--卡车司机、工厂工人或出租汽车司机--以致抱撼终身。

[19]After I had been at Stabucks for a year, I had an experience that changed my life. I went to Milan to attend an international housewares show. On my first morning I noticed a little espresso『浓咖啡』bar. Behind the counter a tall, thin man was cheerfully greeting customers.

[19]进明星咖啡连锁公司一年之后，由于另一件事，我的人生又有了大转变。我去意大利米兰参观国际家庭用品展览，第一天早晨便注意到会场里有个小小的蒸馏咖啡吧。柜台后面有个高高瘦瘦的男人在笑吟吟地招呼顾客。

[20]"Espresso?" He asked, holding out a cup. After three sips it was gone, but I could still feel its warmth and energy.

[20]"蒸馏咖啡?" 他问，然后递给我一杯。我啜吸三口就喝光了，不过咖啡的香浓温暖我却至今难忘。

[21]That day I discovered the romance『浪漫情调』and ritual『规矩;习惯』of coffee bars in Italy. My mind started churning 『翻腾』. My company's connection to coffee lovers did not have to be limited to their homes, where they ground and brewed『煮』our coffee. What we should do was sell coffee by the cup, in coffee bars.

[21]那天我见识了意大利咖啡吧的浪漫格调和营业作风。我于是开始动脑筋。其实，我们公司和咖啡爱好者的关系不必局限在他们家里。我们何不开设咖啡吧，论杯卖咖啡，让他们不必自行研磨冲泡也能喝到我们的咖啡?

[22]On my return to Seattle, however, my bosses argued that Starbucks was a retailer, not a restaurant or a bar. They pointed out that Starbucks was successful. Why rock『使摇摆』the boat?

[22]回到西雅图后，我向老板提出此计划，他们却不以为然，强调明星咖啡连锁公司是零售业者，不是餐厅或酒吧。他们还指出公司很赚钱，何必冒风险另辟蹊径?

[23]I was torn between loyalty『忠诚』 to Starbucks and confidence in my vision for coffee bars. In the end I followed my vision. With Sheri's support, in late 1985 I left Starbucks and started my own company, Il Giornale.

[23]我对公司当然应该忠心耿耿，可是我对咖啡吧计划也充满信心，认为值得一试，因此左右为难。最后，我决定实现自己的计划。在妻子雪瑞的支持下，我1985年冬天离开明星咖啡连锁公司，创办了伊尔・乔尔纳莱公司。

[24]Within six months we were serving more than a thousand customers a day in our tiny Seattle store. It became a gathering place-just like the espresso bars in Italy. We opened a second store six months after the first, and a third one in Vancouver.

[24]不到半年，我们在西雅图开的小店每天都有1000多位顾客光临。第一家店开张6个月后，我们开了第二家，然后在温哥华开了第三家。

[25]In March 1987 Jerry Baldwin and Gordon Bowker decided to sell their Starbrcks stores. As soon as I heard, I knew I had to buy. With the support of my Il Giornale investors, Starbucks was mine five months later. I had a chance to accomplish my dreams, but I also had the hopes and fears of nearly a hundred people resting on my shoulders. It was electrifying『令人振奋的』, but also frightening.

[25]1987年3月，巴登和博格决定出售明星咖啡连锁公司。我一听到消息，就知道我非承购不可。伊尔・乔尔纳莱公司的股东都表示支持，于是5个月后，明星咖啡连锁公司便归我所有。我有了实现雄心壮志的机会，却也肩负了将近100人的希望与忧虑，心里既振奋又惶恐不安。

[26]At the same time I was facing a huge personal crisis『危机』. My father was dying. In January 1988 I went home to see my dad one last time. But it was the saddest day of my life. He'd had no savings, no pension『养老金』. More important, he had never attained fulfillment『满足』and dignity『尊严』from work.

[26]也在这时候，我父亲病入膏肓。1988年1月，我回家去见他最后一面。那是我生平最悲伤的一天。他没有积蓄，没有养老金。更糟的是，他不曾从工作中体会过尊严和成就感。

[27]Although I didn't plan it this way, Starbucks has become a living legacy 『遗产』of my dad. I've tried to be the kind of employer I wish he had worked for. Starbucks now has more than 1500 stores and 25,000 employees. Unlike other retailers, we provide stock options and full health benefits, even for part-time employees.

[27]虽然我不是有意为之，明星咖啡连锁公司却已成了纪念先父的事业。他一生从未遇到过好雇主，因此我身体力行，决意做个好老板。我们的作风跟一般零售业者不同：所有员工包括兼职者都享有优先认股权，以及周全的保健福利。

[28]In the years since I first heard of Starbucks, I've often wondered: what would have happened had I just accepted Jerry Baldwin's decision not to hire me? Most people, when turned down 『拒绝』for a job, just go away.

[28]这些年来我时常揣摩：当年听到巴登说不雇用我的时候我如果默然认命，今天会是什么局面?大多数人求职遭到拒绝后，只是一走了之。

[29]I believe life is a series of near misses. A lot of what we ascribe to『归于』luck is not luck at all. It's seizing the day and accepting responsibility for your future. It's seeing what other people don't see and pursuing『追求』that vision.

[29]我相信人生中充满机会，但我们往往不懂得把握。我们归功于运气的成就，有许多其实与运气完全无关，应归功于当机立断、敢作敢为，见人之所未见，坚持不懈。

【疯狂翻译练习】

1. 我有幸上了大学，却不知道下一步该怎么走。(2)

2. 我想主宰自己的命运。(4)

3. 我的亲友，尤其是母亲，都认为我的想法没有道理。(9)

4. 进明星咖啡连锁公司一年之后，由于另一件事，我的人生又有了大转变。(19)

5. I realized I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life.(1)

6. The life I was leading was beyond their best dreams for me.(3)

7. I had a chance to accomplish my dreams, but I also had the hopes and fears of nearly a hundred people resting on my shoulders.(25)

8. More important, he had never attained fulfillment and dignity from work.(26)