Barefoot Spirit
List at least 7 practical lessons that can be summarized in a sentence Provide an anecdote from the history of Barefoot Wines that illustrates each of the nuggets you identify.
1. When you get into a corner you say “Hey, look, a puppy!” – Although this sounds a bit silly, it is a great lesson when you are in a board room or in a meeting and backed into a corner with nowhere to go. You simply change the subject to release the tension and focus on something else that will possibly lead to some solutions instead of going down the same path over and over. When Michael was in the meeting at Souverain to try and get some of Mark Lyons money back from money they owed him for his 1984 crop and realized that this winery had absolutely no money to give him, he changed the subject by asking about the silver locomotive he had been staring at through the window. While this lightened the high strung tension in the room it also opened up another conversation and gave Michael an idea of how to get Mark’s money back. He would take what he found out was wine in those silver locomotives, bottle and sell it.
2. You learn what the job is and then you do it – This lesson came about when Michael had worked so hard to do exactly what Don Brown, they wine buyer for Lucky Brand stores, wanted him to do when it came to making a new wine. Once he did everything asked of him, Don told him he wasn’t going to buy his wine yet, Michael had to prove that he could sell it. As frustrating as this was, it was a new job. The first job was to make it and now the new job was to prove it would sell. Many times in business plans change and you have to find out what the job is and then do it. If you try to do the wrong job, you will get nowhere.
3. Worthy Cause Marketing is a way to support good people and programs and a good way to promote that feels genuine – Since Barefoot was running on the bare minimum, even below that, one thing they didn’t have money for was marketing. Michael and
1. When you get into a corner you say “Hey, look, a puppy!” – Although this sounds a bit silly, it is a great lesson when you are in a board room or in a meeting and backed into a corner with nowhere to go. You simply change the subject to release the tension and focus on something else that will possibly lead to some solutions instead of going down the same path over and over. When Michael was in the meeting at Souverain to try and get some of Mark Lyons money back from money they owed him for his 1984 crop and realized that this winery had absolutely no money to give him, he changed the subject by asking about the silver locomotive he had been staring at through the window. While this lightened the high strung tension in the room it also opened up another conversation and gave Michael an idea of how to get Mark’s money back. He would take what he found out was wine in those silver locomotives, bottle and sell it.
2. You learn what the job is and then you do it – This lesson came about when Michael had worked so hard to do exactly what Don Brown, they wine buyer for Lucky Brand stores, wanted him to do when it came to making a new wine. Once he did everything asked of him, Don told him he wasn’t going to buy his wine yet, Michael had to prove that he could sell it. As frustrating as this was, it was a new job. The first job was to make it and now the new job was to prove it would sell. Many times in business plans change and you have to find out what the job is and then do it. If you try to do the wrong job, you will get nowhere.
3. Worthy Cause Marketing is a way to support good people and programs and a good way to promote that feels genuine – Since Barefoot was running on the bare minimum, even below that, one thing they didn’t have money for was marketing. Michael and