Sourcing Local and Social Capital

We had just hired our first manager and she was struggling to get the complexity of ordering supplies for our coffeeshop. The business had grown and it was time to hand off some of the tasks that the owners had typically done. Managing inventory and placing orders with our local suppliers was one of them. But rather than feeling freed up I was starting to feel frustrated with her.

I had always enjoyed this job. It was simple and straightforward to me. I had created inventory sheets with appropriate par levels and rules for how to adjust the pars. I had created a spreadsheet of all of our vendors and their contact information. I had trained our manager extensively. But every week something went wrong. She forgot to order something. She ordered too little or too much. She couldn't get in touch with a vendor.

Things were inconsistent in the shop and the baristas, customers and I were all feeling it. I wanted to blame the manager for doing a bad job. But as I discussed the problem with her she expressed overwhelm, confusion and lack of time to do the job. This didn't make sense to me. This job was easy and fun. And I had built the tools to do it. Why was she struggling?

It wasn't her personality or ability. This was the type of job she could do and generally felt satisfaction with. It was something else.

The clue was in her experience of not having enough time. "Every time I order I have to go to a different place. I call some people. I text others. I use a website for still others. It's all a jumbled mess! Why can't we just have one supplier like everyone else?!"

That's when it hit me. It's a jumbled mess because she was experiencing this job as an impossibly long to do list, while I experienced it as a chance to connect with my friends. She was approaching it as a task to get done so she could feel the relief of completion. I approached it from a place of purposeful relationship and experienced connection and the strengthening of social capital.

What I had failed to understand was that this job would never go well if it was just about getting it done. It was (and continues to be) complex and overwhelming! Instead, I realized that the most important thing I needed to build into the training was not logistics, but relationships. When I placed an order for caramels, I was texting my friend Ali who I had known for 8 years and worked alongside in our neighborhood. When I placed an order for looseleaf tea I was using my friend Andrea's brand new website that she had poured her heart into. When I called Carol for honey I was reconnecting with someone I'd met at our local farmers market and who had come to our shop to do a honey tasting event for our customers.

Over the years, I had built social capital with these suppliers. Ordering from them wasn't about getting a job done (though it included that). Instead, it was about reconnecting with a fellow small business owner. Often our conversations would turn to a local challenge we were both facing, or congratulating each other on a big sale or new milestone in our business.

I realized that my manager had none of that social capital that I had with these vendors. And the only way to set her up for success was to share my social capital; to nurture a new layer of social connection between my manager and the vendors.

When sourcing locally, the job of doing inventory and placing orders isn't only about checking off the order list; it's about nurturing connection and weaving interdependence with the people in our community. As a result, our social capital grows and we all become more resilient!