Café Biz Brisbane – Panel Discussion: Success by learning from others.

Coffee Anthology recently snagged the title of Australia’s best café, receiving an impressive 9.6 out of 10 in Beanhunter’s Top Café in Australia Awards. Adam Wang’s Brisbane business beat powerful showings from Melbourne’s Proud Mary and Sydney’s Coffee Alchemy, something he attributes to his desire to always be learning.

While Adam will be speaking on Café Talks’ panel on learning from success, he also recognises the importance of failure providing the business operator learns. “We’re always reviewing our weaknesses and then facing them in a positive manner by trying to learn.” That extends to when he is visiting other cafes, noticing their slip-ups. “Learning from failure by facing our own nightmares can be a great way to improve.”

Forming relationships is critical for success in the café industry, Adam says. “The industry is your biggest back-up, so be generous to everyone and everyone will do the same for you.” He is, however, very mindful of how “positive competition helps the industry to become strong”.

Adam’s professional life has been defined by the advice “your success is determined by how magnanimous you are to others”. It’s how he runs Australia’s best café and it’s what he’ll be passing on at Café Talks. “We actually learn from people’s behavior whether it’s good or bad. We should speak less of devil and spend more time on self-mentoring to achieve success.”