If you search the internet for the origin of the above quote you will find a number of derivations of this idea. Based on the number of different ways that the idea has been expressed we will assume it has at least some basis in truth or at least perception.
The purpose of this book is to save the middleman and get you to look at your company from a number of different angles and make take a series of steps some small some not so small that will improve and protect the company that you conceived, birthed and nurtured. This book will also recommend that you create policies before you need them and create procedures for common tasks so you own them instead of your employees. In short this is a book I wish I had read years ago.
I owned and managed a home building and land development company for over twenty years. I was a member for half that time of a Builder 20 Club which was a program run by the National Association of Home builders that brought together non competing builders from across the country twice a year to discuss the business of business of building and the business of small business. Many of the stories in this book will be personal stories that I lived through or borrowed (stole) from my friends and colleagues in the Builder 20 club. I have also borrowed insights from my colleges at the Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago where I am a Past-President. I have been involved in two start ups, managed a specialty retail operation for a short period and worked in a marketing, sales and distribution company.
When I was a member of the Builders 20 Club we would from time to time get a new member. The new member would listen as we discussed issues such as marketing, employee management or financing. Nearly every time the new member would somewhere in the discussion say something like “That will never work in my market.” More often than not at the second meeting the new member would report they tried the idea that would not work in their market and to their surprise it worked. Most of these exercises will help you make you company better but remember it is your watch. It is my not my goal to tell you the time but rather for you to discover the time on your own.
All original content ©Thomas Robinson 2010
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