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How To Build A Business Warren Buffett Would Buy: The R.C. Willey Story (2009)

by Jeff Benedict(Favorite Author)

3.97 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1606410415 (ISBN13: 9781606410417)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Shadow Mountain

review 1: I loved this book. What an incredible story of a man who through hard work and sticking to his principles was able to build a great business (RC Willey) which eventually sold to Warren Buffett for $175 million dollars. The subject of this book, Bill Child, was a remarkable man who used optimism, energy and relationships to overcome every obstacle in his path and create a legacy for himself and his family. I highly recommend to anyone who wants to read about business success to read this book.
review 2: Being raised in Syracuse,UT, the home of RC Willey I was naturally interested in reading the story of the company. I can remember going to Willey's on President's Day or Pioneer Day to get hot dogs or cherry pies, but after being in the business world and read... moreing plenty of business cases I wanted to know how people that I knew personally did it. First, I'm not a huge fan of the business case writing style. The book felt like a big bullet list put into paragraph form. I would have liked to see this same content in more of a narrative style. With that said, I love to read about companies who do it right and succeed. A business needs to be innovative and distinct among its competitors and certainly RC Willey has done that, from marketing, operational and finance perspective, but what really sets the company apart is it's interest in people and relationships. One of the core principles of the company is putting people first whether that be employees or customers. Bill espouses the idea that if you expect great customer service, you'd better treat your employees in the same way. It's more than just lip service like many companies give to customer service or employee relations. He also was never satisfied with the performance of the company, himself or the employees. His quote is that "we can only stand on the laurels of yesterday for a few moments and then we need to address the challenges of tomorrow." A company needs to strive to constantly self-evaluate and be a better company tomorrow. Finally, I like the business principle he focuses on in building a company to last and not trying to squeeze every dollar out of the company for personal gain. Too many CEOs are only out to see how much money they can make instead of how to build a strong company that will be dynamic and innovative long-term. As an executive, when you are fully invested in a company you sacrifice to make that happen and give up some potential personal gain. I have to share one story from the book in this regard. Since the Child's are LDS they have always kept the store closed on Sunday. When Warren Buffett purchased the company in 1995 he didn't think that concept would fly in other markets. Bill Child, though, believed in it and took $9 million out of his pocket to expand into Boise, Idaho to prove this point. He was wildly successful even though the store remained closed on the sabbath. The company then opened 2 stores in Las Vegas and one in Sacramento which were equally, if not more, successful. Bottom line, this is a great book for understanding the principles of building a strong, principle-based business. Bill Child is a great example of working hard, valuing people, being innovative and sticking to principles. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in how to build a business or how to approach business from a principled perspective. less

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