Today I want to share a few random thoughts about Sam Walton as I marked it in Made in America.
When he decided to start his own business, his wife laid down the law: no partners and no cities.
Partnerships are very dangerous and a partnership that goes sour is more traumatic and way more costly than a marriage that ends in divorce. Unfortunately we sometimes need people to be able to get off the ground, it is a good idea to decide on solutions for everything that can go wrong on paper before you start. If you cannot discuss this BEFORE you start, there is no way you can do it once the business is up and running. It spells disaster. A good lawyer is invaluable, unfortunately they are scarce. I sometimes think lawyers are good at solving problems, but not so good at preventing them. When you use a lawyer, make sure that they are qualified to help you. Any lawyer may, not every lawyer can. Lawyers specialise. I will get back to this in another post sometime. The fact it is difficult to get a lawyer that understands YOUR needs, is my idea and not that of Sam Walton.
Sam says when he bought his first business, he did not know a lot and it cost him dearly – he lost his first business, not because the business failed, but because he did not know the pitfalls when he started. So five years after buying the business he was forced to sell it, because there was no renewal clause in the lease contract. He also says that he learned a lot and got a lot of help from the franchise system. Never be too proud to ask for help – Sam says from the beginning he realised that he could learn from anybody and everybody. And he did just that.
When he strarted out, he worked very hard. I am always a bit scared of the saying “work smart, not hard.” I understand it and I agree with it. But I am always afraid that we may think we can start with little or no effort. Invariably we have to work hard to lay the foundation to work smart. And all the wealthy people that I know worked hard to get started. They ploughed and sowed and watered with great effort and lots of dedication and perseverance to get the ball rolling. The trouble is, when they reach the front page of Fortune, we only see the end. In the beginning nobody noticed!
Lastly, the Walton’s family oriented values is visible all through the book. Money is important, but always be balanced. I want to be wealthy for what I can do for my wife, kids and other needy people (and myself). It is sort of useless if I get to the point of wealth without a wife and kids!