Inspirational Business Stories News Summaries by title
Attitude makes the difference
Believing makes the difference
GM chiefs reflect on remarkable turnaround
Supportive workplace inspires GM executive
From rags to riches
New Boeing leader a big part of company’s turnaround
Too short to sell tractors, entrepreneur rolled on
Couple turns adversity into success
A resilient Bosnia makes up for lost time
In the middle of adversity
The Brueggers’s turnaround
City’s richest person says he learned from his setbacks
Seating company is sitting pretty
Company’s success is an open book
For Entrepreneur, Success Means He’s Free To Take Next Risk
You need a lot of bottle to sell water
Apple’s remarkable comeback story
Lucas: From rags to riches
Humboldt State University inspires new business generation
Condemnation power helps Iowa’s cities flower
Auto Industry Proves Overhaul Friendly
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Attitude is more important than skills
5th March 2007
By Francis J. Kong
This article touches on an interesting and controversial aspect of staff recruitment. Which is more critical, attitude or skills? The writer recounts his experience of a recent airplane journey and describes how the positive attitude of the staff contributed to his enjoyment of the flight. The writer highlights how companies like Southwest Airlines may place a greater emphasis on attitude than skills during their recruiting. The writer suggests that this approach may have contributed to the recent success of Southwest Airlines during a difficult trading period. Companies increasingly select staff based on attitude and then train them with appropriate skills. In recent years, many companies have hired highly skilled workers and found frustration in maintaining an attitude that suits the culture of the organization. Francis J. Kong points out that customer service is highly dependent on the attitude of the staff.
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Believing makes the difference
3rd March 2007
By Jerry Osteryoung
The Bradenton Herald published an interesting insight into one of the critical factors that underpin business success. The writer discusses the importance of believing in your own business and its eventual success. The writer used the example of a female entrepreneur who had created a successful business manufacturing figurines when few had given her any chance of survival. Her success had occurred primarily due to her positive attitude and passionate belief in the product. The entrepreneur had raised a considerable amount of funds and had a detailed plan to develop a business. Strongly believing in your product certainly builds confidence, helps to project a positive image and helps enormously when times are difficult and challenges need to be overcome. The Bradenton Herald article advocates positive self-talk, spending time with positive passionate people and projecting a consistent positive image to other people.
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GM chiefs reflect on remarkable turnaround
4th February 2007
By Katie Merx (Detroit Free Press)
This article by Katie Merx outlined a recent transformation in the fortunes of the General Motors Company. A few years ago the iconic company was recording massive losses and the almost unthinkable possibility of bankruptcy was being openly discussed. One of the most critical issues identified by the management was the loss of technological edge over competitors. The article recounted how Vice Chairman Bob Lutz had challenged a group of senior executives to develop a plug-in electric vehicle with 12 months. The end result of this ambitious commitment was the production of the Chevrolet Volt prototype which has recently attracted positive reviews and re-established the innovative credentials of the company. The financial position of the company also appears to be improving as a result of improved financial management and restructuring. Despite the difficulties experienced by the company, CEO Rick Wagoner remained optimistic. “I had complete confidence that underlying the numbers, we were doing the right things”. GM has also taken steps to communicate a more positive image including recalling highly-respected PR executive Steve Harris to Detroit.
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Supportive workplace inspires GM executive
6th December 2006
By Shari Finnell
This article documented the positive experience of Karen E. Caswelch who worked in Singapore in the 1990’s. The article highlights the benefits of a supportive and respectful work environment. Before working in Singapore, Caswelch always felt a need to prove herself before being taken seriously. “There were times, especially early in my career, that people assumed you achieved a level of success because you’re a minority, you’re a female or both”, Caswelch told the reporter. “That’s just part of the way it is in the US …It was the exact opposite in Singapore. It was a very liberating experience”. Cheri Cruse, a human resources manager from GM described a philosophy to get the best from employees. The approach is based on recognizing merit, rewarding, team-building and providing opportunities for employees with talent. “The overriding objective is inclusion …to make sure each employee is utilized to the best of her ability”. Caswelch told the reporter about how she had learned many things during her time in Singapore. “When you help people achieve, their performance goes through the roof. Diversity is not just affirmative. It’s helping people achieve their best – bottom line”.
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From rags to riches
13th September 2006
By Zebunisa Khan
The Kenya Times profiled Hasmukh Dawda, a remarkable entrepreneur who has faced many obstacles and has triumphed to become a successful business leader. Dawda was the eldest of 11 children. He was forced to drop out of school at age 13 because he was unable to pay the school fee. Dawda started out as a hawker selling sweets along Lake Victoria. He was able to make a small profit and his business quickly grew. Dawda was determined to succeed and appreciated the importance of hard work. The family moved to Kisumu and Dawda worked on other various jobs but continued to save money. He would eventually save Sh 2,500 and was able to purchase a pick up truck and enter the jaggery business. He bought and sold molasses and created a steady cash flow. Dawda was able to progressively grow and acquire other strategic businesses. The Kenya Times story told how Dawda has diversified his business interests. Dawda’s companies produce textiles, food additives, biscuits, confectionaries. Today he has interests in Europe, Asia and many other African countries.
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New Boeing leader big part in company’s turnaround
6th September 2006
By Mike Lewis
This story described the recent turnaround in the fortunes of the Boeing Corporation over the last few years. A few years ago, the company was forced to confront declining sales and morale. Things are looking better now. The article outlines how a decision to give more freedom and independence to sales staff has contributed to the improved result. An industry analyst, Scott Hamilton, told the reporter “The staff had been hamstrung, they had to get every sale approved at the top”. Another contributor to the turnaround has been the design of a new highly desirable plane, the 787. Orders for the new model have been brisk at a time when the market for commercial aircraft has improved. The company now faces the challenge of ensuring that the new 787 planes meet expectations when they are finally delivered in 2008.
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Too short to sell tractors, entrepreneur rolled on
24th August 2006
By Rachel Brand
The Rocky Mountain News profiled entrepreneur Paul Ray who recently received a major award recognizing his contribution to the bioscience and medical industries. 60-year-old Ray has been a creative and influential entrepreneur over a period of several years. Ray was not especially talented at school at school but worked hard. Later, he would graduate from Ball State University. Ray had aspired to sell tractors but he was deemed unsuitable because he was considered too short. Paul Ray started out in medical sales but dreamed of owning a business. He was a victim of corporate downsizing and experienced financial hardship. Ray’s first venture, an allergy lab testing company, collapsed due to its indirect linkage to a company involved in a financial scandal. Despite his setback, Paul Ray remained determined to succeed in business. He told the reporter “That was my baptism by fire in the financial markets”. Paul Ray made his name with a company called Image Guided Technologies which rapidly became successful but ran into difficulties and was eventually delisted from NASDAQ. The company recovered and was eventually sold for $14 million to Stryker in 2000. The article described how Ray has remained a respected figure in the bioscience industry. Recently, Paul Ray was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. The article in Rocky Mountain News tells how he is confronting his illness with strength and courage.
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Couple turns adversity into success
11th August 2006
The Daily Herald reported on an unemployed couple who has built a successful business from very humble beginnings. Dave and Yelena Draves found themselves in a desperate predicament when Dave lost his job. They risked losing everything including their family home. The article described how Yelena used her ability for sewing to produce quality draperies which soon found a niche market. Commencing in a basement 5 years ago, the business has grown to now have a 5000-square-foot showroom for the company products. The quality of the draperies has been recognized by prestigious awards. One of the keys to the continuing success of the company has been passionate and enthusiastic staff. “We work with people who enjoy what we’re doing”. Another key factor has been innovative designs which have met a demand from the marketplace.
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A resilient Bosnia makes up for lost time
8th July 2006
By Gayle Tzemach
Running a business can be a challenge during the best of times. This intriguing news story was reported by The International Herald Tribune and describes how a Bosnian entrepreneur has rebuilt a business after the turmoil in that troubled country. Narcisa Kavasovic fled to Spain as a refugee at the height of the Bosnian war. She worked as a cook there. In 1996, Kavasovic returned to Bosnia with the dream of rebuilding her life. She had lost her home and business as a result of the war. Kavasovic was desperate to earn money for her children and ill husband. After arriving back in Bosnia, Kavasovic sewed linens in an abandoned garage to survive. Entrepreneurial ambition still burned in her heart. She decided to restart a business. The article describes Nacisa’s difficulties in obtaining startup finance. No bank would lend her money in such an unstable situation. She convinced a friend in Spain to help fund her new venture, a textile company called Kana. The finance enabled Kavasovic to purchase materials to produce textiles. Over the next few years she established a successful business. In 2004, she earned enough money to purchase a small building for production. More recently, Kavasovic has secured a loan to build a new factory. According to The International Herald Tribune one key aspect of Kavasovic’s success has been a dedicated and motivated workforce. She told the reporter that “There are two things I love: One is to work with textiles, the other is to give these women a chance and help them support their families”.
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In the middle of adversity
3rd July 2006
By S. Murlidhar
This brief piece recounted the experience of a resilient Indian entrepreneur during the dot com crash. The company in question is MeritTrac which was established in 2000 aiming to produce scientifically-designed assessments. During the dot com collapse, the future of the company appeared bleak. Revenue evaporated and hiring came to a halt. The major investor withdrew from the company. The company was forced to consider outsourcing which meant confronting an issue with the independence of its assessments. MeritTrac resisted a strong temptation to become involved with outsourcing in order to stay true to the core values of the company. A decision by the employees to keep working without salaries for several months was pivotal to the survival of the company during this difficult time. The company has recovered and blossomed. In recent years, MeritTrac has grown to become India’s largest skills assessment company.
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The Bruegger’s turnaround
12th June 2006
By Fred Minnick
This interesting piece explores who a chain of bagel restaurants has rebounded from a period of declining sales in a highly competitive market. Bruegger’s is a chain of bagel outlets that experienced rapid growth in the early 1990’s. After deciding to franchise the concept, the group grew to 155 stores by 1994. Superficially, things seemed to be going well but there were many problems. Group CEO Jim Greco told the reporter that “We had several years of declining same-store sales and a number of closings”. Jim Greco explained that “Those things caused the company to become distracted. The menu had become stale and the bakeries had become outdated. We were doing very little marketing. Internally, people were just down”. Jim Greco became CEO in 2002 and has engineered a turnaround in the company. One of the first priorities was to change the menu. Salads and wraps were introduced and the range of soups was increased. Dining areas in the outlets were redesigned to make them more appealing. Customer-friendly features like Wi-Fi access were added. Another priority was to be more selective about franchisors to ensure that operators were financial and had relevant experience in the restaurant industry. The changes seem to have worked. The chain has enjoyed eight quarters of same-store sales increases and group is growing again.
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City’s richest person says he learned from setbacks
18th May 2006
By Bill Hensel Jr.
The Houston Chronicle profiled entrepreneur Dan Duncan who recently was the guest of honor at a function hosted by the paper. Duncan is the chairman of Enterprise Products, valued at over $6m billion. Duncan highlighted to his audience how each of his failures had taught him valuable lessons and had contributed to his eventual success. In the past Dan Duncan he had invested in ventures where he had little experience. Several of these operations were subsequently sold at a loss. “Since that time, I have never invested in an area where I did not have experience”. Duncan has also learned to be careful with finance control as a consequence of difficulties from rapid interest rate rises in the early 1980’s. A result of this experience was a decision to limit his percentage of floating rate debt. Dan Duncan detailed his positive entrepreneurial experience in Houston despite not being a native and having an effective network in the city. “All you need is a good idea and the determination and hard work to make that idea a reality”.
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Seating company is sitting pretty
9th May 2006
By Brice Wallace
Innovation is one of the factors contributing to business success. This story published in The Deseret Morning News described how a novel chair design has created success for a furniture company. Inspired by the design of seats used by Formula One race cars, AK Designs has developed a range of chairs targeted at video game users. President Scott Warner told the reporter from The Deseret Morning News that “Several retailers have basically credited us with starting this gaming furniture category”. The chairs have also been designed to sell at an attractive price and are much sought after by both retailers and consumers. Warner commented about the importance of clever design to the remarkable success of his company. “We have three main principles that have to be part of anything that goes out our door, whether it’s a product or if it’s a product design or sales packet. It’s got to be cool, it’s got to be innovative and it’s got to be intuitive. When you look at it, you get it. You know how to use it. It welcomes you to it. It’s not something you have to figure out”. The result of this approach is that AK designs has experienced a rapid and sustained growth in sales during the last few years.
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Company’s success is an open book
2nd May 2006
By Allan Drury
An intriguing story in The Journal News described a company who had been using an innovative management strategy to encourage positive employee involvement and contribution to the company. Dorian Drake International Inc. has introduced a novel management strategy called “open-book management” which was pioneered by Jack Stack. “Open-book management” involves the sharing of extensive financial information with employees in order to encourage their participation in improving company sales and profits. If the company achieves certain designated targets, the employees are rewarded with bonuses and incentives. The article outlines the way that the strategy is implemented at Dorian Drake. The innovative strategy seems to work. Dorian Drake International Inc. made significant losses in the years before the “open-book” system but has now returned to profitability. Other factors have helped to improve the position of the company but the managers believe that the new approach to running the company has certainly helped.
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For Entrepreneur, Success Means He’s Free To Take Next Risk
1st May 2006
By Jan Norman (of Orange County Register)
This intriguing story provided an insight into the strategy of award-winning entrepreneur Robert Lotter. Lotter established eAgency Systems Inc. which has created Web-based productivity enhancing software and services. Lotter, of California, was recently received Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year. His products are designed to provide easier access to email, calendars, contact data and documents. Lotter’s achievements are all the more remarkable given that he commenced his venture at a time when the environment was highly unfavourable. Start-up funding proved a major hurdle. Lotter told the reporter that “I had invested all my assets in eAgency. It was a real shocker when no VCs would give me money”. Lotter managed to accumulate start-up funds from an extended network of family and friends. The article identified two other secrets to Lotter’s success. He has been an early adopter of new technology. Ironically, he built his first computer himself. Another factor in his success has been an ability to target his product. He commented “I wanted to give small businesses the same tools that only big companies had before”.
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You need a lot of bottle to sell water
23rd April 2006
By William Lyons
This informative article chronicles the success of entrepreneur Joe Beetson in the highly competitive bottled water industry. The report details how his company, Highland Spring, has grown and prospered in a cutthroat industry. Beetson’s remarkable company is one of Scotland’s best performing companies. “How do we manage? We have to find greater efficiencies in our bottling lines”. This approach has resulted in a significant increase in production and an ability to cope with rising costs on several fronts. The fortunes of the company have not always been so rosy. A decade ago, the company was a loss-making enterprise and had several significant problems. One of Beetson’s first decisions was to appoint a Scottish sales manager with detailed knowledge of the local market. Company products were repositioned at the upper end of the market. The result has been a reversal of the fortunes of the company which has become an attractive takeover target. Beetson commented to the reporter that “We are a small Scottish business, but our brand is very well known. We punch way above our weight. That didn’t happen by accident and it didn’t happen quickly either”.
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Apple’s remarkable comeback story
29th March 2006
By Amanda Cantrell
The Apple computer company has seen success and failure during its 30-year existence. A few years ago, the future of the company looked bleak. An article in CNN Money tells how the Apple Company has pulled itself back from the brink. A decade ago, Apple was losing large amounts of money. The share price bottomed at $3.30 in 1997. Management was tentative and unstable. The stock price for Apple reflects the improvement of the performance and has gone up ten fold since 2001. The reversal of fortune has resulted from the company’s reinvention and its innovative music products. The Apple company’s computers still are popular with users but the transformation has resulted from the market dominance of its iPod and iTunes products. The iPod, for instance, claims about 73 per cent share of the portable music player market. The article described how growth in sales of personal computers has slowed and this has increased the strategic importance of the change in emphasis for Apple. Sales of Apple computers have also increased at a rate above that of competitors.
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Lucas: From rags to riches
1st March 2006
By Will Higgins
A report in The Indianapolis Star documents the remarkable rise of entrepreneur Forrest Lucas. He was born in Southern Indiana, one of four children. At age 18, Forrest Lucas was a just poor graduate from a tiny high school who lived in poverty. A few years later he made his living driving loads of dirt around the countryside. In his later years, Forrest Lucas made his fortune from the company he founded, Lucas Oil Products. Lucas started with a small trucking company. He experimented with the way the lubricants were mixed and produced a new formula for motor oil that quickly became popular. The Indianapolis Star tells how he is now a multimillionaire and describes some of his experiences in the business world. Forrest Lucas told the reporter that his success has occurred because of self-confidence and his willingness to make bold decisions. “I always think I know what I’m doing. It doesn’t feel like I’m taking any chances”.
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Humboldt State University inspires new business generation
8th February 2006
By Ann Johnson-Stromberg
The Times-Standard reported on a lecture by entrepreneur Michael Crooke at Humboldt State University. Crooke is the CEO of Revolution Living and is widely admired in the world of business. Crooke outlined his vision for business success in the 21st Century. The report describes how he made several conclusions. Crooke emphasized the critical importance of acting ethically. Also important is product knowledge and passion for the business. Other vital factors include clear product differentiation and communicating the benefits of the product to the marketplace. Crooke’s current project, Revolution Living, is a venture-capital company promoting investment in healthy living and environmentally-friendly businesses. Crooke believes that these businesses will become more attractive in future years. He noted that “Ten years ago only the super elite knew about organic bought foods” but now such products are widely available and popular.
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Condemnation power helps Iowa’s cities flower
29th January 2006
By Rox Laird
An interesting story was published highlighting the benefits of urban renewal in a major city. A report in The Des Moines Register discussed the impact of a U.S. Supreme court ruling which expands eminent domain powers. The article describes the transformation that has occurred in the business district of Des Moines during the last 30 years. 30 years ago, the downtown business area of Des Moines was legally declared a slum. Several buildings were found to be structurally unsound and the area had acquired a rather seedy reputation. The story in The Register tells how the area has been rejuvenated. Now the area has become fashionable and desirable and values have risen strongly. The article discusses reasons for this improvement. There has been a strong commitment by civic leaders to enhance the area as well as strong investment. The story also described the role played by eminent domain powers which recently have created controversy. Whatever the reasons, the transformation in the area has been remarkable. People are retuning to the area to live, work and spend their leisure hours.
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Auto Industry Proves Overhaul Friendly
29th January 2006
By Rick Popely
This interesting article in The Tribune described some of the recent developments in the highly competitive automotive industry. The author notes the current difficulties suffered by Ford and General Motors but finds hope in the remarkable turnaround experienced by a number of other manufacturers including Nissan, Chrysler and Mitsubishi. The article outlines the stunning reversal of fortune for Nissan. A few years ago, Nissan was riddled with debt, was losing money and their cars were regarded as outdated and unattractive. A transformation has occurred under the leadership of Carlos Ghosn. Innovative cars have been designed and built. Ambitious profit, quality and sales targets have been pursued and achieved. The company has been energetic and has taken risks. The transformation at Nissan has attracted considerable attention in the automotive industry.
