How to Obtain Business Success Over the Long Haul - By Executive Producer, Nelson Davis
How to Obtain Business Success Over the Long Haul - By Executive Producer, Nelson Davis
Enterprises that succeed over an extended period of time fascinate me. For example, we know that second generation owners of a family business have a smaller shot at succeeding than the founder and that third generation ownership is basically condemned from the first day. Several of my friends are recording artists and I’ve often mused with them on what makes the difference between simply having a hit record versus creating a long term career as a performing artist.
Recently the story of a business owner in Los Angeles who had a custom briefcase made by the French luxury goods retailer Hermès caught my attention. Because fine leather goods also have a fascination for me, I wanted to know more about the company which has been near the top of their category for over two hundred years! I’d say that two centuries qualifies as long term success.
The story began with Thierry Hermès, born the sixth child of an innkeeper in 1801. Having lost all of his family to disease and war, the orphaned Mr. Hermès went to Paris where he proved gifted in leatherwork, and opened a shop in 1837, the same year that Charles Lewis Tiffany opened his doors in New York. You probably know that these two mega successes have the most distinctive color signatures in retail—Hermès orange and Tiffany robin's-egg blue. Where Tiffany began in stationery and costume jewelry, Hermès specialized in the horse harnesses required by calèches, and carriages. It was a business built on the strength of a certain stitch (saddle stitch) that can only be done by hand, which has two needles working two waxed linen threads in tensile opposition. It looks great, and done properly it will never come loose.
The clients of Thierry Hermès were rich: the Parisian elite and European royalty, including the emperor Napoléon III. But remember that his true client was the horse. It was in leather and hardware that the Hermès allure took form. When Thierry's son, Émile-Charles, succeeded him, the family business moved to 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, where it has been a landmark ever since. In that same year of 1880, saddlery was added, a custom business that required measurements from both horse and rider. Today a Hermès saddle costs about $5,000. In the 19th century, another Hermès enduring institution was born, the long customer wait. Because hand stitched perfection cannot be rushed, even several royal coronations were delayed until Hermès gear for the carriage had arrived. Now in the 21st century, the waiting list for items such as the hyper scarce Birkin, a handbag created in 1984 for the actress Jane Birkin, can stretch to five years. One Birkin takes 18 to 25 hours to make, and the Paris workrooms produce only five or so each week that must supply Hermès stores worldwide at about $7500 each. Company wide, about 15% of their $1.5 billion in sales comes from the United States.
Wouldn’t we all love to have a business where customers line up, tolerate a long wait and gratefully pay our asking price? If prospering over the long haul is your goal there are several business lessons I see here.
#1 From raw materials to training to customer handling, only aspire to the highest levels.
#2 Carve out an identifiable niche and stick to it.
#3 Hold a clear vision of your ideal customer and build your thinking around that person. Remember that they will become your most important promotional tool.
#4 Resist the temptation to make most decisions solely based on price.
#5 Even though it seems that fewer people today can truly recognize quality, it is a durable long term value that can sustain and grow a business. An overall success philosophy from Jean Louis Dumas the CEO of Hermès is “We don’t have a policy of image; we have a policy of product.”
I don’t know of any discount or bargain store that has a 200 year history and that may be the key lesson. By the way, that custom Hermès briefcase I mentioned earlier cost its proud owner over $11,000 and will probably last his lifetime. I’d say that Hermès is an example of the business owner’s dream---making money bags!
How to Obtain Business Success Over the Long Haul By Executive Producer Nelson Davis - To learn more about this author, visit Amber Wright's Website.
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The Long Haul by Nelson Davis
Enterprises that succeed over an extended period of time fascinate me. For example, we know that second generation owners of a family business have a smaller shot at succeeding than the founder and that third generation ownership is basically condemned from the first day. Several of my friends are recording artists and I’ve often mused with them on what makes the difference between simply having a hit record versus creating a long term career as a performing artist.
Recently the story of a business owner in Los Angeles who had a custom briefcase made by the French luxury goods retailer Hermès caught my attention. Because fine leather goods also have a fascination for me, I wanted to know more about the company which has been near the top of their category for over two hundred years! I’d say that two centuries qualifies as long term success.
The story began with Thierry Hermès, born the sixth child of an innkeeper in 1801. Having lost all of his family to disease and war, the orphaned Mr. Hermès went to Paris where he proved gifted in leatherwork, and opened a shop in 1837, the same year that Charles Lewis Tiffany opened his doors in New York. You probably know that these two mega successes have the most distinctive color signatures in retail—Hermès orange and Tiffany robin's-egg blue. Where Tiffany began in stationery and costume jewelry, Hermès specialized in the horse harnesses required by calèches, and carriages. It was a business built on the strength of a certain stitch (saddle stitch) that can only be done by hand, which has two needles working two waxed linen threads in tensile opposition. It looks great, and done properly it will never come loose.
The clients of Thierry Hermès were rich: the Parisian elite and European royalty, including the emperor Napoléon III. But remember that his true client was the horse. It was in leather and hardware that the Hermès allure took form. When Thierry's son, Émile-Charles, succeeded him, the family business moved to 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, where it has been a landmark ever since. In that same year of 1880, saddlery was added, a custom business that required measurements from both horse and rider. Today a Hermès saddle costs about $5,000. In the 19th century, another Hermès enduring institution was born, the long customer wait. Because hand stitched perfection cannot be rushed, even several royal coronations were delayed until Hermès gear for the carriage had arrived. Now in the 21st century, the waiting list for items such as the hyper scarce Birkin, a handbag created in 1984 for the actress Jane Birkin, can stretch to five years. One Birkin takes 18 to 25 hours to make, and the Paris workrooms produce only five or so each week that must supply Hermès stores worldwide at about $7500 each. Company wide, about 15% of their $1.5 billion in sales comes from the United States.
Wouldn’t we all love to have a business where customers line up, tolerate a long wait and gratefully pay our asking price? If prospering over the long haul is your goal there are several business lessons I see here.
#1 From raw materials to training to customer handling, only aspire to the highest levels.
#2 Carve out an identifiable niche and stick to it.
#3 Hold a clear vision of your ideal customer and build your thinking around that person. Remember that they will become your most important promotional tool.
#4 Resist the temptation to make most decisions solely based on price.
#5 Even though it seems that fewer people today can truly recognize quality, it is a durable long term value that can sustain and grow a business. An overall success philosophy from Jean Louis Dumas the CEO of Hermès is “We don’t have a policy of image; we have a policy of product.”
I don’t know of any discount or bargain store that has a 200 year history and that may be the key lesson. By the way, that custom Hermès briefcase I mentioned earlier cost its proud owner over $11,000 and will probably last his lifetime. I’d say that Hermès is an example of the business owner’s dream---making money bags!
How to Obtain Business Success Over the Long Haul By Executive Producer Nelson Davis - To learn more about this author, visit Amber Wright's Website.
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
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