Bean might have been an entrepreneur, and a successful one at that, but in his heart he was a hunter, and a fisherman, and an all around outdoorsman. He felt more comfortable in the woods of Maine than in the corporate boardrooms of the city. It was his passion that gave birth to the company, and a passion he never lost. It might have been for that reason that Bean insisted on being hands on and putting his personal touch on everything the company did. From talking to customers to putting new products through trial runs, Bean could always be found right there in the middle of all the action.
In 1927, the L.L. Bean catalogue expanded its range of offerings to include fishing and camping equipment, in addition to its already successful boots. The copy beside those new products read: “It is no longer necessary for you to experiment with hundreds of flies to determine the few that will catch fish. We have done that experimenting for you.” And, although many customers might not have known it at time, it was the company’s founder who was actually out there in the woods personally testing each of those products.
Colleagues told Bean not to waste his time, business advisors told him they had other people who could do it for him, but for years, Bean insisted on personally testing any new product the company was planning on selling. He took the L.L. Bean fishing rods to the waters to see how they performed; he wore the L.L. Bean shirts in the L.L. Bean tents to see how well he slept on a night out camping. He gave the okay to products he liked, and sent the ones he did not straight back to the drawing board.
It was Bean’s own creativity and innovation that led the Maine Hunting Shoe to evolve into a wide range of L.L. Bean products that included the Maine Chamois Cloth Shirt, Bean Moccasins, the Zipper Duffle Bag, and Bean Cork Decoys. His other ideas included all-wool socks and a duck hunter's coat that had sewn-in mittens. He also personally designed the Deer Toter, a reconstructed bicycle that could be used to easily transport dead deer.
Whether it was because he did not trust others to put their products through the appropriate testing, or simply because he loved doing it himself, Bean took his products out into the real world to see the results. It was that dedication that helped create a line of practical products and a commitment behind those products that was unmatchable.
It was also Bean’s willingness to put a product through the ringer as many times as it took to get it perfect that explains the company’s strong performance even to this day. He knew that once he got a product right, he would never have to touch it again. And that is why the appearance of most L.L. Bean products has remained consistent for decades.
In the years since Bean’s death, L.L. Bean executives have not been as willing to be so hands on as the company’s founder once was. But the philosophy behind that practice nevertheless remains strong: take the time to care about the products as if you were going to need them yourself one day. For Bean, he actually was.
Lesson #3: Go Ahead and Get Your Hands a Little Dirty
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