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Lesson #4: Hold On – It’s Always A Bumpy Ride

Article Overview: When Gardner was once asked what advice he would give anyone who was thinking about starting up his or her own business, he replied, “Hunker down, strap in, and hold on. Hold on baby!”

Lesson #4: Hold On – It’s Always A Bumpy Ride

When Gardner was once asked what advice he would give anyone who was thinking about starting up his or her own business, he replied, “Hunker down, strap in, and hold on. Hold on baby!”

Perhaps more than most other entrepreneurs, Gardner understands what it means to hit rock bottom. Having experienced more than his fair share of hurdles on the road to success, Gardner was able to hold on and make it through. It is only now, in looking back on his life, that Gardner realizes just how fantastic his success is.

The first day of filming the movie that was being made about his life took place at the Bank of America headquarters, where, unbeknownst to the film producers, Gardner used to sleep when he was homeless. “Another day filming, we’re going to film in Golden Gate Park,” Gardner recalls. “We’re filming in a place where I used to take my son to teach him to fly a kite. We had nothing else to do, no other form of entertainment, no money. I told no one that…I now know the definition of surreal.”

The film focuses on one year of Gardner’s life, which he calls his “toughest, darkest, scariest” year ever. “Living with a baby tied on my back, trying to work,” he recalls. “It can be done, but you have to make it happen. And no matter what, you have to cling to it like it’s life itself, if that’s what you really want to do.”

Gardner’s difficulties began as a young boy, where he was not only subject to abuse in his home at the hands of his stepfathers, but also out on the streets. One of his most trying times came when he was raped by a member of a gang of thieves in his neighbourhood. Unable to talk to anyone about the experience, Gardner repressed it until he finally faced his attacker in later years. He struck the man with a cinder block and walked away, “and left the whole incident right there on the street,” he says.

From being raped to eating in a soup kitchen to having to borrow money from hookers, Gardner could not have sunk any lower professionally or personally. “There's a choice: you eat or you stay in a hotel,” says Gardner. “We chose to eat. And we stayed in a subway station. We rode the trains. We slept in bathrooms.” However, Gardner knew throughout every ordeal that he was never powerless. “I was Chris Gardner,” he says, “father of a son who deserved better than what my daddy could do for me, son of Betty Jean Gardner who said that if I wanted to win I could win.”

Armed with that attitude and wearing one of his two business suits, Garner continued to strive for his dreams with full force. As a child, he would always say to himself, “Yeah, you can beat me down, you can beat me and you can beat my mom, you can put us out of here with a gun, but I can read, and I'm going places.” A self-made millionaire with over 200 suits to his name, Gardner definitely went places.

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Article Tags: america headquarters, attacker, bank of america, cinder block, fair share, film producers, golden gate, golden gate park, hold on baby, hookers, hurdles, kite, neighbourhood, own business, rock bottom, soup kitchen, stepfathers, thati, thieves, trying times



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Unlike most CEOs, Sinegal has no severance or golden parachute in his contract, which runs less than a page. He insists on one-year contracts, believing the Costco board should have the opportunity to evaluate him annually to determine if he's still up to the job. Sinegal's view is that the restrained terms of his contract send an important message to employees. In the view of Berkshire's Munger, one of Costco's great strengths is that its two founders, Sinegal and Brotman, are still active. Brotman, 64, focuses on real estate. "There is no better site acquisitor in the retailing industry," Munger says. "I'd like to see Jeff get more credit. He deserves it." Costco has chosen to focus on more affluent coastal markets; California alone is home to 30% of its stores. Finding sites for new outlets in densely populated areas is one of Brotman's specialties. The company features products that offer its members large cost savings over what they would pay at traditional retailers. 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Video: Behind the scenes at Costco "We're 100% committed to maintaining this program," Sinegal said. "It works for us, and our people count on it. We think they're entitled to that security." Costco has one of the lowest turnover rates in retailing. Among employees who have been with the company for at least a year, just 6% leave annually. That may be because store employees such as cashiers can earn more than $40,000 a year after only four years on the job. Costco shares aren't a bargain at current levels, but patient investors could be rewarded because the company is an industry leader with top-notch management, a loyal customer base and solid growth prospects in the U.S. and abroad. In Street-speak, Costco may be "under-earning," meaning its profit margins are lower than they need to be. Management is loath to tinker with a successful formula, but margins probably have only one way to go: up. In time, the shares are likely to follow. This article was reported and written by Andrew Bary for Barron's


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