Discover that splitting profits doesn’t cut wealth in half, but multiplies it; give away billions to make billions more by making others rich through shared success.
Make managers actual owners, not just employees, by requiring them to leave their profit share in the business until it equals the initial investment; this creates zero manager turnover and ensures deep commitment.
Build something worth keeping, not just worth selling, by refusing to cash out for short-term gains; this preserves culture and ultimately creates far greater long-term value.
Commit fully to a new venture by eliminating backup plans and investing everything you have; this total commitment forces you to figure things out and leads to significant results.
Treat every problem as your problem and insist on learning solutions, even if you lack initial qualifications; sometimes the only qualification needed is the willingness to figure it out.
Bet on your own name and reputation rather than manufacturer brands, as customers will buy based on who sells the product, not who makes it; your name is either making you money or costing you money.
Institute free services or favors for anyone, even non-customers, understanding that humans are biologically wired to return favors; this creates a powerful loop of reciprocity and goodwill.
Leverage early morning hours or other times when competitors are inactive to build a significant lead through consistent, focused effort; your competition is asleep, giving you free hours to build.
Treat employees like partners to enrich them, rather than expenses to minimize, as this fosters deep relationships with customers and motivates managers to run stores like their family’s future depends on it.
Reward the specific behaviors you want to see, as this will lead to more of those behaviors and better outcomes; recognition often matters more than money for motivation and retention.
Always know who you are accountable to, as unclear lines of authority create chaos where everyone thinks they’re in charge, meaning no one truly is.
View constraints as advantages and opportunities to invent new rules and approaches when you can’t afford to play by industry standards; this leads to asymmetric warfare and unique value propositions.
Assert ownership of the customer relationship by branding with your own name, making suppliers subservient; this playbook controls the business by controlling the relationship.
Design a business model where expansion is self-funded by managers leaving their profits in the business as working capital; this makes managers into bankers who fund growth because they want to build their equity.
Create a self-replicating system for leadership by extending profit-sharing to assistant managers, ensuring every store creates its own successor; this prevents expansion from stalling due to lack of talent.
When moral arguments fail to uphold core company principles, use economic incentives or penalties to enforce desired behavior; this ensures adherence to the system that makes everyone successful.
Study successful models in other industries and apply their principles to your own, even for industrial products, to enhance the customer experience; display products clearly and make the environment appealing.
Believe that the most important people in the company are those on the ‘firing line’ who sell and service customers; structure compensation to reflect this, paying them more than executives to outperform competitors.
Understand that in certain businesses, customers prioritize trust, service, and reliability over the lowest price; you can charge premium prices by selling peace of mind, not just a commodity.
In an age where competitors automate and remove human interaction, invest more in personal service and trusted human interaction; this creates a valuable moat that technology cannot cross, making your experience more valuable.
Refuse to let the worst things that happen define you as a victim; instead, use challenging circumstances as fuel to overcome obstacles and achieve success.
Fully commit and give 100% effort to the work right in front of you, no matter how small; this relentless execution consistently leads to more work and greater opportunities.
Understand that recognition often matters more than money for employee motivation and retention; programs that offer public acknowledgment can transform performance.
Actively seek to own your own business and control your destiny; this ambition provides a powerful drive to overcome challenges and build something meaningful.
Operate with open books and no secrets, especially regarding profit-sharing arrangements, by providing monthly P&L statements; this builds trust and clarity among employees.
Design compensation structures where raises for one party automatically increase contributions to the other; this creates a self-balancing system that aligns interests and ensures fairness.
Separate dirty or industrial work from the customer-facing sales floor to create a cleaner, more appealing shopping environment; this also allows for exploiting economies of scale by centralizing equipment.
When hitting a wall or facing a mistake, view it as an opportunity to innovate or pivot rather than admitting defeat; this mindset allows for continuous adaptation and growth.
Listen to employees who persistently see opportunities and empower them with ownership; their strong belief and skin in the game will drive success.
Recognize that people will go to extreme lengths when they are building their own dream and future, not just working for someone else’s; align incentives so they are building their dream with you.
When facing powerful opponents, understand their deepest fears and the cost of them being wrong; sometimes, your only power is making the consequences of attacking you too expensive for them to risk.
Envision a central operation supporting a network of distributed, profit-sharing units, handling functions like buying, advertising, and accounting; this achieves volume discounts and efficiency for growth.
Pay meticulous attention to the cleanliness and presentation of your products and environment, even for industrial goods; spotless, gleaming products build trust and enhance the customer experience.
Avoid loyalty to a single manufacturer; instead, buy from multiple suppliers to secure the best quality products at the lowest possible price, leveraging scale to pass savings to customers.
Always have a line of products priced to match your lowest competitor, but also offer multiple other options at different price points; this provides choice and eliminates reasons for customers to shop elsewhere.
Promote best store managers to zone managers who continue running their own stores; this creates a self-regulating system that aligns regional interests with store-level execution and selects for proven operators.
When choosing managers for new stores, prioritize candidates with significant personal investment (profit-sharing account) and a track record of success, rather than just smooth talkers.
Recruit competitors to join your network by offering access to your buying power and system; this creates a virtuous circle where every new member strengthens the network for all, leveraging network effects.
Invest in tools, like airplanes, that allow you to maintain personal relationships and direct oversight across geographically dispersed locations; this proximity is crucial for a company built on relationships.
Refuse to sell a successful company if it means destroying the core culture and profit-sharing model that benefits thousands of employees; choose long-term legacy over short-term financial gain.
Avoid creating your own branded product if it means compromising the ability to always offer customers the best option without defending a bad product; this allows you to pivot to whatever serves customers best.
Be completely transparent with employees about the company’s financial performance and their profit share; provide monthly P&L statements to show them exactly where they stand.
The real job of office people is to provide motivation, create programs for success, be fair, open, and supportive to frontline workers; the office merely keeps records and tells them how they are doing.
Avoid going public if it means sacrificing control over business decisions and being questioned by external investors who may not understand your unique culture or long-term vision.
Clearly communicate that store managers are expected to be highly capable in multiple areas, including general management, sales, and service; it takes quite a man to be a store manager.
Constantly remind yourself and your team why you are successful and what must be done to continue that success; if you become complacent, it’s all over with.