How to Build a Business Warren Buffett Would Buy

Key Takeaways

Kyle, in 2018 in Books: As I got more involved in private equity and venture capital, everyone and their mother told me that if I wanted to be a good investor, reading everything I could about great investors was a requirement. I don’t remember where I first heard about Warren Buffet, but I’m grateful to my parents for getting me his biography, Snowball, for Christmas in 2013. Many thanks to the BYU Rollins Center for giving me my copy of this book. As much as I knew about Warren Buffet, hearing about his interactions with a Utah business, especially one where not being open on Sundays was such a strategic decision, was impactful.

Connections

• Warren Buffett — the book frames business-building around the acquisition criteria Buffett would look for.

Highlights

• “RC once told me, ‘the basis of being a good salesman is always having an answer ready for anything they might come up with. If a potential customer has a qualm or dislike, you have to have an answer. And he did. He always had an answer.” Sales Operational Skills
• “He judged success on satisfied customers and sales volume, not profit margins. That’s what kept people coming back to him for purchases, time and time again.”
• “A company always goes at risk when it expands, but if you have done your homework and have a competitive advantage, the risk is minimized.”
• “Our rule was very broad: **Take care of the customer. **Treat them as you’d like to be treated. It’s simple. Yet many companies ignore this approach, caught up in enforcing policies that don’t enhance the bottom line.”
• “If you always tell the truth, you don’t have to remember what you said.” #Honesty
• “You can only stand on the laurels of what you did yesterday for a few minutes. Then you have the challenges of tomorrow.”