{"id":1011,"date":"2010-02-26T12:35:28","date_gmt":"2010-02-26T12:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colinmcnulty.com\/blog\/?p=1011"},"modified":"2010-02-22T20:59:07","modified_gmt":"2010-02-22T20:59:07","slug":"sam-walton-the-story-of-how-to-get-from-1-franchise-store-to-50bn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colinmcnulty.com\/blog\/2010\/02\/26\/sam-walton-the-story-of-how-to-get-from-1-franchise-store-to-50bn\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Walton – the story of how to get from 1 franchise store to $50Bn a year!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve just finished reading Sam Walton’s autobiographical book: Made in America, My Story, and I can tell you it’s one of the best books I’ve read in recent years<\/strong>. I’ll tell you why:<\/p>\n

To be honest, I’d never heard of Sam Walton before I accidentally bought his book (yes it really was an accident!). I had no idea he was once the richest man in America<\/strong>, nor that he founded Wal-Mart from scratch, a company that he personally grew from a single franchise store to turning over $50Bn, and that now turns over in excess of $400Bn a year!<\/p>\n

Sam was a very down to earth and unassuming man, who devoted his enter life to living and growing the Walmart dream. I say was, because Sam’s dead, and perhaps slightly bizarrely, that fact escaped me for the first half of the book. It was only when I realised that the book had been written nearly 20 years ago, and his picture on the front was clearly a man in his 70’s, that I thought he might be, something Google quickly confirmed. I confess to being a bit sad <\/strong>learning that, as you can’t but warm to the old fella and his affable nature.<\/p>\n

What’s most amazing is that his message of hard work, quality products, devotion to your customers, and an unswerving drive for cost cutting (as a multi-billionaire, he always flew economy class!) is as relevant today as it was in the 60’s. I can honestly say, of all the books I’ve read written by entrepreneurs, this book has taught me the most about how to run a successful business<\/strong>. And it works for any kind of business, even a Crossfit affiliate!<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What’s more as the book is nearly 20 years old, on Amazon you can pick it up cheap as chips, cheaper in fact: 1 cent in the USA<\/strong> or 1 penny in the UK! I highly recommend it; it’s a book that you won’t want to put down.<\/p>\n