In 1992, just after graduating from HBS, I became President of Union Corrugating Company, my family’s metal roofing manufacturing business. The $9mm revenue company was in a severe state of decline, facing operational red ink, the loss of a customer accounting for 25% of sales, outdated equipment, demoralized employees, and poor customer relationships, all in [...]
Twelve years into my ownership of the company, it became obvious to me that growing it to the next stage would not be as interesting or challenging to me as my early years of fixing things and turning the business around. After a first aborted attempt to sell the company in 1999, the final private [...]
I learned a lot about prospecting and persistence in my process of finding a business to buy. ÿ Following the now popular HBS ÿ”zip” code theory of career location, I drew a 50-mile radius around my home in the Boston area for a geographic search.ÿ After purchasing a directory of companies in that area, I [...]
Valentine’s Day is special for Debby and me; it was the evening of our first date! Working together for 20 years was challenging but contributed significantly to providing balance between family and work-life, strengthening our relationship and accomplishing shared objectives while having fun! ÿWe were partners in raising our 3 children, supporting each other’s individual [...]
Layoffs were never easy for me; they always had a significant impact not only on those laid off, but their families and on the organization and since I felt personally responsible as the owner or President/General Manager, the decision was never made lightly.ÿ Over the years, it never got easier, but I did develop a [...]
In the businesses I operated, I was always deeply involved in setting prices because I found it to be the most immediate way to impact margins and cash flow. “Cost based pricing” establishes prices based on costs of purchases, manufacturing labor and overhead with a markup to attain profit targets.ÿ Many businesses, such as software, [...]
The Harbus chatted with Naren Shaam (OF), who split his summer between two very different internships. He called his job before HBS – engine design in the automotive industry- “one hundred percent manufacturing and really enjoyable” but decided to challenge himself this summer. He started in Los Angeles working for media investment fund, his first [...]
The Harbus is delighted to introduce our latest columnist, HBS alumnus and Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Jim Sharpe, who will be sharing business lessons learned over the course of his career. I’ve learned that predicting increases in Sales Revenue is much more elusive than achieving near term margin improvements, especially the further you are removed from the final [...]
Andy Morse (OC), Contributing Writer Sure, “best” rhymes with “west,” but is that all there is to this connection? You be the judge. As many students have likely discovered by now, the U.S. has another coast located about 3,000 miles from here. Found on the left side of a standard map of North America, the [...]
Sarah Palin’s $150,000 wardrobe caused a commotion, but oil’s $150 makeover, rapid rise to fame and fortune, and sudden recent decline is equally sensational. In 2003, oil was that awkward guy in the corner at $25, lonely and undervalued. By 2008, the barrel re-emerged refined and glorious. Conflict in the Middle East, US Dollar weakness, [...]
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