Showing posts with label business history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business history. Show all posts

3/22/2012

Pizza Tiger Review

Pizza Tiger
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
I've had this book for 15 years and think of it often, EVEN THOUGH I'M NOT IN THE PIZZA BUSINESS!! For some reason, I can really identify with Tom Monaghan.
It is a bit biographical, but that isn't a negative. When I want to know about successful people, I like to know all about them. It isn't just their business savvy that got them where they are, it is a combination of many other personal traits that help add up to business success.
One trait that really stuck with me is to interview many people about your product--including people who HATE IT. You can learn a lot about why some people avoid you and your product. Just this one tidbit of advice had helped me to make thousands of exta dollars over the past 15 years.

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3/19/2012

Taco Titan: The Glen Bell Story Review

Taco Titan: The Glen Bell Story
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In the '60s, America was on the go like never before, and wherever people went, fast food followed. But in a growing world of hot dog stands and copycat burger joints, one name stood out from the rest: Taco Bell. Yet Taco Bell strained the patience and pocketbook of its founder, year after year. A menu with no buns or mustard was challenge enough. Add the fact that lenders and investors called Mexican fast food a fad.
And few people outside the Hispanic community knew what a taco was. "I'll have two TAKE-OHS, please." Clearly, this was a concept ahead of its time. Most men would have quit, but Taco Bell's founder refused to abandon his dream. With grit and determination, he made himself and those who shared his vision millionaires, and turned his little walk-up restaurant concept into one of the most popular brand names in America.
This is the story of Glen W. Bell, Jr.
As a young man, Glen had no money. During the '30s, he rode the rails and went door to door in search of honest work and a hard-earned dollar.
From these hardscrabble root grew the passion and desire of a tireless entrepreneur. A man who understood the customer and worked day and night to build a business backed by little more than the proceeds from the sale of a used refrigerator. A man who poured his own concrete and fried his own tortillas. The business grew, in part because the food was good and different and priced right. But in largest part because Glen--in his quiet, confident manner--had a way of attracting a breed of people who understood his vision. As a result, he helped employees, managers and franchisees carve out their own pieces of the American dream. Today, Taco Bell has some 7,000 restaurants, more than 175,000 employees, and serves millions of customers weekly.
Savory, crunchy "TAKE-OHS" have become mainstream American food. Yet Taco Bell remains a rebellious, hard-working, entrepreneurial company that loves to battle the burger, just like its founder taught it to. This compelling portrait by award-winning writer Debra Lee Baldwin includes insights from a self-professed "unremarkable man" who overcame the odds to achieve a remarkable thing. His story and his "60 Recipes for Success" are not reserved for a select few. Rather, a treasure awaits anyone with the passion and determination to pursue his or her dream.
As a literary agent, I feel privileged to have worked closely with Mr. Bell and Ms. Baldwin to get this book published.

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Presents the story of Taco Bell founder Glen Bell and his rise from poverty, expanding Taco Bell worldwide then selling it for $130 million. DLC: Bell, Glen William, 1923

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12/22/2011

The Motel in America (The Road and American Culture) Review

The Motel in America (The Road and American Culture)
Average Reviews:

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Upon completion of this book, the reader will have a complete history of the growth of today's hotel industry from the days of tourist camps, through motor courts, motels, and now motor inns. It is well researched, very quick reading, and gives an excellent history of this major form of commerce during the earlier part of the 20th century. The only thing missing might be a pictoral diagram showing the evolution of early chains into today's major lodging chains. I would also suggest a little more detail on the circumstances of some of the chain's that went out of business. Either way, a great piece for anyone interested in travel history and highway evolution.

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In the second volume of the acclaimed "Gas, Food, Lodging" trilogy, authors John Jakle, Keith Sculle, and Jefferson Rogers take an informative, entertaining, and comprehensive look at the history of the motel.From the introduction of roadside tent camps and motor cabins in the 1910s to the wonderfully kitschy motels of the 1950s that line older roads and today's comfortable but anonymous chains that lure drivers off the interstate, Americans and their cars have found places to stay on their travels. Motels were more than just places to sleep, however.They were the places where many Americans saw their first color television, used their first coffee maker, and walked on their first shag carpet.Illustrated with more than 230 photographs, postcards, maps, and drawings, The Motel in America details the development of the motel as a commercial enterprise, its imaginative architectural expressions, and its evolution within the place-product-packaging concept along America's highways. As an integral part of America's landscape and culture, the motel finally receives the in-depth attention it deserves.

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3/11/2011

The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company Review

The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
"New Gold Standard" is a super, if slightly older, book on a really important subject: The Ritz-Carlton is one of the organizations whose methodology has truly transformed our understanding of what customer service quality and consistency can be.
I recommend "The New Gold Standard, especially if you're in the hotel business; Michelli, who also wrote The Starbucks Experience, is a consultant who did a great job writing it. I don't agree with the catty comments on this page that its writing style is sleep-inducing, etc. -- I guess they're complaining because it's written in an academic style and is maybe overly deferential to the owners of the Ritz (hey, it is an "official" history). Nonetheless, in my opinion it is still full of many well organized details and a helpful book for anyone in hospitality. Some of the strong points in particular are the historical overview and the interviews Michelli includes.
(One note to be aware of: There's now also a newer book on practical applications of Ritz-Carlton customer service and management techniques that's just come out this May; I really enjoyed it a lot. I got a lot out of this newer book ("Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit"); it's by the founder of the Ritz Carlton Leadership Center along with Horst Schulze, the Founding President of The Ritz. They collaborate with an entrepreneur/systems expert from *outside* of the hospitality industry; this allows them to cover management issues in a lot of depth and in fields that are often far removed from just hotel-industry topics. Here's the link: Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit: The Secrets of Building a Five-Star Customer Service Organization.


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Discover the secrets of world-class leadership!

When it comes to refined service and exquisite hospitality, one name stands high above the rest: The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. With ceaseless attention to every luxurious detail, the company has set the bar for creating memorable customer experiences in world-class settings. Now, for the first time, the leadership secrets behind the company's extraordinary success are revealed.

The New Gold Standard takes you on an exclusive tour behind the scenes of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. Granted unprecedented access to the company's executives, staff, and its award-winning Leadership Center training facilities, bestselling author Joseph Michelli explored every level of leadership within the organization. He emerged with the key principles leaders at any company can use to provide a customer experience unlike any other, such as:

Understanding the ever-evolving needs of customers
Empowering employees by treating them with the utmost respect
Anticipating customers' unexpressed needs and concerns
Developing and conducting an unsurpassed training regimen

Sharing engaging stories from the company's employees--from the corporate office and hotels around the globe--Michelli describes the innovative methods the company uses to create peerless guest experiences and explains how it constantly hones and improves them.

The New Gold Standard weaves practical how-to advice, proven leadership tools, and the wisdom of experts to help you create and embed superior customer-service principles, processes, and practices in your own organization.

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