Customer Reviews

Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I began reading this book out of mild interest and found a number of lessons that I could use in my career as the trainer for a large Canadian pet organization. A great read and a great learning tool for all, not just those in the home improvement field.

HD understands what low cost, customer service really means. After reading this book if you don't become a shareholder then I question your investment strategy.

These two gentlemen who started The Home Depot had been executives at another home center company, but when they were fired and a friend pushed them to start Home Depot, they truly had nothing, but an idea, a dream. They really had no money, and had to go out and find it. For anyone who has ever had to do that to start your own business, believe me it ain't easy! I know I did it!. Read this story, you won't be sorry!

The most horrific thing about this book is its title. My assumption in reading the reviews for this book (and reading its title) was that it would tell how some regular guys built the Home Depot from scratch, starting with an idea and building it into an empire.

Instead what you get is the CEO and CFO of another home improvement company starting Home Depot along with an investment banking friend that lands them in front of a potential investor that happens to be a billionaire (Ross Perot). Somehow they don't seem like just regular guys anymore.

The information in the book is okay, but it was really hard for me to get past this outrageous title that is nothing more than a lie. There are better business books out there on how to start a successful company from scratch. Try Sandra Kurtzig's CEO: How to Build a $200 Million Company from the Ground Up.

In reading one of the less flattering reviews of this book, the reviewer took exception to the subtitle mentioning "regular guys" because of the connections and startup capital that was available to the founders. I think the reviewer in question has entirely missed the point.

First, there is a growing litany of "entrepreneurs" who have had access to as much or more capital as these gentlemen and then went on to squander this resource through self indulgence and generally incomprehensibly poor judgment. The point the authors made consistently throughout the book was that despite capital being critical to this venture, smart and calculating decisions were far more crucial to their success. Look at second generation wealth, second and third generation CEO's, or the offspring of celebrities for that matter, and try to convince anyone that they had a walk away advantage over the people who struggle to pioneer new concepts. Sad but true, knowing someone with a huge bank account-or someone who simply has a big bank account-does not guarantee success.

As an entrepreneur with a fledgling six year old company that was started on next to zero capital, we have steadily grown our company to 1.5 million in sales in much the same fashion as Home Depot but on a smaller scale of course. This book has been what I have been looking for to find a way to illustrate to our team and potential investors what we are capable of. Believe in the idea; go beyond any reasonable sense of effort to insure it works; constantly look for new opportunities and ways to reinvent yourself; reward the people who helped you get there; and through hard work and being better at what you do, inadvertently punish anyone who tried to stop you or rip you off.

This book is about not being too impressed because you're the "boss". It's about taking a true sense of satisfaction that you impressed your clients with over the top service, which is much harder to carry out on a system wide basis than anyone who hasn't been there can understand. It's about inventing a new mouse trap, perhaps against anyone's better judgment, and watching it succeed. I would hazard a guess that the aforementioned reviewer has never been an entrepreneur or has been swatted down when he/she has attempted to start a business. This is the only way I can fathom someone harboring such animosity towards a title to the exclusion of what Home Depot has accomplished.

I think that it's also important to take note of the fact that Home Depot took everyone on both large and small. Of course they had financing behind them, but so did some other large concerns they competed with. More importantly, in my opinion they prospered with the kind of customer service which is often lauded upon small business but in actuality doesn't hold true as often as the legend would lead you to believe.

Companies, corporations, even people in civic groups can learn from what Home Depot accomplished. If you think they had an unfair advantage, my suggestion to you is make sure you never try to start your own business.

a wonderful story for anyone interested in reading about watching a company grow small to big .

Being a stock holder of The Home Depot, I was interested in seeing how it all got started. This book is great and really is hard to put down once you start! I give it 4 stars mainly because, as in other reviews, the authors do pat themselves on the back a little too much, but overall it is a must read!

This book is a winner! Practical views on business operations from two very successful businessmen.

This book provides a behind the scenes description of how HD has revolutionized hardware. The founders say they were lucky. I say they're good.

I just love reading historical books about companies that I am interested in investing. Readers can learn from the past in order to understand why a company does what it does. Everything has a reason. It was interesting to find out that Home Depot's business model was to be the lowest cost provider of household products and to operate with a 30 percent gross margin which, back then, was unheard of. It achieved that by offering a wide selection of products and going straight to the manufacturers instead of using the middleman. Now, looking at the company's financials, readers can learn that the company is still operating with a gross margin of around 30 percent. This book is for you if you want to find out all the struggles and successes of one of the most successful company in the world.

- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market