Time to Make the Donuts: The Founder of Dunkin Donuts Shares an American Journey [Hardcover]

William Rosenberg (Author), Jessica Keener (Collaborator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 2001

It all started when Bill Rosenberg took a leap of faith and bet his future on a donut.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Bill Rosenberg's story is truly inspirational He started with a donut, he worked hard and he built an empire." -- Fred Deluca, Founder of Subway

"Rosenberg is the embodiment of the American free enterprise dream." -- Jim Amos, CEO and Chairman of MAIL BOXES, ETC.

"When Rosenberg gives advice, I follow it to the letter. Never has been, and never will be, anyone like him." -- Bud Hadfield, Founder of KWIK KOPY

About the Author

William Rosenberg is the founder of Dunkin' Donuts, a franchising pioneer, horseman, multiple cancer survivor, and philanthropist. He has received numerous awards and honors including Fortune Magazine's Small Business Hall of Fame and the International Franchise Association Hall of Fame. In 1959, Rosenberg founded the International Franchise Association, an organization which has grown to more than 30,000 members. Recognized worldwide for creating a dynasty selling coffee and donuts, Mr. Rosenberg died in 2002 at the age of 86.

Jessica Brilliant Keener has written about Rosenberg for The Boston Globe Magazine and is a frequent contributor to the The Boston Globe as well as Inspired House, Coastal Living and other national magazines. Her short stories have appeared in numerous literary magazines. A second place winner of Redbook's fiction contest, she is the recipient of a 2000 Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Lebhar-Friedman (September 21, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0867308613
• ISBN-13: 978-0867308617
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,009,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Thought Processes of an Outstanding Entrepreneur, October 17, 2001

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Time to Make the Donuts: The Founder of Dunkin Donuts Shares an American Journey (Hardcover)

Anyone who wants to be a better business person, a better parent, or a better contributor to the community can learn many helpful lessons from Time to Make the Donuts.

Most entrepreneurs succeed mostly by being in the right place at the right time to fulfill an obsession they have. When the world changes, their first business often falters and they usually fail with any new efforts. Mr. William Rosenberg is a cut above those you have read about. He was able to make many different types of businesses and activities prosper.

The major appeal of this book is that Mr. Rosenberg is able to explain what he learned about being a good businessman, why it works, and where he learned the lessons. Although he stopped his formal education in the 8th grade, he was a student of whatever he could learn from the successes and failures around him (including his own). Later, he was fascinated to learn that this same method was used by his son to learn business from written case histories at Harvard Business School.

From selling watermelons from his father's grocery store, Mr. Rosenberg learned many ways to attract customers. This beginning led to success in such diverse activities as selling ice cream from trucks, food from canteen-type trucks, industrial feeding, vending, and eventually stand-alone donut shops with superb coffee (Dunkin' Donuts). Between some of these phases, he also succeeded in being a Western Union delivery boy and organizing better production methods in a shipyard during World War II. Whether dealing with customers, partners, employees, or labor unions, Mr. Rosenberg displayed remarkable empathy and an ability to find ways to look out for the other person that built trust.

Mr. Rosenberg is an excellent example of the power of positive thinking. "We turn pitfalls into windfalls." The book is filled with examples of how that was done in detail. "I believe a person can find a way to succeed." His suggestion is that you "find out who solved it [the problem] best and start where they left off, not where they began." He was equally committed to meeting his goals, and getting the best possible people involved. There's lots of good advice here about keeping drunks away from alcohol and womanizers away from women, but never keeping or trusting a liar.

Mr. Rosenberg's memoirs are also candid in pointing out mistakes that he made, and giving credit to others. For example, he missed an opportunity to own half of Burger King for a relatively small investment. He has a lot of good things to say about his long-time partner who held up the successful expansion of Dunkin' Donuts and later became a leading competitor. When his son's business team made some mistakes in expansion, Mr. Rosenberg took responsibility for the problems with the board and argued for keeping everyone with the company.

From the title, you might think this book is primarily about the rise of Dunkin' Donuts. Actually, that is the biggest subject, but it does not dominate the book. There is a great deal of material about his business activities before Dunkin' Donuts was founded in 1950, his pioneering work in franchising, his horse breeding and racing activities, and his many experiences with ill health (needing to lose weight, overcoming lung cancer and later lymphoma, and needing three hip operations). Of particular interest to me was his description of how he worked for his father, later employed his father, and brought his son into the business.

The book also has vignettes that will please the casual reader. During his many efforts to lose weight, he met interesting people like Mario Puzo (who described his work on the Godfather), Colonel Harlan Sanders and entertainers. His friends also included many other famous entrepreneurs. The story about the time that Sumner Redstone's father took him golfing with Mr. Rosenberg will leave quite an impression with you about how tough fathers can be on sons.

Where could you do a better job of keeping your word? What would be gained? What will be lost if you do not?

Keep focusing on making the world better . . . for all!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great business book and much more, November 23, 2001

By 

E. McNulty (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Time to Make the Donuts: The Founder of Dunkin Donuts Shares an American Journey (Hardcover)

Time to Make the Donuts is a wonderful read. I bought it because I've bought at least a million cups of Dunkin' Donuts coffee. What I found was an insightful and entertaining story of a dynamic individual who found time for making far more than donuts. There were lessons, both business and personal, that resonated with me. It is a well-written look into an exceptional life.

13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From the Kitchens of Boston to your Left Ventricle, December 1, 2002

By 

Charles Henry Higgensworth III (Boston, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Time to Make the Donuts: The Founder of Dunkin Donuts Shares an American Journey (Hardcover)

Amateur chefs making an impulse purchase on the basis of the book's title will want to reconsider, as this is NOT a how-to guide to the making of this distinctly American confection. I myself was bitterly disappointed to make this discovery. However since I was trapped in the purgatory of traffic school when I furtively cracked its cover, I decided to forge ahead with this ghost-written autobiography of the founder of Dunkin' Donuts anyway.

I was soon swept up by the exhilarating story of a relentless entrepreneur's rise to the top of the glamorous but cut-throat world of donut manufacture & distribution. I was also smitten with no small amount of civic pride, as Dunkin' Donuts sprang from the loins of my own native Boston. The narrative is interspersed with intriguing facts about the donut industry and its history. For instance, did you know that the modern word "donut" is a simplification of the word "doughnut," which itself evolved from the archaic term "dough knot"? Nor did I, sir.

Your inner Homer will be thrilled with this book and its lessons. And at just over 200 pages, it's the ideal length for a day-long sentence to traffic school at which attention must be periodically feigned. However this will limit your absorption of any important lessons being imparted. I myself learned this the hard way, when I caused a minor accident immediately upon leaving the school's parking lot by failing to signal. The delicious irony of this was not lost on my instructor, who had sullenly resented my divided attention throughout the day.