Customer Reviews

What I Learned Before I Sold to Warren Buffett: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Developing a Highly Successful Company

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In a book that is more almanac than business history, author Barnett C. Helzberg Jr. includes a bit of narrative, but this is not a discourse on what he learned as he developed his Kansas City jewelry store empire, not a case study and not a look at how the sale of his company to Buffett went (which might have been a dandy negotiations yarn). Instead, it is basically a sound collection of sayings, aphorisms and - now and then, it must be said - platitudes about what he knew before Buffett came along. This is not, therefore, a book that We recommend necessarily reading from cover to cover. Instead, keep it handy. Pick it up when you are stuck for ideas or guidance, and peruse it for experience and sense. If all the thoughts are not particularly original, that is part of their appeal. Like a Polonius of the Plains, the author is never at a loss for a nostrum. He reaffirms the sound, traditional principles that guided the steady and sure growth of his business. It worked for Warren; it may well work for you.

Likely one of the reasons Barnett had such success is that he had the strength or character and ego to hire people he thought were smarter or better at the assigned task. When he got home from college I was his little brother and he was my mentor, but he has always had mentors, always wanted to learn from others. He, in turn, mentors others, and this book, straightforward and candid, does the same, and for anyone in management, there will be useful ideas and tools.
I must disclose that I did receive a free book from the author, inscribed!

Richard Helzberg

If you're an entrepreneur-at any stage of the development of your business(es), you're hungry for the secrets of the successful trail blazers who have gone before you. The opportunity to learn from someone who built a strong enough business to sell to the legendary Warren Buffett would be particularly valuable. This book offers that coveted opportunity.

The author did not build his business all by himself. His father and grandfather preceded him in building the three-generation family business of 143 retail jewelry stores in 23 states. A well-led executive team made it all work beautifully. Helzberg Diamonds set the standard for customer service, earning the loyalty of thousands of customers who contributed to the success of the enterprise.

Helzberg starts his book by telling us that he's a plagiarist. He's collected ideas from many other people, used them to grow his business, and shares them in page after page of philosophy and advice. The book is organized into six sections: Managing, Decision Making, Hiring, Inspiring, Communicating, and Focusing. Each section is a collection of short chapters that deliver this effective CEO's secrets, illustrated with examples from what he and his company accomplished. Each chapter's advice is complemented by a sidebar entitled "Mining for Diamonds"-pithy statements that provide powerful guidance for any business leader. Quotes from a wide range of gurus, mentors, and leaders, offer an additional dose of thought-provoking and inspiring words.

The book is easy for busy entrepreneurs to read. The chapters are short enough to absorb during a break-coffee, bathroom, or deep breath-and tightly written enough so you can glean the concepts quickly. A list of recommended readings and an index add value to the volume. The only feature that might have improved this treasure would be a complete listing in one place of all Helzberg's "Mining for Diamonds" advice. Too bad, you'll have to go through the book chapter by chapter to mine those gems for yourself. The experience will be worthwhile...and probably repeated a few times to gain the full impact of this down-to-earth, almost homespun, recipe book for entrepreneurial success.

Do you want to become an entrepreneur? Are you already an entrepreneur?

This book is a simple, straightforward discussion of the business and personal concepts that have proven successful for Mr. Helzberg over his long and successful business career.

If you are contemplating becoming an entrepreneur this book provides you with a frank discussion on what it entails. It also provides you with a mentor that has experienced, and overcame, many different situations. Even if you are already an entrepreneur this book contains many lessons and viewpoints that you could certainly put to good use in your own business operations.

One of the best sources of information is someone who has already walked down the path you are embarking on. Mr. Helzberg has traveled far down the path of business success and is now willing to take the time to advise others on the twists and turns that appear on that path. I suggest you take advantage of his generosity.

I enjoyed the first third of this book. Barnett Helzberg seems like a neat guy with good integrity.

The second and third third were also okay, but only because it was the first third repeated a couple times.

Probably, he could have written a couple magazine articles instead.

Over 300 helpful quotes, concepts and tidbits of information that the author has accumulated throughout his 33 + years running and growing a business.

It seems like the last few books I reviewed mentioned the importance of understanding "opportunity costs". On page 9, "Every activity you undertake exacts the price of not being able to pursue alternative activities... Thus the cost of putting out fires where fires exist and putting fingers in dikes where leaks exist is extremely high in the sense of decreased progress or missed opportunities." Peter Drucker calls that "feeding the problems and starving the opportunities"

Barnett also touches on the importance of being able to execute.

On page 115 there is great advise about the importance of raising prices and the importance of doing so on a gradual scale, whether needed or not because when it is needed you may not be able to play catch up.

A few cool quotes:

"Surrounding yourself with dwarfs does not make you a giant" - Yiddish Folk Saying
Meaning always hire up.

Success
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of the intelligent people and the affection of children:
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better;
To help in leaving a better social condition;
To know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is success.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

"In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you.
- Warren Buffett


Chapter 63 is on "asking - not telling" It contains some great advise and a few notable quotes:

"I had six honest men-they tought me all I know: Their names were Where and What and When-and Why and How and Who.
- Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

By Kevin Kingston author of A 20,000% Gain in Real Estate: A True Story About the Ups and Downs From Wall Street to Real Estate Leading up to Phenomenal Returns

My Blog: bloglines.com/blog/KevinKingston

This book is intended for small and mid-market business owners and provides practical advice based on Helzberg's years of experience and lessons he learned from Warren Buffet. Many of the concepts are common sense but illustrate how companies can control at a sensible pace, and build the infrastructure to sustain their business for decades.

The former CEO of Helzberg Diamonds shares wisdom he has learned from over 30 years in business before selling to Warren Buffett.

I have read a lot of management books and this was one of the easier (less dry) reads. At less than 230 pages, with decent size font, and lots of 1/2 pages, most readers can get through this in a couple of hours. I mean this in a positive way. The author does not waste words or the readers time. Lots of valuable information in here and I highly recommend anyone interested in managing or running a business read this. Helzberg's integrity and genuine nature get across throughout the book.

There are references to First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently in here. That is a great book as well and its influence on Helzberg is clearly evident. Another book he references significantly is Good to Great. I have tried to read that book several times, but have always found it too boring to proceed through.

I read everything written about Warren Buffett and therefore seeing him pictured with Barnett Helzberg on the cover piqued my interest to pick it up.

What I found was a cogently written, pithy synopsis of what is really important for the success of any business. The "mining for diamonds" summaries and the integral selected quotations at the end of each chapter are also "gems".

The wisdom shared in the pages applies to much more than business.

I look forward to the sequel.

This book has two major flaws.

First, Helzberg's "tips" are hardly insightful. That doesn't mean they are wrong, or flawed, though reasonable people would disagree about some of them. Instead, most suffer from being obvious. This would be acceptable, in my opinion, if this were a narrative of how he and his family and team built the company, which leads me to the second flaw: its structure. The book is structured as 80 "helpful hints," each roughly 3 to 5 pages long, making it extremely disjointed.

If you're a college student studying business, or somebody embarking on an entrepreneurial venture without any experience, this book could prove useful. If you have any experience, however, you are unlikely to find it illuminating.