Many in the SMB (small to mid-size business) leaders aspire to run large enterprises. It helps to remember that every big company was once a small one. What can you learn from those who have trod the paths of success, and failure, that may help you turn the odds in your favor?
Gary Hoover was a successful entrepreneur (Hoover’s Data) before founding the American Business History Center (ABHC), one of my favorite sources for this newsletter. He felt that learning from entrepreneurs and executives who had preceded him had underpinned his successes and the ABHC was a way to share those lessons in an efficient and effective way for busy people.
He recently sent a memo to his subscribers (access to his newsletter is free) that not only outlined why he felt executives should read business history as seriously as they read their P&Ls but provides links to many concise and stimulating short bios of successful (mostly) businesspeople.
Mr. Hoover remarks “Many people are, in fact, blinded by the future. So many talking heads and writers go on endlessly about the future without any historical perspective. Book after book pours out. Investors obsess over where the market is going next, while the wisest among them refer to the events of the 1970s or even the 1920s for needed context.”
You will be well rewarded by spending a few minutes reading Mr. Hoover’s answer to the question “Why Should We Study Business History?” The collection of links to fascinating bios in the article is worth the read by itself. Another great resource on business history is Vistage Chair and Speaker Greg Bustin’s “Decision Time.”
Be sure to bookmark these two resources…you’ll be coming back to them.
