Great People Want to Work for Great Companies

Great people want to work for great companies. A great company is a place where talented and driven people can learn, grow, achieve and contribute meaningfully to a winning team.

Great companies don't build themselves. They are built by years of hard work and dedication to the goal of being great. The work begins with the owner. Over time, the owner may impart his or her values to others, who then take up the task and contribute meaningfully to the growth and development of the business.

So the question is: How does one go about building a great company? Surprisingly, the answer is quite clear. Many successful companies' owners have unquestionably proven their ability to build successful businesses. Many have been studied and their practices documented. The library is full of them. Some of the very best include Good to Great by Jim Collins, Competitive Advantage by Michael Porter, The Practice of Management by Peter Drucker, The One Thing You Need to Know by Marcus Buckingham and Execution by Ram Charan and Larry Bossidy.

Here is a summary of the accepted wisdom on building a great business. These might sound oversimplified, but I urge you to define this for your company.

1.    Be clear about what you do as a company.
Example: D. L. Perkins, LLC, publisher of The Business Owner Journal and The Business Owner Advisor, offers expertise to owners of small and midsize businesses through its publications and consulting on the purchase, sale and valuation of private companies.

2.    Know where you are going.
Example: The Business Owner will become the largest paid-circulation periodical in the U.S. among owners of private companies with employee counts of 5 to 75, a universe of approximately 2.5 million. The Business Owner will hit a 3% penetration (75,000 paid subscribers) by June 1, 2009.

3.    Understand what makes your organization unique (and therefore uniquely able to deliver value to certain persons or organizations).
Example: D. L. Perkins is unique in its passionate belief, understanding and respect for these principles:

i.          Nobody does more for society than the owner of the private business.

ii.      Nobody has greater demands on his/her time, knowledge and talent than the private business owner.

iii.  For the owner, the company is more than just "business." It's the hopes, dreams and livelihood of the owner, the owner's family, the employees, and to some extent the community where the business operates, pays taxes and contributes in meaningful ways.

iv.      Owners of private businesses are incredibly busy but also have a tremendous need for quality information that will help them make wise decisions.

v.          If we at D. L. Perkins can support and empower owners of private companies with information they need to make quality decisions, and thrive as business owners, we will impact many in a positive way.

With this passion and belief system, we are uniquely endowed to serve owners of private businesses - and we do so with great energy, pride and commitment. Our highest calling is to:

• Provide owners of private businesses with practical and proven how-to information and know-how that they can use in a no-nonsense style and that respects their limited time.
• Offer exceptional advisory service in the complex yet pivotal area of private company purchases and sales (M&A).

4.    Be clear about your core values.
Example: D. L. Perkins is filled with people who:

a.    Respect and value each and every human being.

b.    Learn, grow and work together in a friendly, open and trusting environment.

c.    Take great joy each day in working incredibly smart and hard in the service of others.

d.    Want to make a lot of money and have a lot of fun.

5.    Fill your organization with great people.
Example: Jim Collins calls it "Getting the right people on the business and the wrong people off the bus." Jack Welch calls it "Getting 'A' Players." The Smart brothers call it TopGrading. Basically, it's about getting smart and talented people who fit into your culture (who understand and are passionate about your company's core values) and can get things done.

6.    Manage for productivity and achievement.
This means you:

a.    Give employees what they need to learn and succeed.

b.    Set goals for the company, teams and individuals.

c.    Track business, team and individual performance.

d.    Reward, retain and promote people who "deliver the goods."

e.    Celebrate success and share profits with the team.

Accomplishing the above (i.e., building a great company) is a daunting task. But you have to get out of bed each day and go to work anyway, so you might as well make the most of it. Establish these "best of class" practices. This means you will have to regularly evaluate who you are, where you're going and what makes you unique; then, setting goals, implementing those goals, and evaluating performance and personnel.