Book Review of “How to Build Business Warren Buffett Would Buy – the R.C. Willey Story”

  Warren Buffet is the one of the richest person in the world.  Many people are fascinated by the secret of his success.  This book leverages that hype, and targets not the usual audience of investors, but instead entrepreneurs.

To people outside Utah, Idaho, Nevada, and California, R.C. Willey doesn’t really “ring a bell.”  However within those states, this home appliance/furniture retail giant has created quite a loyal following bordering fanatical, making it one of the jewels in the Conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, chaired by Warren Buffet. 

The book can be divided into 3 parts.  The introduction takes narrative approach and details the background of the company which got the name from its founder.  However it was after R.C. Willey’s death that Bill Child, the son-in-law, took over and really launched it on the path towards prosperity. 

The body of the book contains chapters that read like case studies on business success.  Even though the industry is retail, the lessons transcend well and are very relevant to anyone who wish to start their own business.

They include:

1. Don’t give up
2. Relationship Matters
3. Be Frugal
4. Involve your family if possible in the business
5. Stick to principles
6. Plan for the long term

Specifically in chapter 10, Bill lists some of the rules of his success:

1. Treat every customer the way you wan to be treated
2. Little things make all the difference
3. Be honest
4. Do the right thing
5. Don’t follow the herd
6. Hire the right personnel
7. Treat employees like family

Towards the end, we finally get the story of how R.C. Willey was sold to Berkshire Hathaway.  And more interestingly the chemistry and friendship that eventually emerged between Bill Child and Warren Buffet. 

The readers get a good description of Warren’s affable personality and style of management based on integrity, humor and common sense.  However the real star of the book is Bill Child, whom we get to see maturing from a prospective teacher, to a struggling entrepreneur, to the CEO of a major corporation. 

Admirably even after selling his corporation, Bill still exhibited an insatiable hunger to improve his company, and took enormous personal financial risks that paid off huge.

As mentioned earlier, the book can be read on several different levels.  1) As an inspiring account of a man’s struggle to achieve the American dream through hard work, innovation, and the ability to fulfill the needs of others.  2) A series of business case studies for other entrepreneurs, or 3) for investors who wish identify similar gems.

Other valuable aspects of the books dealt not with success, but failures of competitors.  I wish that the author had expended on those stories instead of offering succinct explanations. 

The book is commissioned by John Child, who really only wrote the Afterward section, where he outlined another 13 philosophies on management.  Some of them are redundant and overlaps his 7 rules of success.

Overall at 168 pages and medium page size, I finished the book within several hours, and really enjoyed it.  If you have your own business, or think about starting one, I’d highly recommend this book.