Learning becomes Local
I’m totally stoked. Trent got our company histories back up on our website and I’ve had a great time learning; I spent about 30 minutes reading the histories of Berkshire Hathaway and Big O Tires tonight.
While it was obviously edifying to read about Warren Buffet and his long career of successful investing, it was even more fun for me to read about a local businessman named Steve Cloward. Steve spent most of his career as the President of Big O Tires. Now, he is the Director of the Davis Business Alliance which includes the Grow Utah Venture’s sponsored Davis eStation. Here is an excerpt from the Big O Tire Company history that talks about Steve:
By 1984 Big O recognized the need to change with the times and turned the company leadership position over to Steven P. Cloward, who had begun his career as a territorial sales representative for Michelin based in northern California. Big O had been one of his accounts and he soon became assistant to the Area Director of Big O Tires of Northern California. Cloward also accepted the position as president of William B. Thomas Enterprises, the largest of the area tire distributors, and shortly thereafter he orchestrated the merging of “his” two companies.
According to company records, Cloward reasoned that “The better job you do at conveying your genuine interest in a customer, the more customer inventory base you’re going to build, the more repeat business you’re going to get, the more positive word of mouth–the net result is a more successful business. The times may change, but the basic needs to satisfy customers will not.”
Steve attended our last SpeedPitching event here in Utah and enjoyed the experience. He’s a great guy and someone that I respect.
If you haven’t had a chance to check out the 10,000 company histories, I recommend that you do. Not only does it provide a great learning experience, you might read about someone you know!
