article thumbnail

Texas Roadhouse and a Leader’s Legacy

Mark Sanborn

Too many times you have leaders who came out of operations as big shots and become isolated and hear what the world is through 4 or 5 people who report to them.” I still choose all of our real estate. One reason I do the real estate is that it gives me more time in the field with people.”. Whose Values are Core?

article thumbnail

Before You Open a Business…

Leading Blog

But Chrysler was in bankruptcy, and we didn’t know whether our Chrysler Jeep Dodge dealership that we opened in 2004 would survive the ax of the bankruptcy court. Operating a small business is not unlike owning a really old house: things break a lot, and you need to fix them, over and over and over. Ours did; over 700 did not.)

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Midsized Firms Can Survive a Cash Crisis

Harvard Business Review

Operational meltdowns can devour a midsized company’s cash. economy (especially the real estate market) fell off the end of the table. To use a different company example, one growing financial services firm’s new CFO learned this in 2004. Not growth, or even profits. And crisis it was in 2008, the same year the U.S.

Crisis 8
article thumbnail

Zappos’ CEO on Using Corporate Relocation to Preserve Customer-Led Culture

Harvard Business Review

One of the most significant came in early 2004 when we decided to relocate from San Francisco to Las Vegas. When we started to look at new locations for our call center operations, we initially considered outsourcing to India or the Philippines and met with a few potential providers. We’ve also expanded far beyond shoes.

CEO 8