Project: The Walgreen’s Way: Prompt and Proactive

The enterprise started like any other. Named after the surname of a brilliant man.

This business was born of a necessity and based on education and experience. As a pharmacist, he interwove medicine and the mediocre.

A man, sick himself, found his vocation and that man was Charles Rudolph Walgreen.

He becomes the drug store and a retail location providing knick-knacks, non-pharmaceuticals and soon would food and beverages that sold just as well as his original concept.

When things were going good, things were good. But when things were slow, Walgreen did not allow the business to stop. In less than 40 years he opened 110 stores. How?

Because when things got slow, he decided to not do the norm and accept the fact that his fiscal year was safe. He questioned how could he beat the competition but also satisfy his clients and keep them happy? He questioned how could he make things better? 

Thus he created the 2-minute drill.

The drive-thru, delivery service and microwave dinners seem impressive now, but Walgreen set a standard that created word of mouth advertisement so positively it could possibly be why Walgreens is the largest drug retailing chain in United States.

So what was this drill that deserves such laud and honor?

It’s 1893 and you live close to Walgreen’s south side Chicago location and called them in for non-prescription items, Walgreen would answer the phone and repeat the items enunciating the name of the caller, their address and their desired products. Loud and clear. In doing this, Walgreen’s assistant could accurately collect all the items while Walgreen continued to keep the caller on the phone discussing weather and whatever else might be happening on the social calendar. 

All items collected, the assistant Caleb Danner, set out to make the delivery as Walgreen was still talking to the client. And then the doorbell rings. The client excuses himself or herself from Walgreen’s conversation and finds their order at the door. Astonished at the speed of delivery, Walgreen set the standard for customer service and all through his Two-Minute Drill.

So what’s your 2-minute drill? How will you set your company apart from others or improve your morale? How will you redefine customer service?

-The Green Couch

Project: Understanding Your Limitations

It has been one week since S. Truett Cathy, founder and longtime chairman of Chic-fil-A, passed away.

While many of us mourn his passing, he has left us with an astounding legacy and invaluable truths. The most prominent, I believe, is recognizing and acknowledging one’s limitations and humbly accepting them.

In Cathy’s case, he even self-deprecatingly integrated his into the scrumptious Chic-fil-A’s trademark slogan so that we may never forget it, though we never have realized it until now.

“We didn't invent the chicken, just the chicken sandwich.”

Not only did they acknowledge what came first (the chicken), they also gave credit where credit is due; two vital elements to success.

1)    Know that you are always borrowing a piece of someone else’s innovation.

2)    And then pay tribute to them.

No matter how many accreditations, degrees, master degrees and Ph.D.’s you pursue and achieve, when you hang these on your office walls, you will never have an opportunity to invent the chicken. You have to understand your limitations.

Living 93 years, Cathy’s seen, implemented and endeavored to incorporate many financial and innovative practices in his business, thus influencing the general and mainstream culture. Not everything succeeded. And for every failure we may have seen come across the menu board, how many more have come across Chic-fil-A’s board of directors – but at one point or time, they learned their limitations.

So ask yourself:

1)    What’s your chicken?

2)    What’s your chicken sandwich?

3)    How are you going to market a cow to make others eat more of that chicken sandwich?

4)    What invaluable truth will be part of your company legacy?

While it seemed S. Truett Cathy ate, slept and breathed his company we, too, need to take a moment to evaluate and prioritize, we need to ask ourselves, how important is our business? Then maybe, just maybe, that chicken sandwich will taste a little better, and the chicken will not taste so bitter.

-The Green Couch Project

Project: Be Kind To Your Garage – All Kinds of Things Can Grow in It

We hear of Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Google starting at home and in a garage - but we do not hear of Yankee Candle as much. A boy in 1969 could not afford a Christmas gift for his mom - so he determined that a melted crayon was better suited than showing up empty handed. And thus he would melt her heart.

The takeaway challenge is brief but deep and something we can learn from a sweet 16 year old boy: While times have changed, and the value of the dollar has changed the truth remains timeless – learn to hone the discretion between innovation vs. investments.

Before you invest monetary value into your venture, seek counsel and be proactive in research.  It took just one neighbor to see the homemade candle that Mike Kittredge of Yankee Candle would bestow his mother with - And so she ordered it for herself. The story goes that he sold it to her – and used the proceeds to make two more: One for his mom and one more to sell.   

Here are a few others who let loose their entrepreneur spirits and honed innovative enterprises in their garages:

Mattell: The face of the company may be more recognizable as Barbie dolls, Fisher-Price and Hotwheels (the list goes on) but this man-cave-garage quickly turned a cash-cave for Harold “Matt” Matson and Ruth and Elliot Handler. Circa 1945, this El Segundo Company steadily introduced the toy industry to revolutionized gaming for diverse ages and demographics. And it all started with picture frame scraps and dollhouses.

Harley Davidson: With their three piece suits and top hats, William S. Harley, at just 20 years old, and friend Arthur Davidson did not resemble the modern black, white and orange leather vested Harley riders we see on highways now. But from 1901 until 1905 they were able to take a drawing to make a bike and recreate the concept into a motorized model.

During the First World War, their ingenuity supported the troops surpassing over 10,000 machines. They gave new meaning to the roaring 20’s as the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. This success culminated because from their first failed experiment - they said it was a valuable learning experience.

Disney: We quote him; we watch his movies; we know his name is Walt, but it was his Uncle Robert’s garage to which we owe a portion of this blog’s symbolic gratitude. Along with brother Roy, Walt began his productions with Alice in Wonderland and since then every day has been a wonderland. With a high school diploma, family values, wild imagination and strong work ethic he created a world-renowned empire.

The Garage: Empty boxes. Overflowing boxes, unable to shut. Oil, paint and water spillage, rotted wood, rusty metal, roller skates, squeaky toys, loose bolts and was that a stray cat? We are lucky if we can park our vehicle in the garage. But for some they have used this storage addition, whether attached to the home or not, as a resource for their business dreams. Maybe it started as a means for survival, maybe a source or outlet for their brain to breathe. But their garages had just as much potential as their gutsy and they would use it. Did they know they would outgrow it? Did they know they would succeed? Did they know that we, the future would have a future for it?

So where are your origins? For some, it’s a garage. For some it’s their mom’s basement, some their living room, their college dorm room, their pressboard desk or their laptop or even a smartphone.  

For us, it’s The Couch and now wherever you are in your journey we welcome you to join The Project. We can help you get from the ground to the garage and get you on The Green Couch.

-The Green Couch