Robert H. Buckman
Bulab Holdings, Inc. (parent company of Buckman Laboratories), Chairman, Executive Committee-Board of Directors
1. What advice would you give someone starting a business?
"There are several elements that I consider important to measure success by. These are:
- That you earn your way forward so that the business is self sustaining and self funding. ( Banks will always loan you money if you have any chance of success. But the true stamp of success is how you can earn your way forward without the need to continually go to the banks for money. The same is true of continually going to the stock market for funds.)
- How well your people can grow as individuals and as members of organization as you are able to grow the business. This also extends to their families as well. This means that you have to provide opportunities for people to grow to be the best that they can be through education and business opportunities.
- How well you are able to advance the community in which you reside as a business. This should be true for all locations in which the business resides, not just the home office. "
2. Why is Memphis good for entrepreneurs?
"They provide the vision and energy to move in new directions and define new approaches to achieving success. They push the envelope of what is possible and open windows of opportunity for others to vision by. Every time that the future is redefined, you create light bulbs for others. "
3. How did you find, develop and retain your best people?
"We changed the culture so that they wanted to be part of our organization. We hired on the basis of our Code of Ethics and our perception of whether they could be successful in our culture. For, those that were already there, we opened up avenues for them to succeed. We established education as the foundation for our people to grow in the organization on a global basis. So, education became free for the individual. All they had to do was donate the time to the educational process. We did the rest. We created a climate for each individual to grow to be the best that they can be. We encouraged that growth everyway we could. We provided educational opportunities for their children to grow through tuition refund programs. We encouraged individual initiative. For some of the details see the answer to the previous question. For all of it, read the book."
For More Information: http://www.buckman.com/
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