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I have always
felt that the world was a much simpler place than most
people seemed to think it was. I was always the kid who
observed, "The emperor has no clothes".
I grew up in Jackson Heights, New York. Right near LaGuardia
Airport. I went to the public schools in my neighborhood and
to Baruch College, City University of New York, where I
earned a degree in Public Accountancy. I selected that major
because the only person I knew who had any money was a CPA.
My mother, brother and sister and I lived in a four-room
apartment on the sixth floor of an apartment house across
the street from a city playground. We had a great ball
field/roller hockey rink, covered in asphalt, which served
as our main recreation area. Softball in the summer, hockey
in the winter.
When I was eleven, my mother told me I was spending too much
time hanging out on the street. She said I should learn to
play a musical instrument so I was doing something
constructive. I really didn't want to so I suggested the
drums, because I was sure she would never tolerate them in
an apartment. She called my bluff and I began taking lessons
once a week. I still play regularly with our local symphony
and community band.
When I was seventeen, I met the woman who would become my
wife and the mother of our two children. My band was playing
at a teen dance and she was there in a cat costume for some
reason. We married the week I took my finals at Baruch.
I was not a great student, from the school's standpoint, but
I learned a lot. I asked too many questions. I always wanted
to know "why" and "what for" and "how does it relate to what
we learned yesterday". I think most of my teachers thought I
was difficult.
My career began as an internal auditor with a company that
ranked about 160 something on Fortune's 500. I left the
company six years later as Corporate Accounting Manager.
During my stay I worked on a special project, for about two
years, learning computer systems design and using that
training to design and implement a new accounting system for
the company.
Bev and I decided to follow an opportunity, so we packed up
and moved to St. Louis. I had a chance to work with a team
that was creating a new accounting system for a Fortune 50
company. My systems and methods seemed to be efficient
because they were simple and direct.
My perspective on the world was reinforced as a result of
the move to the Midwest. I spent almost thirty years living
in the pressure cooker that is New York and now found myself
in a world of limitless sky and private space. The world
was, in fact, a much simpler place than most people seemed
to think it was.
I started The Sacks Group in 1985 after working for four
NYSE listed companies. I had worked my way up through the
ranks finally reaching the chief financial officer's
position. But I was still fighting the "simple is better
battle" every day. While my peers seemed to want to make
things as complicated as they could, I wanted to make things
easier. I thought that fundamentals were the key to success;
they seemed to think that fundamentals were for children.
The Sacks Group was founded to encourage and assist
entrepreneurs to reach their life objectives through sound
business planning and proven methods of financial
management. We subscribe to the theory that the best route
from point "A" to point "B" is the most direct route. The
most difficult aspect of that theory is finding that route.
Please take the
time to listen to the many, ongoing adventures of The
Entrepreneur's Corner Podcast, and let me know your
thoughts. The landscape of small business is one that
continues to amaze, impress and fuel me.
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 Ordering
The 12 Commandments for Small Business:
If
you know you're going to be starting a small business,
it's time to use one of the most comprehensive and
straight-forward reference manuals to start your
adventure right.
It's the 12
Commandments for Small Business by Richard J. Sacks! Remember you can read on below and listen to each
of the chapters of the book as an informative podcast
for free!
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The
Entrepreneur's Corner Podcast:
Our Most
Recent Commandment:
The 12
Commandments for Small Business:
Commandment : 4
Thou Shalt Sell Effectively - Listen Now!
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The
Entrepreneur's Corner Podcast:
The
American Idol Model that Could Save Small Business
From
the
12 Commandments for Small Business Blog
Listen to Our Free MP3 File Now!
"American Idol…love it or hate it. Personally, I love
to hate it. I watch it every week (or DVR it) and find
that it grows on me as the number of competitors
decreases. By the last couple of weeks, it's actually
entertaining!
From a business perspective it's fascinating. The
program got people to cast 60,000,000 votes during the
last week. That's either one very busy person (with sore
fingers) or a lot of people paying attention to a
process and enthusiastically going out of their way to
participate. Any time you can get that many people to do
the same thing at the same time, you have an immense
business opportunity..."
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Read the
entire entry
via The 12 Commandments Website... |
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The
Entrepreneur's Corner Podcast:
Slap
Slap Flip Flops
From
the
12 Commandments for Small Business Blog
Listen to Our Free MP3 File Now!
"That’s the sound of flip-flops walking. Just ordinary
flip flops, not necessarily the kind with flowers on
them or jewels. Just plain vanilla flip-flops.
And what is a sound like that doing in an office? Is it
appropriate to wear flip-flops to work? With all the
other problems in the world, why am I concerned about
flip-flops?
I think flip-flops are the latest manifestation of
inadequate management. I think they’re great for the
beach or the mall (although with no arch support I don’t
know how people walk any great distance wearing them),
but I think they’re totally inappropriate for work.
There… I said it. At the risk of alienating all the
flip-flop wearers in the world..."
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Read the
entire entry
via The 12 Commandments Website...
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Chapters/Commandments Numbers
to Listen to That Episode
1 2
3
4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 |
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The
Entrepreneur's Corner Podcast:
The 12
Commandments for Small Business:
Commandment 1:
Thou Shalt Be Organized!
Listen to Our Free MP3 File Now!
"Think of the world of business as a speeding bullet
train. You’d like to board our train and become a
successful member of the business community. The good
news is that anyone can board. The bad news is you stand
at a dead stop while the train passes you by. You need
to get up to speed and step aboard. But first, you need
a ticket to ride. You will be required to identify
yourself and explain why you want to board.. You will
have to decide how you will pay for your place onboard
and where you fit into the whole scheme of things. Where
will you plug in? Forming an organization that fits into
the existing rules and structures is your first task.
“Thou shalt be well organized,” then, can be none other
than the first of The Twelve Commandments for Small
Business. It’s the bedrock commandment, underpinning all
the others..."
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The
Entrepreneur's Corner Podcast:
The 12
Commandments for Small Business:
Commandment 2:
Thou Shalt Plan They Work and Work Thy Plan
Listen to Our Free MP3 File Now!
"If you’re into sports you know the best coaches stick
with their game plans even when the going gets rough.
They realize their cool, clear-headed pre-game analysis,
made in the quiet of their offices with the counsel of
their assistants, is a far more reliable guide to
victory than heat-of-the-moment sideline decisions will
ever be. So it is with business.
A business plan is like a coach’s game plan. You take the
time to think through a master plan that puts together
the effort and resources to accomplish a goal: to create
and successfully operate a business. Incredibly, these
best-laid plans are often filed and forgotten as soon as
the shop doors open. It’s as if planning for the
business had been nothing more than an elaborate mental
exercise. Soon critical decisions are being made without
referring to the game plan."
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The
Entrepreneur's Corner Podcast:
The 12
Commandments for Small Business:
Commandment 3:
Thou Shalt Conserve Cash
Listen to Our Free MP3 File Now!
"Cash. Everybody wants it. Nobody has enough. Cash
speaks of wealth and stability. It impresses and
persuades. It feels good in the pocket and looks great
in the hand. Its power is immediate and quantifiable.
And unless you have piles of the stuff, it can occupy
the mind inordinately because cash is central to our
lives. We work daily to acquire cash. Once we get it we
spend it sparingly and with great care, forever
searching for “deals.” We use it to live, to buy
groceries and clothing and housing. We use it to avoid
debt, so as not to incur interest.
We’re secretive about our cash, wanting no one to know how
much or how little we posses. Regardless of all our
myriad differences -- race, creed, political persuasion
and so on -- we all love cash. But those are personal
predilections concerning cash. In a business, cash’s
values and uses are altogether different."
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entire chapter
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The
Entrepreneur's Corner Podcast:
The 12
Commandments for Small Business:
Commandment 4:
Thou Shalt Sell Effectively
Listen to Our Free MP3 File Now!
"Convincing customers they’d be better off with some of
their money in your pocket is the long and short of
selling. It’s what business is all about. If you don’t
believe it, peruse a shelf in the business section of
any bookstore. Half the titles will include the word
“sales” or “selling.” We’re in business to make money,
and selling products and services is how we do it. Stop
selling and the business goes down. Thank heavens that
selling is a skill you can learn. Certainly, selling is
an art. Surely, too, some of us are naturally better at
it than others."
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Read the
entire chapter
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