Does anyone remember that book "Built to Last" done y the Stanford class and professor? Well change that to "Built to Merge." My grandfather was personal friends with Bill Hewlett and David Packard and I bet they would not have wanted this merger with Compaq either. It is interesting that one night about 3 in the morning I was reading that book and decided to change or mission statement and focus on the things that meant the most to our team and our customers. I stayed up all night writing that mission statement to make sure it was in line with the books comments on what it takes to make and keep a company great. This was about 5 years ago when "Built to Last" was the talk of the business world and it was written up in many of the newspapers, and magazines I was reading at the time. WSJ, Financial Times, Investors Business Daily, The Economist, NY Times, etc. Even hit the best sellers list for a while, not bad for a business non-fiction book by a professor.
You must be honest with yourself and your mission.
Here is what I came up with after reading that book that night, I have not changed that mission statement nor do I feel we need to, it was built to last;
OUR VISION;
To assist our franchisees in achieving their American Dream, whatever that dream may mean to them. To design and maintain a streamlined system of operations, top of the line car care products, innovative and effective marketing, trouble free and efficient equipment, the best support services and anything which will help the franchisee / team member / our family in their individually owned Car Wash Guys business. To achieve these goals, we will strive to be the best. We will make business decisions, which are good for the franchisees, their communities, their customers as well as for us. Decisions, which are good both long and short term, which strengthen our franchisees and our name, which help us achieve success and help the environment. Decisions, which are fair for all concerned, always creating a WIN/WIN situation. To achieve all objectives past, present and future, we will chose only the best prospective candidates to become franchisees, the crème of the crop.
YOUR MISSION (franchisee's and team members);
to provide customers with consistent mobile wash services at a reasonable price. To give the customer what they want and foster repeat business. To provide customers with quality which stands out above the competition. To own a business unlike others which fosters community goodwill and makes customers proud to be customers. To develop a situation whereby when people of our town think car wash, they think Car Wash Guys. To use only environmentally sound products and methods. To retain enough profit to insure a comfortable lifestyle while achieving all of our mission goals.
I was asked the other day if I was committed to those items listed, that answer is YES, absolutely, I have to be or we do not exist.
"Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs
AP - President-elect Barack Obama intends to name Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, as his treasury secretary to confront the nation's intense economic turmoil, senior Democratic officials said Friday.
AP - While President-elect Barack Obama publicly sidelined himself during congressional debate over an auto industry bailout this week, he and his top aides quietly prodded congressional leaders to find a solution to rescue struggling automakers.
AP - Gov. Dave Heineman signed into law Friday a bill adding a 30-day age limit to a safe-haven law that allowed 35 children — including teenagers as old as 17 — to be abandoned at state hospitals. The law, approved hours earlier by the Legislature in a 45-3 vote, goes into effect Saturday, and makes Nebraska the 14th state with a 30-day age cap. It had been the only state with a safe-haven law without an age limit.
AP - Germany is dropping its pursuit of a ban on Scientology after finding insufficient evidence of illegal activity, security officials said Friday.
AP - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday he would like to add significant U.S. forces to the war in Afghanistan before national elections scheduled for next year, and that grim depictions of backsliding in the seven-year-old war are "far too pessimistic."
AP - Archaeologists have unearthed an elaborately decorated 1,800-year-old chariot sheathed in bronze at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, the head of the excavation said Friday. "The lavishly ornamented four-wheel chariot dates back to the end of the second century A.D.," Veselin Ignatov told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the site, near the southeastern village of Karanovo.
Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama on Friday moved toward nominating Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary and charging the respected head of the New York Federal Reserve with helping pull the United States out of an economic nosedive.
Reuters - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama may consider Lawrence Summers as a successor to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, whose term expires in January 2010, a Democratic source told Reuters on Friday.
Reuters - Detroit automakers began work on turnaround plans demanded by Congress in return for $25 billion in aid as General Motors Corp said it would cut production more and give up two of its controversial corporate jets.
Reuters - Citigroup Inc shares tumbled for a fifth straight day on doubts about its survival prospects after its chief executive downplayed speculation the bank might sell major businesses or merge with a rival.
Reuters - U.S. stocks stormed higher in a late rally on Friday to cap another volatile week as investors welcomed reports that President-elect Barack Obama has chosen his point person to combat the U.S. economic crisis, instilling confidence about the administration's ability to take action.
Reuters - The Pentagon is considering a plan to send more than 20,000 troops to Afghanistan over the next 12 to 18 months to help safeguard elections and quell rising Taliban violence, officials said on Friday.
Reuters - U.S. President George W. Bush held talks on ending North Korea's nuclear program with Chinese leader Hu Jintao on Friday, the first in a series of meetings U.S. officials hope will lead to a renewal of six-party talks by early December.
Reuters - Iran rejected Friday U.S. reports it had enriched enough uranium to make an atom bomb, saying this would require steps it had ruled out like ejecting U.N. inspectors and leaving the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
AFP - US President George W. Bush began Friday his last scheduled foreign trip, meeting the leader of increasingly important China ahead of a summit aimed at containing a spiraling financial crisis.
AFP - Congo demanded a stronger mandate for UN troops in the conflict-torn east Friday, while residents of a squalid refugee camp said government soldiers killed a woman during a looting spree.
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