No one who charted Bruce Halle’s early years would predict that the poor kid from New Hampshire might achieve greatness as an adult. Challenged in school and growing up in a struggling family, Halle looked like every other kid who would leave high school in the 1940s and disappear into a factory.
Instead, Halle created one of America’s most respected companies, rose to join the Forbes magazine list of the four hundred richest Americans and serve as the role model for the ordinary Joes who seek out success at Discount Tire Company.
Six Tires, No Plan maps Halle’s journey out of poverty and failure and reveals the deceptively simple values that drive success for him, his company and thousands of employees. Key among those principles is Halle’s commitment to passing on his good fortune to the thousands of employees who serve his customers every day. This is Halle’s true passion, and paying it forward to the ordinary guy is a cornerstone of Discount Tire’s ongoing success.
Avoiding the spotlight, crediting his employees for the success of the company, Halle demonstrates the incredible power of perseverance and fundamental values to create long-term success. His journey offers a roadmap worth following in both career and life.
Review
An inspirational roadmap for business and life. --Harvey Mackay, author, #1 New York Times bestseller Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive
Bruce Halle has achieved the impossible by earning immense brand loyalty in a commodity business. His disciplined focus on employee motivation and customer service offers lessons for anyone seeking success in business or life. --Pitt Hyde, founder of AutoZone
Bruce Halle's story is an inspiration. He starts his employees changing tires; fixes flat tires for free; is never undersold; scouts every location and okays every store he builds. He promotes from within, rewards his people generously for their achievements and leads by example never wavering from these core values. This book should be required reading for entrepreneurs everywhere. --Karl Eller, chairman and CEO of The Eller Company
Financial journalist and consultant Rosenbaum (Your Name Here Guide to Life, 2009, etc.) tells the cheering story of Bruce Halle, the force behind the Discount Tire Company. Halle's tale is inspiring because he built a business empire out of treating both his workforce and his customers with good will. Starting in 1960, he sold tires from his little shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with a welcoming smile on his face, fast and courteous service and clean restrooms. He worked like a dog, yet he never showed anything but respect and appreciation to his customers and employees. Rosenbaum presents the story in pleasingly unadorned fashion; you can almost sense Halle standing over his shoulder, feeding him the material. One moment the action will be centered on an aspect of Halle's business strategy, which in turn might spark some personal reminiscence. Though a considerable amount of the book chronicles Halle's life's progress, what sings from the pages are the heart-gladdening pillars of his business vision. It goes without saying that the customer gets class treatment for, as a friend of Halle's noted, ''Nobody gets up in the morning and says, 'What a beautiful day. I think I'll go buy four tires.' They get up and say, 'I have to buy new tires.' It's like going to the dentist'' but the workers also feel like they are getting class treatment from the workplace. Many of the workers who gravitate to Discount are "lost boys without a sense of direction. The company provides a genial atmosphere, a good wage serious potential. Rosenbaum makes it all sound like business-for-dummies, with a bright helping of humor and head-slapping obviousness, repeating his subject s mantra: ''Be honest. Work hard. Have fun. Be grateful. Pay forward.'' Call them Halle's Golden Rules. They ought to be canned and fed to every schoolchild. --Kirkus Reviews
Bruce Halle's story is an inspiration. He starts his employees changing tires; fixes flat tires for free; is never undersold; scouts every location and okays every store he builds. He promotes from within, rewards his people generously for their achievements and leads by example never wavering from these core values. This book should be required reading for entrepreneurs everywhere. --Karl Eller, chairman and CEO of The Eller Company
About the Author
Michael Rosenbaum is a business consultant and former financial journalist who has both studied and advised hundreds of corporate leaders over his career. As president of the nation s largest investor relations agency, Rosenbaum managed operations of a $35 million business and advised CEOs and CFOs at more than 150 companies regarding strategic financial and marketing issues. He holds both a bachelor's degree in communications and a master's degree in business administration and is an active member of the World Presidents Organization. In addition to Six Tires, No Plan, he has written three business texts and a collection of commonsense life lessons, Your Name Here: Guide to Life.
Description:
Most Unlikely to Succeed
No one who charted Bruce Halle’s early years would predict that the poor kid from New Hampshire might achieve greatness as an adult. Challenged in school and growing up in a struggling family, Halle looked like every other kid who would leave high school in the 1940s and disappear into a factory.
Instead, Halle created one of America’s most respected companies, rose to join the Forbes magazine list of the four hundred richest Americans and serve as the role model for the ordinary Joes who seek out success at Discount Tire Company.
Six Tires, No Plan maps Halle’s journey out of poverty and failure and reveals the deceptively simple values that drive success for him, his company and thousands of employees. Key among those principles is Halle’s commitment to passing on his good fortune to the thousands of employees who serve his customers every day. This is Halle’s true passion, and paying it forward to the ordinary guy is a cornerstone of Discount Tire’s ongoing success.
Avoiding the spotlight, crediting his employees for the success of the company, Halle demonstrates the incredible power of perseverance and fundamental values to create long-term success. His journey offers a roadmap worth following in both career and life.
Review
An inspirational roadmap for business and life. --Harvey Mackay, author, #1 New York Times bestseller Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive
Bruce Halle has achieved the impossible by earning immense brand loyalty in a commodity business. His disciplined focus on employee motivation and customer service offers lessons for anyone seeking success in business or life. --Pitt Hyde, founder of AutoZone
Bruce Halle's story is an inspiration. He starts his employees changing tires; fixes flat tires for free; is never undersold; scouts every location and okays every store he builds. He promotes from within, rewards his people generously for their achievements and leads by example never wavering from these core values. This book should be required reading for entrepreneurs everywhere. --Karl Eller, chairman and CEO of The Eller Company
Financial journalist and consultant Rosenbaum (Your Name Here Guide to Life, 2009, etc.) tells the cheering story of Bruce Halle, the force behind the Discount Tire Company. Halle's tale is inspiring because he built a business empire out of treating both his workforce and his customers with good will. Starting in 1960, he sold tires from his little shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with a welcoming smile on his face, fast and courteous service and clean restrooms. He worked like a dog, yet he never showed anything but respect and appreciation to his customers and employees. Rosenbaum presents the story in pleasingly unadorned fashion; you can almost sense Halle standing over his shoulder, feeding him the material. One moment the action will be centered on an aspect of Halle's business strategy, which in turn might spark some personal reminiscence. Though a considerable amount of the book chronicles Halle's life's progress, what sings from the pages are the heart-gladdening pillars of his business vision. It goes without saying that the customer gets class treatment for, as a friend of Halle's noted, ''Nobody gets up in the morning and says, 'What a beautiful day. I think I'll go buy four tires.' They get up and say, 'I have to buy new tires.' It's like going to the dentist'' but the workers also feel like they are getting class treatment from the workplace. Many of the workers who gravitate to Discount are "lost boys without a sense of direction. The company provides a genial atmosphere, a good wage serious potential. Rosenbaum makes it all sound like business-for-dummies, with a bright helping of humor and head-slapping obviousness, repeating his subject s mantra: ''Be honest. Work hard. Have fun. Be grateful. Pay forward.'' Call them Halle's Golden Rules. They ought to be canned and fed to every schoolchild. --Kirkus Reviews
Bruce Halle's story is an inspiration. He starts his employees changing tires; fixes flat tires for free; is never undersold; scouts every location and okays every store he builds. He promotes from within, rewards his people generously for their achievements and leads by example never wavering from these core values. This book should be required reading for entrepreneurs everywhere. --Karl Eller, chairman and CEO of The Eller Company
About the Author
Michael Rosenbaum is a business consultant and former financial journalist who has both studied and advised hundreds of corporate leaders over his career. As president of the nation s largest investor relations agency, Rosenbaum managed operations of a $35 million business and advised CEOs and CFOs at more than 150 companies regarding strategic financial and marketing issues. He holds both a bachelor's degree in communications and a master's degree in business administration and is an active member of the World Presidents Organization. In addition to Six Tires, No Plan, he has written three business texts and a collection of commonsense life lessons, Your Name Here: Guide to Life.