The Surprising Main Thrust of Sam Walton
In a lot of the posts about Sam Walton and his vision for Wal-Mart (WMT), we've talked a lot about his passion with offering the lowest prices at all times. By extension, this would assume that he was fixated on reducing costs - and he was. But...that wasn't the main motivator that drove him.
Walton said in "Made in America" that "In Retail, you are either operations driven - where your main thrust is towards reducing expenses and improving efficiency - or you are merchandise driven. The ones that are truly merchandise driven can always work on improving operations. But the ones that are operations driven tend to level off and begin to deteriorate."
This may sound like a contradiction to a lot that Walton said about cutting costs and improving operations, but it isn't. What Walton is saying is that in retail, you've got to move merchandis, it may even be a little sloppy at times. But when you come down to it, that's the only thing that will keep you in business.
So he was the master marketer. That's what he's really saying, it's all about marketing. This doesn't in any way take away from cutting costs and running a business efficiently. He's saying that you can run efficiently - right out of business - if you're not moving merchandise.
Sell stuff first, then learn the best ways to streamline operations as you go. That's the real secret behind the ultimate tremendous success of the retail behomoth he built. Each one was just as important as the other, but moving merchandise had to come first; the rest follows.
Other Walton Sources:
The Most Underrated CEO Ever The legendary Sam Walton
Sam Walton: The Power of Persistence
Sam Walton Business Quotes for Ya
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