Sometimes, I find myself going down a rabbit hole of similar books. I just read books about Stuckey’s and Howard Johnson’s, and now I just finished this one about the founder of Dunkin’ Donuts.
I enjoyed learning about his background and all of his jobs. He was driven to be successful, and surrounded himself with people he trusted and knew. He was also, and just like Howard Johnson, very hands on and wanted everything to be perfect.
I also normally don’t screenshot quotes, but I did for this one as it really defined him, his business, and his outlook on customer service. When Bill was presented with an organizational chart, he took a pencil, drew a square above his name, and wrote, “CUSTOMER.” Bill told Irv, “That is the boss, and don’t you ever, ever forget it. Without customers, there is no need for this chart and no need for any of us. If you don’t have customers, you don’t have a business.“
The last few chapters on his horse breeding business, I skimmed quickly through them as I wasn’t interested in that part.
