The Bear Necessities of Business: Building a Company with Heart

I very much enjoyed finding this book in the bookstore a few days ago, and then reading it yesterday morning. It was an easy read, and it was jam packed full of information. It is really three books in one. The first book is the story of Maxine Clark, a short round energetic woman originally from Florida who went to the University of Georgia majoring in journalism. When she graduated she started a career in retail that she continues at today. And what a career! She now makes St. Louis her home with her husband who is also an entrepreneur. She has no children, but her business is basically kids. I think she can be a great role model for many women out there. The second book is a PR plug for her company: Build-A-Bear Workshop. I had never heard of it before I picked up this book. But while I was at one of my local Malls yesterday (Quakerbridge in Lawrence, NJ) I noticed in the mall directory one of her franchised stores exists there. Naturally I visited the store and the book had greater meaning to me at once. The company was started in 1997 probably as an LLC. And I suspect in 2000 when it was converted to a corporation that is when it did its initial IPO. But that is just a guess. The philosophy behind the company seems to me to be a mix of Starbucks Coffee Shops and the Disney Retail Stores. Quite a combination, and it is proving to be a successful approach to entertainment retail in Mall environments. The third book is a words-of-wisdom tome on how to vision, plan, implement, and work a business from scratch. It talks about the importance of reinventing traditional products or services from the ground up and then put your own unique spin on them. The author says she sells a brand experience, not a product. But she does move products - and lots of them. She also says that planning and self-reflection are the key to creating a business. And she says she took almost a year to research and write her masterpiece of a business plan she used to start Build-A-Bear Workshops. The overall book is divided into seven parts: 1. Getting Started 2. Being a Great Boss 3. Connecting with Your Customers 4. Creating an Incredible Experience 5. Using Essential Marketing Strategies 6. Growing Your Business 7. Giving Back My favorite part of the book was the first: Getting Started. Part 3 was pretty good. And I very much liked parts 5 and 6. I thought at page 64 "marketing tools and strategies" should have been included in the list there. But all in all this is a wonderful book and an important addition to what is available for entrepreneurs to read and study when thinking about getting involved in starting their own business. 5 stars!

At first glance this book may appear to be about Maxine Clark's company Build-a-Bear Workshop. While she does share many stories featuring her company, the insights and advice she gives are PRICELESS. This is a fantastic read for anyone who is starting out, needs a pick-me-up for their current business, or wants to reconnect about what it's like to be a customer. It's not just about bears...it's for all of us! Way to go, Maxine! Thanks for following through on another great idea. It's the best purchase I've made in a long time.

This is a wonderful book for anyone in the retail or consumer products business. It is jam-packed with insights into one of retailing's most successful companies. When the founders of most companies write a book about their businesses the result is usually a "fluff" piece with little in the way of real content. That is not the case with Maxine Clark's story about how she created and built Build-A-Bear Workshop. Her book provides valuable tools for building a unique retail business at a time when innovation is severly lacking in retail.

Maxine Clark's book The Bear Necessities of Business: Building a Company with Heart is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how a capable executive goes about transforming a compelling vision into a highly profitable public company. For entrepreneurs of humbler ambitions, the book also has loads of good insights and advice about attitudes and disciplines that can work in every business. Don't be put off by the kid-centric nature of Build-a-Bear and the cutesy "bearisms" -- although Maxine is a CEO with heart, both eyes are always on the bottom line. This is a very well-written book which I found much better and more useful than many other books in the "entrepreneurial how-to" category. It might also be an imaginative gift for any little future entrepreneurs, no longer so interested in stuffed bears, who might enjoy learning how grownups who also like bears turned them into a business with $360 million in sales last year.

You don't have to be interested in buiding your own busienss to enjoy and get something out of this book. It is full of wonderful advice about life in general. Buy it and give it to anyone you know graduating from high school or college. Maxine Clark also reminds us to learn from our mistakes, help others when we can, and to always put our best paw forward. . . . just like our mother bear always said.