Nathan Gwilliam Blog :: Social Media, Social Entrepreneurship, Faith

I just finished reading a Jeff Benedict’s book “How to Build a Business Warren Buffett Would Buy: The R. C. Willey Story.” If you don’t live in Utah, Nevada or Idaho, R.C. Willey is a chain of home furnishing super stores that dominates the markets it serves in those states.  

R.C. Willey is famous for not being open on Sundays.  When Warren Buffett, the world’s greatest investor, purchased R.C. Willey, this home furnishing chain only had stores in Utah.  After the purchase Bill Child, the CEO who remained with the company, wanted R.C. Willey to open a store in Idaho.  Up to that point, the only R.C. Willey stores were located in Utah.  Warren Buffett refused, believing that the closed-on-Sundays policy would make expansion outside Utah unsuccessful.  Bill Child believed in the Idaho expansion so fervently that he offered to front all the cost for the land and the new store personally.  If the store was not successful, it could be shut down and R.C. Willey would not lose any money.  If the store was successful, R.C. Willey could purchase the store from Bill Child at a price not much higher than what Bill had invested.  Warren accepted, the store in Idaho was built, and it was so successful during the “soft” launch that by the grand opening, Warren Buffet jokingly took credit for the Idaho expansion idea.  R.C. Willey has since expanded to Nevada with similar success.

One of the recurring themes of this book that stood out most were the defining moments in the history of R.C. Willey, and Bill Child’s leadership and decision-making during those moments.  R.C. Willey had many situations where the future of the company hinged on a single decision.  Many people look back at success that could have been and say “what-if.”  Bill Child lead the company through many defining moments that could have made or broken R.C. Willey, and traded “what-ifs” for a world-class success.  Here are a few examples: Read more…

Posted on May 6th, 2009 by Nathan Gwilliam
Filed under: Book Reviews, Business Management, Leadership, Mergers & Acquisitions | 2 Comments »

I just read an article from Forbes titled “The Savings Bugbear” in which Stephane Fitch describes how economic doomsayers insist the increase in consumer savings may spoil the economic recovery.  The article talks about consumers putting away their credit cards and saving instead.  Last year Americans saved virtually nothing, and now Americans are saving 4% of their income.  Doom-and-gloom folks like Nouriel Roubini’s RGE Monitor project an increase of the savings rate to 10%. RGE analyst Arpitha Bykere laments that “We’ll move from an economy that consumes to one that saves”.  Oh no! (dripping with sarcasm)

In short, Americans are becoming more fiscally responsible.  We are choosing to spend less on unnecessary items, borrow less on credit cards and save more so that we can make needed purchases with cash and weather rainy days.  This is not a bad thing.  These are the same fundamental financial principles we have all been taught and that we all would teach our children.  The wise man builds his financial house upon the rock of savings and frugal spending. 

This frugal/savings mentality might slow an economic recovery.  However, it would build the economic recovery on a much more solid foundation, and give that economic recovery a greater chance at long-term sustainability.  I would much rather have an economic recovery built on solid financial principles that takes longer to achieve than a quick economic recovery based on debt-fueled consumption that everyone knows can’t last.  We’ve had 11 recessions since World Ward II.  Maybe it’s time we should learn from this recession and make the correct long-term financial decisions that will stop this unnecessary recessionary pattern.

Posted on May 4th, 2009 by Nathan Gwilliam
Filed under: Economy, Life Lessons | No Comments »

How can we use digital media and technology to fight world hunger?

On average, about  16,000 children die from hunger-related causes each day, or one child every five seconds.  About 5.8 million children die from hunger-related issues each year, about double the total population of the state of Utah.  (Source: Black, Robert, Morris, Saul, & Jennifer Bryce. “Where and Why Are 10 Million Children Dying Every Year?” The Lancet 361:2226-2234. 2003.)

If all of the hungry people in the world were combined, the total number would be large enough to be the world’s third-largest country, and more than three times the population of the entire United States. Read more…

Posted on March 21st, 2009 by Nathan Gwilliam
Filed under: Charity, Domain Names, Ending Poverty, Giving Back, Hunger, Microlending, Social Enterprise, e-Business | 1 Comment »

On Saturday I took the ferry to Liberty Island in New York Harbor for the the first time to visit the statue which has become the most well-recognized symbol for America and liberty.

Did you know that the official name for this statue is not “The Statue of Liberty?”  It was instead named “Liberty Enlightening the World.”  

In 1883 Emma Lazarus penned the famous words, which are now engraved at the base of this statue: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”

Millions of people in the world today who are still victims of slavery, poverty, abandonment, disease, and repressive governments. I need to not sit idly in my land of liberty and forget the “tired…poor…huddled masses yearning to breathe free” just as my ancestors did.  I am enjoying the gift of liberty because of my ancestors, and because I have been given the gift of liberty, I need to use that gift to help liberate others.

These famous words of Emma Lazarus are also just as appropriate to Americans today as they were to the immigrants from generations past who cheered as they entered New York Harbor and saw this statue welcoming them to America. These immigrants came to America seeking liberty.  Today, the immigrants’ ancestors are also seeking liberty…liberty from many repressive elements of our generation, such as addiction, debt, sin and abuse.

May each of us shake off the shackles which bind us, seize hold of our amazing gift of liberty, and help others to do the same.

Posted on February 23rd, 2009 by Nathan Gwilliam
Filed under: Ending Poverty, Giving Back, Global Orphan Crisis, Life Lessons, Patriotism | No Comments »

I recently finished Made to Stick, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath and thoroughly enjoyed this book.  One of my favorite portions described the “Mother Teresa Principle”.  One of this saintly woman’s famous teachings was, ”If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will.”  

Made to Stick talks about a research study that compared the effectiveness of donation requests using different approaches.  One donation request provided statistics about the masses of people in one region of Africa facing hunger and poverty.  The second letter simply told the story of one needy girl from that region and said that all money donated would go to her.   Obviously, the second letter was tremendously more successful.   Read more…

Posted on January 10th, 2009 by Nathan Gwilliam
Filed under: Adoption, Charity, Ending Poverty, Entrepreneurship, Ethics, Giving Back, Global Orphan Crisis, Innovation, Microlending, Social Enterprise, e-Business | 5 Comments »