Business zen the Buffett way
Friday, 18 February 2011
Long plane and train journeys give me a valuable opportunity to catch up on paperwork and also to grab a good business book or two for inspiration. One that's extremely good for saying a great deal in just a few short words and phrases is "The Tao of Warren Buffett." It sets out to distil Buffet's philosophy (referred to as 'Buffettology' in previous books) in a series of 125 aphorisms, most of them learned and heard first hand by his ex daughter in law, Mary Buffett.
Whether you admire Buffett or not, there's no getting away from the insight his thinking can bring to how you shape and run your business, treat your clients, suppliers and, of course, staff. In many respects this guy is the ultimate discerning customer. He's certainly not a man who can be 'bought' or swayed by a sales pitch. He has a lot to say on the way good businesses should be managed and those factors that make a business worthy of financial investment. For example, he takes the view that if management are heard to be instigating a cost-cutting programme then they've clearly let costs run out of control in the first place. Thus, bad management – black mark. He's also clear that buying a stock means that you become an owner of a small piece of that business. And it's the same for our clients. Those companies that use serviced office space, either at One Heddon Street in central London or The Oriel in Slough, are effectively putting their business partly into our hands. We not only give them a home but our reception and support staff also become the frontline of their business. That 'partnership' requires communication, trust and discretion – and it has great value, which is why I get so frustrated when office space services are reduced to a commodity purchase. They are anything but.
Philip Parris, Chairman, Harvard Managed Offices
