Bread and Butter: What a Bunch of Bakers Taught Me About Business and Happiness

The former COO discusses how Great Harvest Bread Co. changed his outlook and his life and offers inspirational advice for living a more fulfilling life. "What an extraordinary book! Tom McMakin is a great storyteller. Sit down in front of a fire, take your shoes off, and dig in." —Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth Bread and Butter is a book with three parts: First, it's the story of the birth of an extraordinarily successful kind of business called a "freedom franchise": Great Harvest Bread Co., which began as one bakery 25 years ago, is now a $60-million-a-year company with 140 stores in 40 states.

Second, it's the story of one employee's success—the author, Tom McMakin, who was looking for a job and found a lifestyle. McMakin's immersion into Great Harvest is a model for modern entrepreneurship and an inspiration in this age of failed dot-coms and dissatisfied young employees.

Third, McMakin uses GH's experience to provide advice for everyone from dreamers starting their own multi-million-dollar companies to small-business owners to someone who doesn't know what she wants to do. Things like: creating a "learning community" using email and an extranet; operating without loans, relying instead on profits for reinvesting in the company; GH's "40-hour" rule so no one works more than 40 hours a week; and more. Bread and Butter can help you discover how, instead of living your life in service to the business, you can create a business in service of your life.

"The Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance for our age, only instead of working on motorcycles and traveling cross country, we find ourselves building a successful business. A book about business, but more; it is a wonderful book about life." —Jerry Greenfield, cofounder of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream "An intriguing look at how Great Harvest Bread Co. created a culture as delicious and healthy as their bread." —Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People "More than a recipe for great bread or a great business, Bread and Butter is a recipe for an authentic, mindful, and meaningful life." —Bernard Glassman, coauthor of Instructions to the Cook Originally published in 2001.

© 2011 St. Martin's Press (E-bog): 9781429938112

Udgivelsesdato

E-bog: 1. april 2011