Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew the Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion

Great sucess story. Impressive what can happen when you decide to be in charge of your own destiny.

Now, this is a story all about howtwo guys opened up a store in townAnd they’d like to take a minuteJust sit right thereThey’ll tell you how they went from broke to millionaires

I devour help help books and any books about how people made it. The American founder of Metro Bank who are opening in Britain said this was his favourite book and I tried to get it form my library. they would get me a copy eventually for £5. I was ale to get it form the US at under £5 so I bought it.The beauty of the Internet and that you can order a book from the other side of the world almost just for the postage and it arrives in a reasonable time. great.As far as I am aware Home Depot isn't in Britain but I suppose it is only a question of time.The book starts with a run down of the founders history and their views. One of the US reviews says that the current Home Depot is not as good as the book makes out. I am sure that is correct as it has now grown so large.It was a bit evangelical with their mentioning their Jewish roots and their religious obligation to pay back society. Obviously that is their belief but I was worried that this was going to permeate the book but fortunately it didn't.They both had a lot of experience in the home improvement industry then they were sacked.I agreed with their views that rather than relive the past and try and right wrongs through the courts they decided to just start again. They were very candid about their previous bosses and the problems they had.They had a lot of trouble obtaining finance and they nearly gave away a large chunk of their company just to raise $2 million. They didn't do that in the end.It wasn't a story of continuous growth and no problems. They took over a chain and had the problems for turning it round which caused a blip in their profitability and showed them that they were not invulnerable.In some business stories you get the impression the entrepreneurs think and act as though they know the answer. They were constantly learning and rethinking what they were up to.He mention Sears Roebuck who had been marker leaders and have lost their way. It happens to a lot of iconic brands. They ignore the competition and then die. It has happened in Britain with Woolworths and to a lesser extent M & S and Sainsburys who used to be so dominant.Also they had trouble getting stock sometimes either at all or manufacturers would not deal with them. The book was written in 1999 so it doesn't cover the last few years and the turn down.They have been remarkably free of controversy and do not seem to have the same problems and reputation that Wal Mart have.They admired the founders of Wal mart and eventually adopted the always low prices policy after pursuing a policy of frequent sale and special offers. It works for Wal mart.They claim that their associates believe in the cause and again there does not seem to have been any great back lash against non unionisation and the long hours and hard work they have to do.I suppose the home improvement industry isn't a must have buy and previously was ruled by large companies who gave poor service and charged higher prices. It was therefore easier to come in and give good service and low prices.I looked on the Internet as there are a couple of anti Home Depot websites but that happens with successful companies. In Britain we have people who claim oh I never shop /use Tesco, RyanAir or MCDonalds but all those companies seem to thrive. I also think those people are lying as I see lots of people using their services.It is regarded as cool to claim you boycott certain companies.The company founders might have a dream but the dream becomes dissipated as the company gets larger. Also they are evangelists and mere employees will not have their zealI liked the book and I thought it was a good read as it did describe how two regular guys made it.

I bought this book as a gift,and was very pleased.It was in excellentcondition,and delivered very promptly.

This book is written in a way that flows very well, I found it easy to read and there is a lot of valuable experience to be soaked up from the founders of The Home Depot, they truly have a ferocious appetite for growth and expansion but not at the expense of the little people, their attitude towards people and communities is very commendable but they are certainly not a push over as you can imagine building a $30 Billion company in 20 years! amazing!I always looked forward to picking it up to read some more and would recommend it. It is not the best book for business resource but none the less I did enjoy it and the scale of the business created is like nothing else I have read.You won't be disappointedHoward

Este libro define la famosa frase "no juzgues un libro por su portada", la portada es poco atractiva, pero el contenido si esta muy interesante, buen libro.

Available on audible

This book let's you in on the thinking, planning, fighting, pushing and unrelenting effort of the founders of this great company in getting it started and growing it into the behemoth it is now. If you ever wondered why it felt different in a good way, this book tells you how it was done.

Superb historytelling; was a joy to read through

I really enjoyed this book. It was extremely well written, full of exciting details. Would recommend to read.