Peter Thorwarth runs a business with thousands of employees nationwide out of his home in Phoenixville, Pa.  He is the founder and President of BMA Mystery Shopping, a nationwide service that he founded in 1991.  His clients include American Express, Circuit City, Corning, Mazda, Reebok, Sherwin-Williams, Skechers, and Slim-Fast.  Peter was born on Andrews Air Force in 1954 and raised outside of Philadelphia.   He attended Wesleyan University in Middletown CT. 

Peter teaches about mystery shopping for Temple University.  The following is an interview with Mr. Thorwarth on what lead him to become a leader in a business that few people know much about, but many want to be a part of because of the perks.

 What jobs did you have as a kid?   

“Camp counselor, rock band,”

 What did you go to college for?   

“Psychology.”

 What jobs did you have prior to starting your own business?   

I sold hardware, furniture and then radio advertising for KISS-100 and WFLN.

 Was your father or mother a business owner?  

“Father was a Radiologist at Chestnut Hill Hospital; Mother was homemaker.”

 What was your first entrepreneurial venture?   

“Mail order service for songwriters.”

Why did you start a mystery shopping business?  

“Because it benefits all parties so well – customers get better service and businesses improve their bottom line because customers are coming back and spreading positive word-of-mouth.  It also brings “fresh eyes” to view a business that often no longer sees its weaknesses, thereby giving the client a way to correct problems which may be turning customers off.  According to the University of Rochester, a customer who has a good experience will tell four people; a customer who has a bad experience will tell 11.”

How much money did it take to start your business? 

“$3,000”

Did you require outside investors? 

No

What are the common misunderstandings about mystery shopping?

1)      Doing it infrequently has little value.  It should be done at least quarterly.  Businesses should make it a standard part of their budget – it will always pay for itself.  Remember- It costs 4 times as much to get a new customer as it costs to get a new customer.

2)      Results from a subset of locations cannot be extrapolated – it is necessary to do them all.  What happens at one store has no bearing on what happens at another store in the same chain, even one that is nearby.

3)      Clients must take the second step, i.e. do things that will improve areas that were found lacking. Now that BMA has identified the shortcomings, train, communicate and reward in order to improve those aspects.

4)      Shoppers are not trying to make anyone look bad – they are just objectively reporting what does and does not happen.

5)      Shoppers rarely buy and keep things.  They either buy and return or come close to buying and then say “Let me think it over.”  It is mystery shopping, not mystery buying.

6)      Mystery shopping is very rarely a part time job and almost never a full time job for the shoppers themselves.  It is occasion, but interesting work.  Shoppers are paid as independent contractors and can work for as many companies as they choose.

7)      Important - Any advertising for mystery shoppers, whether online, in print, or on the radio, should not be trusted.  Instead of paying you to mystery shop, they want to sell you a list of mystery shoppers or inform about mystery shopping.  You can get both for free online at websites like Mysteryshop.org, Volition.com and BMA’s own website mystery-shopping.com

  How many shoppers do you have?  

“Over 400,000 total.  Over 70,000 with recently-confirmed email addresses.”

 What do you like most?   

“The variety – what we do for each client is unique.  The insight into corporate strategy - clients shows us what their concerns are and sometimes what their plans for the future are.”

Why do companies use mystery shoppers?

“Retailers, banks, restaurants, manufacturers. The applications are literally too may reason to list.  However most often it is to objectively and with great detail measure customer service compared with corporate expectations.  Other popular applications include price, signage and/or compliance audits, and incentive shops (salespeople are rewarded for doing what our client hopes).”

What does it take to be a good mystery shopper? 

“The best ones are dependable, think on their feet, and read the forms and guidelines carefully.”

What is the most difficult part of the business? 

“Clients who haven’t given sufficient thought to what their goals are and what is realistic.  Example: Talbots wanted us to have our mystery shoppers spend $300 in each of their 100+ stores so they could see if they were offered the Talbots charge card application.  When I asked, “Where  is this money going to come from?” they clearly hadn’t given it a thought.  Reebok gave us a list of stores that included stores that hadn’t been built yet and Macy’s (which no longer carried their shoes).”

How difficult is it to run a virtual business? 

“Not at all difficult for me.  It is very well suited to this industry.”

What does it take to be a success in business? 

“Dedication to understanding and then meeting and exceeding client’s needs.”

Why do people fail outside of under capitalization? 

“A lack of experience.  There is a very significant learning curve, because there are so many types of mystery shopping and so many ways that projects can go wrong.”

How important is it to have a competitive advantage? 

“It’s significant, but it’s more important to be dedicated and innovative.”

 How did you deal with the fear of going out on your own?   

“I enjoyed it and have other entrepreneurial concepts to explore.”

Have you ever gone through a down cycle where nothing seems to be working and if so how did you get yourself out of it? 

“This is a feast or famine business.  But I’ve learned time and again that new business (and returning customers) will come to us, because BMA has developed an excellent reputation nationwide over these last 15+ years.”

What business magazines do you read? 

 “I get most news from the Internet and most business news from NPR’s Marketplace programs.” 

What business books would you recommend reading?

“Guerilla Marketing by Jay Levinson.”

If there is one piece of advice you would give an entrepreneur what would it be? 

“Avoid fixed expenses and structure your business around variable expenses.”

The following is an interview with one of the region’s most accomplished CEO’s, Nicholas DeBenedictis Chairman/CEO of Aqua America, formerly Philadelphia Suburban Corporation.  Mr. DeBenedictis talks about working his way up from paper boy to state cabinet secretary to leader of one of the country’s largest water companies. DeBenedictis received a Bachelor’s degree in business administration from Drexel University in 1968, and a Master’s degree in environmental engineering and science from Drexel in 1969. He served in the Army Corps of Engineers between 1970 and 1973 serving in the rank of Captain.What was your first paying job as a teenager? 

“I was a paper boy for the Philadelphia Bulletin, who substituted for the guys who couldn’t deliver a route.”

 What was your first paying job out of college? 

“It was in college.  My father had an insurance appraisal business and he died and I took that over.  I sold it when I went into the Army right after I graduated.”

 What did your parents do? 

“My dad was in the insurance appraisal business.  My mother was a book keeper before I was born.”

 What did you learn from the military? 

“I was a captain in the military.  I spent three years in full-time and then I was in the reserved.  I learned disciplined.  How big organizations worked, patience, how to dum down information and when it is time to excel then you excel.  It prepared me well for future government jobs.”

 Why did you go into the business world? 

“As an engineer I was always in government jobs that focused on infrastructure.  I found that working in government is the business world.  We had goals and objectives.  We were rewarded for spending our budget.”

 Why did you learn from your government service? 

“I was managing public policy and politics.  I had handed congressional relationships.  I understood how politics worked.  I learned how to handle complex public problems such as nuclear reactors shutting down, SEPTA strikes, Amtak going bankrupt, bridge repair problems and coal mining and nuclear generation.  

“You learn in the government how to take care of problems so they don’t end up in your bosses lap.  What I learned from former Governor Dick Thornburg is to give the big picture stuff so I know the people working for me are doing it the right way.  I learned to ask about the salient issues.

 What did you learn from having multiple offices in different geographies? “I learned is to control centrally important departments such a human resources and public relations and you make sure you only have one lawyer handling legal issues.  You can have satellite offices, but they have to report to one group.  You don’t let local people make decisions on budget.  That has to be controlled centrally.”What did you learn from running one of the world’s largest chambers of commerce? 

“I learned that the door didn’t open Monday because you are a good guy.  You had to be good at raising money.  No one realizes that it is an entrepreneurial job.  That was the first job, other than my father’s business, that revenue was so important.  The second thing I learned was the dynamics of the small business and the affect it had on the economy.  I was used to working with large companies. 

“The transition from family owned businesses to hired gun professionally run organizations and a mix of small to medium size companies.  Small businesses were paying for networking, help with HR problems, health insurance and that is how we grew the chamber membership. 

“That changed the hustle factor because we had to be very aggressive.  We also had to protect the small businesses.  I had an appreciation for the value of small business.”

  How do you keep a regulated company growing so share holders remain happy? 

“As a regulated company you make sure your constituents are happy.  In order to do that you have to be a good at managing infrastructures and assets.  I am in a very capital intensive business.  We have a sticky business.  We haven’t lost a customer in 120 years. 

“We make sure our customers are happy, so we can get a fair increase.  Shareholders are happy if you can tie in your capital outlay as you grow your business. Our goal is to invest in assets in a timely business and provide excellent service for a fair price.”

 What is the hardest part of being CEO of a public company? 

“Government regulations such as Sarbanes Oxley and the institutional investor activity today! The pension funds and mutual funds are 80% owners of the company . These groups have become activist and they try to second guess the board even thought they haven’t spent time understanding the company.  There is more time spent on form than substance.  You have to make sure everyone is spending time making sure the process is right.”

 What is the best part of being CEO? 

“I think the fact that you can make the difference and grow a company.  I like being a regional advocate and growing a national company.

 What is the worst part of being CEO? 

“The constant quarterly hour-glass and explaining things to institutional investors!  There is a lot of time spent on quarterly statements, especially an infrastructure company.”

 Did you have a mentor and if so what did you learn from them? 

“My father and the second mentor was my older brother a small business person.  From working with my brother I learned about having to collect money and making sure people didn’t beat you out of money.  I learned a lot from former Governor Dick Thornburg, who was originally an engineer before becoming a lawyer about how to run a big organization.

“I learned about how to run a regulated business from Joe Paquette, who was the CEO of PECO when I was there.  I learned a lot from Walt Delessio, who probably had a greater impact on Philadelphia than anyone.  He mentored many of the leading CEO’s of the region.  He taught me how to think strategically.”

 What should a leader look for when recruiting board members?   

“Diversity!  I mean diversity of thought processes.  There is no such thing as a country club board anymore.  You can’t pick your friends anymore.  You need people with various experiences.  We have people who come from banking, government, energy and education.”

 What should they expect from board members? 

“Time commitment!  You don’t want people looking at their watch.  They are responsible for the company.  You want loyalty and patience for the company.  I don’t want a board member who doesn’t have a long term view.  We don’t have, because of the investment we made in infrastructure, have a plan to just flip the company.”

 What is the biggest mistake you have ever made as an executive and how did you get past it? 

“Everybody has made bad personnel selections.  The most important to hire the right people because it is hard to fire.  I overrated some people.  It is hard because they are top people and you become friendly with them and it hard when you have to get rid of them.”

 What does it take to be a leader? 

“You have to have confidence you are doing the right thing.  To be a good leader you have to focus on facts and not emotion.  Statistics not gut.  You have to measure how good you are doing.  You can’t measure everything by EBITA.  There are investments that you will make that will take time to payoff.”

      How important is talent? 

“In a business that is so traditional like ours it isn’t so important such as a software company.  Naturally we try to hire intelligent people.  But hiring hard working people who understand engineering, and customer service is important.  We need 10 B-plus information systems people that churn it out solutions to problems and get along with their colleagues.”

 What is the profile of the type of people you look to put into executive positions? 

“Hard workers!  I value people who put the time in.  If you look at the Bell curve only 5% are super intelligent.  We look for people with good education and former work experience.”

 How have you managed to balance family life with your career? 

“I have a good wife.  You need to marry somebody who understands it.  Your kids need to understand.  People think if you are in government that it is easy, but if you are entrepreneurial then you are going to put in a lot of hours.”

 What books would you recommend an aspiring CEO read? 

“7 Habbits of Highly Successful People” by Stephen Covey.”

 If there is one piece of advice you would give an aspiring executive what would that be? 

“To try to have a five year plan because you have to be planning!.  Realize the world changes so quick that you have to change instantaneously.  If I had not met the General of the Army and hadn’t taken an extra year with the military I wouldn’t have had a water resource background.  If at EPA and hadn’t learned about public policy I wouldn’t have been exposed to people like Governor Dick Thornburg and had served as a cabinet member.  One thing lead to another and that is how life works.”

 A native of Chicago, he earned his bachelor of arts degree from Northwestern University and his master’s degree in business administration from the J.L. Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern. Conant is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), Chairman and Trustee of The Conference Board, Chairman of the Grocery Manufacturers Association/Food Processors of America (GMA/FPA), and a Trustee of the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. What was your first paying job as a teenager? 

“I had a paper route in the cold winters north of Chicago.”

 What was your first paying job out of college? 

“I was a teaching tennis pro at a variety of places in the Chicago, New York and Massachusetts areas.”

 What did your parents do? 

“My father came back from World War II and everyone was talking about plastics, so he started a plastics packaging company.  He was an entrepreneur.  My mother was a homemaker and active in the community.”

 Why did you go into the business world? 

“I couldn’t make money in tennis.  The other reason I found business to be very intriguing.  I liked working with people to deal with challenging situations and business creates that kind of opportunity every day.”

 Why did you go into the food industry? 

“Because my specific area of focus out of graduate school was marketing and brand management and the consumer products industry was the most developed industry for brand management.  It was more about the discipline than the product.  I liked it because everyone understood what I was working on.  Even my mother and grandmother could understand what I was doing.”

 How do you keep a global brand relevant? 

“You have to be deeply in touch with the consumer in every geography you can be in.  You have to be willing to evolve your proposition.  You have to either grow it or it dies.  It is very Darwinian.  We choose growth because it beats the alternative.  Although our condensed soup business is over 112 years we are constantly improving it and keep it relevant.”

 What is the hardest part of being CEO of a public company? 

“Meeting the needs of multiple stakeholder groups simultaneously in a timely way.   You have customers, shareholders and employees.  You have to find a path that meets their needs and that is a challenge.”

    What is the best part of being CEO? 

“The sense of accomplishment when you do hit stride and meet the needs of all of your stakeholder groups.  When you hit stride it is a great feeling.”

 What is the worst part of being CEO? 

“When you don’t hit stride!  When you have to make right the decisions for the long term, but compromise your short term performance.  You have to do the right thing for the long term.  Along with that is all of the second guessing you have to deal with.”

 Did you have a mentor and if so what did you learn from them? 

“I had many mentors.  I don’t believe in one stop mentoring.  I believe there are people good at mentoring me at certain levels of their work life and some outside my work life.  One of the my best mentors was Neil McKenna, who was my outplacement coach when I was fired from Parker Brothers Toys and Games.  The company was acquired and my job was eliminated.  You are most vulnerable and impressionable when you are fired.  Neil provided an enormous amount of support for me about what I need to do and where I needed to go.”

 What is the biggest mistake you have ever made as an executive and how did you get past it? 

“I have made lots of hiring mistakes.  Then I don’t manage them very well.  I have trouble letting someone go if I made a personal commitment to them or moving them to a place they can contribute more.  I do it and I have learned to deal with these things head on, but it has taken me years to do this.  I have made many business mistakes, but I do correct the mistakes quickly.  I used to try to rationalize why I did what I did.  You need to acknowledge your mistakes, rectify them and move on.  I have also learned to trust your instincts.  Sometimes you want to wait for more information, but you know what you should do, which is trust your instincts.”

 What does it take to be a leader? 

“I think there are six things to be a leader that they have to:

• Inspire trust
• Create direction
• Drive organization alignment
• Build organization vitality and that is giving the group the energy to do what they need to do.
• Manage the execution with excellence
• Produce extraordinary results, which allow you to inspire trust

We call them six expectations.  At Campbell we three values, which are:

• Character-you have to be a high character person to lead.
• Competence-you have to know what you are doing.
• Team work-you have to be at your best with others.  We are a team environment.  You have to get energy from the team.

I have found those two combinations to create a great frame work for people to know what is expected of them as leaders.  If you were learning externally to mirror what we do at Campbells is Jim Collins Level Five Model in the book “Good to Great.” 

 How important is talent? 

“You can’t win with out talent.  When I got here we didn’t have the talent.  It’s all about talent management.  Leading and managing people is the single most important thing you do.”

 Did playing tennis have an impact on how you looked at business? 

“No!  It has impact on how I perform under pressure and I perform best under pressure.  In tennis you are out there on your own.  I can bring equanimity to high pressure situations.”

 What is the profile of the type of people you look to put into executive positions? 

“The people have those core values I mentioned.  If they showed great character, great functional competence and ability to thrive in a team environment they can be successful at Campbells. Those are the core values.”

 How have you managed to balance family life with your career? 

“It has worked just fine.  I advocate to every executive that you need to sort through what is important to you as a person and have your life organized in a way to devote your time to what matters most.  I write down what is important to me.  I write down my own mission statement and I revisit every month.  I ask myself if I am connected to my own mission statement.  It is something you have to work at, especially as a CEO.  You have to have your rudder in the water or you will be lost at sea.  That includes my family, faith, business environment, community and personal well being.  I look at those five territories and I ask myself how I am feeling about dealing with each of those areas.  I know if I am meeting each area I am operating at peak performance, if I am not then I have to double my efforts to get back on track.”

      What books would you recommend an aspiring CEO read? 

“I think reading is an important habit to cultivate as a leader.  The wisdom literature available is unbelievable.  Everything has been dealt with thousand times before.  If you are interested in leadership then you should study leadership.  The two foundational books I would recommend are “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” Stephen Covey and “Good to Great” by Jim Collins.  I like “True North,” by Bill George, former chairman/CEO of Medtronic.”

 If there is one piece of advice you would give an aspiring executive what would that be? 

“View your leadership journey as a craft!  You will spend more hours doing and thinking about your leadership journey than anything else in your life, including your family.  I treat it like a craft and treat it like sacred ground.  You have to be student of the craft.  You have to devote yourself to it.  You have to take personal ownership of your leadership journey.  There are 10 two letter words it is “if it is to be, it is up to me.  One can’t expect it to come from somewhere else; it has to come from within from the person who aspires to be the leader.  You will be successful and it will be deeply meaningful.  If you embrace it with that kind of language it will take you to different place with meaning and fulfillment.  You have to be prepared to get lucky and you have to seize the moment.”

Jim Cramer is host of CNBC’s “Mad Money” (M-F: 6 p.m., 11 p.m. ET), Cramer is markets commentator for TheStreet.com, a multimedia provider of financial commentary, analysis and news, which Jim co-founded and of which is he is the largest shareholder. In addition to writing a column for TheStreet.com, Cramer also serves as the “Bottom Line” columnist for New York magazine.He graduated from Harvard College where he was President and Editor-in-Chief of the prestigious daily The Harvard Crimson. After graduation he became a reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat and later for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner where he covered stories ranging from homicides to sporting events.Cramer is a former hedge fund manager and founder/owner and Senior Partner of Cramer Berkowitz. Jim compounded rate of return of  24% after all fees for 15 years at Cramer Berkowitz. He retired from his hedge fund in 2001, where he finished with one of the best records in the business, including  having a plus 36% year in 2000. In December 2006, he published his latest book, Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich, which is a user’s guide to making the most of his CNBC program. Cramer is also the author of  Stay Mad For Life,  Jim Cramer’s RealMoney, Confessions of a Street Addict and You Got Screwed.What was your first job?  

“My first job out of college was with Congressional Quarterly where I clipped newspapers about politics.. Talk about a job that the web sure ended. My first job in high school was a busboy at the old Clock and Beaver on Bethlehem Ave in Flourtown.”

 Why did you become a money manager?  

“I became a money manager because a very wealthy patron, Marty Peretz, a professor at Harvard and editor of The New Republic convinced me I could manage other peoples’ money successfully. He was right.”

 What did or does your father do professionally?  

“My father sells boxes and bags to retailers and restaurants in the Philadelphia area .His company is International Packaging Products.”

 Did you have a mentor and if so, who was it and how did they inspire you? “Couple of mentors. First, my father, who taught me the value of a hard day’s work. And then Coach Malehorne who was my track coach at Springfield High School, Montgomery County, who taught me how to be tough, which is the way life really is.” When you started were you motivated by money or accomplishment? 

“Totally money. I was broke and in debt and I wanted to get rich, so rich that I would never be poor again.”

 What does it take to be a successful money manager?  

“It takes an iron constitution, an innate curiosity and a level of toughness of spirit that doesn’t allow you to get down on yourself. Fortitude but humility!”

 Why did you go into television?  

“Because it is a blast, and because it is still the best way to reach people and teach.”

 What do you like most about having a television show?  

“The ability to teach in  a way that, like all my good teachers, doesn’t make me realize that I am learning because I am having such a good time watching.”

 What do you like least?   

“The suits.”

 When you started TheStreet.com did you develop a business plan?   

“Yes, but it was quickly outmoded by the losses and remained that way until Tom Clarke became our CEO in 2000.”

 If yes, what is the value of a business plan?  

“The value of a business plan is that it can bamboozle rich people and institutions into listening to you. It doesn’t make them give you the money, but it gets you in the door.”

 If no, are business plans overrated?  

“Nothing’s overrated if it gets you in the door.”

 How do you balance family and your professional life?  

“I don’t. I have been a failure at this. I have no further comment on this.”

 Are there any business books you have read that inspired you and if so what were they?  

“I like Beat the Street and One up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch. Also Confessions of a Stock Operator.” 

 If there is one piece of advice you would give to someone who aspires to be the next Jim Cramer what would that be?  

“Don’t bother. It’s too hard.”

Stewart Lane is one of the most successful and famous producers in the history of “the Great White Way”. He recently wrote a book called “Let’s Put On A Show,” published by Heinemann Dram, which provides acting and producing hopefuls, along with theater aficionados with an insider’s look on how to build a successful career in theater.

Mr. Lane is the President & CEO of Theatre Venture Inc., is a four-time Tony Award winner, having produced hits including: Jay Johnson: The Two and Only. Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Will Rogers Follies, and La Cage Aux Folles. His Tony Nominations: Fiddler on the Roof (Revival), Gypsy (Revival), 1776 (Revival), The Goodbye Girl, and Woman of the Year. Other Broadway Shows produced: Minnelli on Minnelli, Wait until Dark, Can-Can, Frankenstein, Teaneck Tanzi, Grand Tour, Lone Stars/Private Wars and A Change in Heir. Off-Broadway productions: The Two & Only, supported the production of The Normal Heart, If It Was Easy, Fortune’s Fools, Eating Raoul—the Musical. Currently in pre-production: Princesses, the Musical, on Broadway for the ‘05- ‘06 season. Films for 2006 Release: Show Business (documentary) and Brooklyn Rules.

Mr. Lane has written In the Wings, opening this fall Off-Broadway at the Promenade Theatre. He has also penned If It Was Easy (published by Performing Books, Best New Play Nomination, American Theatre Critics Association), The American Way, and For the Love of the Arts. He is the co-owner & operator of the famous Palace Theatre in NYC, where the enormously popular Legally Blonde is enjoying a successful run. Lane is also partners in The Tribeca Grill Restaurant with Robert DeNiro.

He salt on the Board of Governors of the League of The American Theatres and Producers For 11  years, he is on the of the The Times Square Group, and is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Theatre Museum. Mr. Lane has been honored with the Ellis Island Congressional Medal of Honor, Jewish National Fund Tree of Life Award, and Child Development Center of the Hamptons Reach for the Stars Award, among other prestigious awards. He resides in New York City with his wife Bonnie and has five children.

Why did you go into the Theater?

“I am one of those people who fell in love with my first Broadway show. When I moved into Great Neck, New York.  I had a best friend in elementary school named Ricky and I asked him why his dad was always home during the day.  He said his dad worked at night and was an actor. 

“I liked the idea of working at night.  I loved the ritual of putting on a time and jacket. driving into Manhattan and going into a beautiful Broadway theater.  I went to see my friend’s father who happened to be Sid Caesar.  I loved watching the audience’s response, the theatrical tricks and the camaraderie.  After that I joined the theater club in high school, took all the drama classes and I got a degree in acting (BFA) from Boston University.”

What was the first Broadway show you produced?

“The first one I produced myself was “Women of the Year” starring Lauren Bacall.” 

What was your most successful show?

“The most successful show to date was the La Cage aux Folles artistically and financially. It was a like religious experience.  We believed in what the show had to say.”

Why did you write this book?

“No one had written a how do book about the theater.  There was no blue print on how to break into the theater industry.  There was nothing about networking when I graduated from the Boston University. 

“When I became a theater producer everyone else wanted to be in Hollywood.  Producing is something you learned by the seat of your pants.  I started with Jimmy Nederlander and I learned all aspects of the business of working with him from marketing to casting.  I hope my book makes it easier for new comers.”

How much does it cost to launch a Broadway show?

“Today, for a play depending on the size of the cast and the number of scenes you have to assemble you are talking about $2.5 to $3 million. For a full blown musical $15 million! It can be as low as $8 million if you have a smaller cast. 

“What is good today is that size of cast doesn’t matter.  It is the quality that matters.  Just because you don’t have a big cast doesn’t mean you can’t win a Tony and just because you don’t win a Tony doesn’t mean you can’t be successful.”

How many tickets do you have to sell to typically break event?

“A good producer you need a 55% of capacity.  You make your nut on the weekend performance.  You make your profit on the week day.  You have to worry about the number of seats, which depends on the size of the show.

What is the hardest part of putting on a production?

“There are a lot of hard parts.  When you are starting with a new play, you need to own the rights of the play.  You have to get an artistic team that gets along. 

“Then you bring in the director and put together a team orchestra leader, casting director and stage manager. Then you have to set up an out of town try out.  With revivals you have to ask yourself, “why you should revive it?””

What did your parents to do?

“My father was a school teacher turned business man and started his correspondent school. He ran a variety of businesses.  My mother was an economics major in college and was a house wife and mother. I have a sister and brother, who are not in the business.”

Why some shows do backed my successful experienced producers fail?

“Like fine wine, some seasons the IT is exemplary and sometimes it’s not.  It’s not the creative process is not a machine and talent comes and goes.

What does it take to be successful on Broadway?

“You have to be lucky.  You have to be tenacious.  I loved the theater and I wasn’t going let anything stop me.  Making the transition from being the artist to management was difficult, but I wanted to make a niche for myself in this industry. 

“In the beginning they are mostly hard.  Treat everyone fair and square.  Leave something on the table for every deal you make.  Remember the person who works the stage door  is as important as everyone else on the team, so treat them all well.

What business skills does someone need to be a producer?

“It helps to have some sort of artistic sense and some understanding what you are trying to achieve.  You need to have a sense of marketing, more so than before.  You have to find your audience and exploiting that. 

“The advent of the Internet has had a big impact.  The Internet opens a new audience by bringing in younger people and makes it easier to buy tickets.  We have a huge variety of shows not just elitist shows.”

How do you know if someone is right for a part?

“Some times it a name hits you and sometimes it is just luck.

What doesn’t the average theater patron understand about the theater business?

“It looks so easy that anyone can do it.  Our job is to make it look easy.”

What was the biggest mistake you have ever made professionally?

“As they say, there are no mistakes, just learning experiences.  There is a restaurant that features on it’s walls major Broadway flops.  Hal Prince is on that wall. David Merrick. Is on that wall and yes, Stewart F. Lane is on that wall. 

“Some times you have to cut your losses and you have to face the reality.

Did you ever try television, if not, why not?

“I hosted and produced a show called “Curtain Time” and won two Telly Awards.  I am producing the Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Company” for PBS, which is my first foray into producing for TV.”

Why did you put “Legally Blonde” on Broadway?

“It was a fun idea.  I liked the idea of getting into “Harvard.”  I had a great team.  It had name recognition.  It was just so much fun. 

“We had definite ideas on how to make it a theatrical piece.  It has been very successful doing over $1 million a week. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising.”

What is the one piece of advice you would give an aspiring producer?

“Choose your partners well.  Don’t under capitalize.  Although, to be honest half the shows I have been involved in haven’t been fully capitalized until the last minute.  You find the money somewhere.

Michael Golden, who was born and raised on the outskirts of South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is the president/CEO of one of America’s most well known and respected companies: Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation.  For fifteen years at Black & Decker, Golden held a series of increasingly responsible positions to become Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Accessory Division. His tenure at Black & Decker, and his involvement with the DeWalt line of industrial tools and accessories, laid the foundation for his experience with brand management.  He played a leading role in executing DeWalt’s strategy to emerge as a leading brand known for its reliability and durability not only with consumers, but within industrial and construction companies as well. Golden moved to Kohler Co., a 130-year old manufacturer of high-end kitchen and bathroom fixtures founded on the principles of craftsmanship and technology. As Vice President of Sales for the Plumbing Division for Kohler, Golden led the team that drove changes in the company’s culture and its performance management to yield double-digit growth. Golden was then named President of Sales for the Industrial and Construction Division of The Stanley Works, a160-year old company specializing in tools, hardware and specialty hardware. Golden later returned to Kohler as President of the Cabinetry Division where he made a significant contribution to the development of Kohler’s management processes.   

Golden, who is an Eagle Scout, received his Bachelor of Science in Marketing from The Pennsylvania State University and his MBA from Emory University in Georgia.

 What was your first job? 

“I was a counselor at a Boy Scouts Camp in Philadelphia.  The job lasted ten weeks and I was paid $50.”

 What did your father do professionally? 

“My father worked for the same company his entire career, and that was Wyeth Labs.  He worked his way up from the factory to become a senior executive in packaging.”

 Why did you go into the business world? 

“I am good with numbers and business fascinates me, and business is kind of my hobby. I had the opportunity to take on leadership roles when I was younger and that developed my interest.”

 Who was your role model? 

“I would say my father.  My father was a self-made man and respected everyone. Everyone liked my father.  He had a terrific work ethic.  He was committed to his company and his family.  He taught me to treat people the way you want to be treated and to always be honest.”

 Did you have a mentor?  If so, what did you learn from him or her? 

“I have had several mentors throughout my career.  I have worked for P&G, Black & Decker, Kohler Company and Stanley Works.  I have had terrific leaders at each of those opportunities, and was able to work and learn from each leader.  I have been fortunate in that people have taken the time to teach me things.”

 Should young executives look for mentors? 

“Yes.  I don’t think there is any match for experience and anyone who doesn’t reach out to get guidance and benefit from the experiences of others is missing a big part of their education.”

 What is the ideal profile of a good mentor? 

“I think the first thing is to figure out what type of business or industry you want to go into. Then find someone who has done it successfully before.  This should be someone who is willing to take time to guide you, someone who is willing to invest in you and  help you to develop.”

 What is the importance of getting a graduate degree? 

“That is an individual decision.  I can tell you a funny story.  I finished college on a Friday and started work at Procter & Gamble on the following Monday.  It quickly became a personal goal for me to get a graduate degree.  I am the second of five children, and my oldest sister’s husband had his PhD, my brother was working on his MD, and I was selling toilet paper.  Every Thanksgiving I would sit between these two guys and I decided that I wanted to be more than a toilet paper salesman. 

“When you work for a large multinational company you are moved around a lot, and so I kept taking classes.  Back then I moved often, and schools would only let you transfer six credits, so I had to keep taking some of the same courses over again.  Getting the graduate degree was a confidence builder for me.  It allowed me to believe I could compete with whoever is out there.”

How important is it to go to an elite university? 

“My youngest daughter just graduated from Harvard.  It opened my eyes up.  I was impressed with the education she got, the networking opportunities, and the people she went to school with.  It is really an individual choice.  The value of any education is what you learn and what you make of it, but there is no doubt that big brand schools certainly open doors.”

 What skills does it take to rise to the top of a large company? 

“I certainly think that an important skill is to deliver results.  My charge is to grow shareholder value.   To get those results you have to be good at dealing with people.  I spend a lot of time is talking to people in the factory, and I like talking to them.  You also have to be a good listener.  The average tenure in our factories is 29 years, so there is a lot to learn and know from these people.  You have to be able to deal with people in a straight-forward, honest fashion.”

 What is it like running a company in a controversial industry? 

“Smith & Wesson has been around for 155 years.   Before I joined the company, I had never shot a firearm in my life. When I arrived here I expected to see more push back on the Second Amendment, but we don’t see much of that.  I believe the Second Amendment is really built into our country’s heritage, and we make terrific products.  So I don’t think about the issue of controversy much today.

Why do some smart people never move up? “That is an interesting question.  You have to really want to move up in organization in order for it to happen.  It has to be an important priority, and it comes with sacrifices.  For instance, I travel a lot, and not everyone is willing to do that.  It isn’t a 9 to 5 job.  But if you have the leadership skills, average intelligence and you work at it, you can get there.”

Was there ever a time where your career was floundering and if so, how did you turn it around?

“I don’t think it was ever floundering.  Early on, before I went to graduate school I was working for P&G and calling on grocery stores.  I wasn’t sure if this is what I really wanted to do.  The people running the brands were led by Ivy-league types.  One day I got a call from Black & Decker and that propelled my career by moving me up several levels.  They had a new division and it was a big jump in salary.  This was a big step for me and exposed me to business strategy.”

 How do you avoid or overcome office politics? 

“There will always be office politics.  Politics really come from the senior management level.  What I have really tried to do, and I have done it here at Smith & Wesson, is to put together people who are team players and who want to avoid the politics.  I take the time to get to know the people we bring in to make sure they can mesh with the rest of the team.  I don’t want back stabbers or people pointing fingers.  If they get results, but don’t fit into the culture we are trying to develop then we don’t bring them in.”

 What business leader that you have met that you were impressed with and why? 

“I am impressed with a lot of business leaders.  I worked for Herb Kohler who built a $4 billion private company.  I learned from him the value of the brand and how to get the equity out of a brand. He taught me to never compromise the brand, to always pay attention to detail, and to make sure you always had the highest quality product.”

 What business books have you read that have influenced your career? 

“There is a book that I must have read 30 years ago, and I don’t remember the title.  That book said that you don’t get ahead working long hours; you get ahead by working smart.  I typically read the popular current business books to stay on top of things.  Right now I am reading ‘Business Strategies of Great CEOs’.  I believe you should read books that are being read in your target market and industry so that you can keep up with what is going on.” 

 What is the one piece of advice you would give a young executive who wants to be CEO of a company? 

“I don’t know that there is just one piece of advice I’d give.  I would give several.  One is: Learn how to deliver results, because results count.  Second is: Be patient.  Third: Treat people well along the way, and Fourth: Always be honest.”

Dr. Ivan Misner is the Founder & Chairman of BNI, the world’s largest business networking organization. BNI was founded in 1985. The organization has approximately 4,900 chapters throughout every populated continent of the world. Last year alone, BNI generated over 4.9 million referrals resulting in over $1.9 billion dollars worth of business for its members.

Dr. Misner’s Ph.D. is from the University of Southern California. He has written ten books, including his #1 bestseller Masters of Sales and his New York Times bestseller, Truth or Delusion? 

He is a monthly columnist for Entrepreneur.com and is the Senior Partner for the Referral Institute - a referral training company with trainers around the world. In addition, he has taught business management and social capital courses at several universities throughout the United States.Called the “Father of Modern Networking” by CNN and the “Networking Guru”  by Entrepreneur magazine, Dr. Misner is considered one of the world’s leading experts on business networking and has been a keynote speaker for major corporations and associations throughout the world. He has been featured in the L.A. Times, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times, as well as numerous TV and radio shows including CNN, CNBC, and the BBC  in London.Dr. Misner is the Founder of the BNI-Misner Foundation and was recently named “Humanitarian of the Year” by a Southern California newspaper. He is married and lives with his wife Elisabeth and their three children in Claremont, CA  Why did you become an entrepreneur? 

“I originally worked in different government jobs.  I thought most of people I dealt with were idiots.  I didn’t like the government mentality of that we hit our goals and that was sufficient.  I worked also in the private sector and some of the people had the IQ of lint and so I decided I didn’t like working for other people so I went out on my own.”

 Was your father a business owner? 

“No!  He was an electrician for Xerox.”

 Why did you start BNI? 

“I started it because I needed referrals for my consulting practice.  It’s a classic example of necessity being the mother of invention.  I was a business consultant and I was looking for more referrals and I put together a small group of people who I trusted and they trusted me and we referred business to each other.  Today we have 90,000 members world wide in 34 countries.”

 Did you write a business plan before you started BNI? 

“No!  I didn’t plan on it being a business.  It was part of my consulting practice.  I did have a business plan for my consulting practice.  It was just one service offered by my consulting company at first and it grew so big I had to make a choice.  People would ask me what I do and I said my vocation was consulting and my advocating was BNI.  Our original logo said we were an AIM Consulting affiliate.”

 Are business plans overrated? 

“You should have a business plan, but I do think they are over written.  I mean people these 20 to 100 page plans that they never read again.  We write a plan each year that is four pages and we create one page goal sheets for the organization and then it is like a pyramid from there and then it drills down.  Every department has one page goals and they relate to the Key Success Factors, which are the key measures of success for the businesses.  I think most people get caught up in analysis paralysis.  We focus on goals like number of locations, number of members per location and the locations themselves and those are the three key success factors.”

 What do you like most about being an entrepreneur? 

“I like the freedom of it.  I like to take the company in the direction I know it needs to go in.  I like every day being a little different.”

  What do you like least? 

“What I like least I don’t do much anymore.  I have been doing this for 22 years. I spend 80 to 90 percent of my time working on the business, not the business.  I am no longer CEO.  I am involved in building the brand globally.  I don’t like signing checks, dealing with personnel problems, complaints and legal issues drive me nuts.”

 How did you become an expert in networking? 

“A lot of trial in error.  When you run the world’s largest networking organization.  You see what works and doesn’t work.  I have written nine books on it.  I think most business people are cave drewlers and they get into their car and drive into another cave called their office and then they get back into their car and get back to their large screen TV and they never meet people.  They need to get out and meet people. 

They need to under Visibility, Credibility and Profitability.  You have to become visible and then you need to create credibility.  People need to know you and determine if you are good.  Don’t confuse networking with selling.  It takes time.  Every body carries keys to their car and their house and no one would give a stranger their keys and the same relationship goes with people’s contacts.  You have to prove yourself and most people don’t get that.

Networking is about farming and cultivating relationships.  It’s isn’t hunting.  It’s about developing relationships.  Most people pay it lip service.

You never know who the people you meet know.  We had someone from Mary Kay give one of the biggest referrals.”

 Are networkers born or can you become one? 

“Yes to both.  Some people are natural networkers.  Some people who are extroverted maybe a good sales person, but not a good networker.  A good networker is a good listener.  They are connectors.  You can be trained to do that.  I see people develop those skills all the time.”

 How do you become an effective networker? 

“There is a lot of ways you can do it.  Men and women network differently.  We did a survey of over 2,000 people and we asked people how they learned their networking skills.  These were the top two responses:

• Participating in networking groups
• Reading books and articles

Have you ever gone through a down period professionally and if so how did you turn around your situation?

“Anyone who has been in business goes through down cycle.  For me it is putting my head down and following the fundamentals.  I ask myself what I am doing wrong.  What do I need to fine tune?  Find someone who is successful and ask them their secret to success.  You will never hear a secret because it is something you already know and that is hard work and having a system and following through and not giving up.”

 Are entrepreneurs born or can one develop into an entrepreneur? 

“I think they can develop.  They need to study.  I think people think they can run a business the way they worked in a business.  A lot of small business people don’t spend time working on the business as opposed to in the business.  In the beginning that is hard.  In the beginning of BNI there were just a couple of us and I created an organization chart and put myself and my assistant in all the boxes and my goal was to hire to put in the boxes over the next 15 years and I did, but then I developed more boxes.  Now I am just in one box.  You have to have that vision early on and put it out there.”

 Did you have any business idols and if so, who were they? 

“I didn’t any idols or mentors.  I think mentoring is great and we have an official program, but I didn’t have one.  In the last five years I looked at certain individuals and the role I wanted to play like JC Penny, who became chairman and spokesperson in his 40s.  Colonel Sanders did the same.  Dave Thomas founder of Wendy’s became the spokesperson after starting and running the business.  Those models are where I have been heading for the last several years.”

 Are there any books you would recommend an entrepreneur read? 

“I would recommend one outside of mine.  It isn’t really well known.  I give everyone who becomes a director here the book “Inside the Magic Kingdom,” by Tom Connellan.  It’s a book on customer service .  I would recommend the  “One Minute Manager” and “Putting the One Minute Manager to Work” and the “E-Myth.”

 How have you balanced family and work? 

“I have three kids.  If you are an entrepreneur you don’t have balance, but you can have harmony.  There are times that I work 20 hour days.  Once a business reaches a certain level you can take time off.  One time I took the summer off because my son asked me to.  I explained to my son about my responsibilities and he said you grew a very big company and after 20 years he asked why I couldn’t take the summer off.  I spent it with the family.  I take at least three weeks a year.  It’s always out of balance.   Harmony includes never working on weekends. I am in a business that doesn’t require me to work on weekends.  I am always home on the weekends unless I am out of the country.”

 If there is one piece of advice you would give someone who wants to start a business what would that be? 

“The secret to success is hard work and making good choices and it is still a secret.  Sometimes you make bad choices, but you have to fix those choices.  You have to put in a long day or you can’t make it.  The difference between an entrepreneur and an employee is the employee punches out at 5 p.m and the entrepreneur does not.”

For the last twenty years, Dr. John A. Bennett, MD, has been one of the most recognized businessmen in the Philadelphia area. A local and national leader in the healthcare and technology industries, Dr. Bennett is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Devon International Group.Dr. Bennett joined Delaware County Memorial Hospital as an emergency room physician in 1978. Three years later, he was elected to the hospital’s Medical Executive Committee and made Director of Emergency Services. In June of 1984, he was elected president of the Medical Executive Committee.In 1984, he founded ATI Centers, Inc., which consisted of 13 outpatient diagnostic imaging and physical therapy centers located throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Fueled by immediate interest in the company, Dr. Bennett and a handful of employees set out to build a preferred provider organization with services to encompass all provider specialties – and succeeded.Renamed Devon Health Services, Inc. in 1995, the preferred provider organization is now operating at the national level and affecting over 3,000,000 lives with a staff of more than 100 employees.Dr. Bennett currently owns a number of successful companies that make up the Devon International Group. Devon Health heads up the healthcare division and operates Devon Medical Products, serving the medical community by providing creative and cost-effective medical products; most impressive is the patented safety syringe. Supply Marketing is a marketing communications company that creates and maintains brand awareness in physicians’ offices. And Doctor’s Advocate is a prepaid legal service to help doctors combat frivolous lawsuits.Devon IT leads the information technology division and has witnessed significant growth in its NTA Virtual Office product with offices in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania and Shanghai, China and which recently partnered with IBM in the distribution of the NTA Virtual Office technology.Devon International Trading heads the international business division, specializing in developing relationships and sourcing and manufacturing products for import and export internationally. Devon International Trading has several subdivisions including Devon Building Products, Devon Office Furniture and Devon Motorcycles.Dr. Bennett is a true entrepreneur who identifies unique products and services that enhance global business. Dr. Bennett’s work takes him throughout the world, where his international relationships and business partnerships help drive revenue to the domestic markets. Why did you go into business?

Business is in my blood. I was in business before being a doctor by working in my Father’s appliance store, and made my first sale at 12 years old. I sold a $127 range - cash. I stopped actively practicing medicine in 1984 to pursue business.

What does it take to be a success in business?

Determination. Good fundamentals. The idea underling the business must make sense. You need to provide a certain service that the community wants, at a price that is attractive. For instance, providing a new technology that is needed in an innovative way.

How important is it to have a competitive advantage?

As part of the fundamental, you should have a competitive advantage. While I have built businesses without them, it is better to have them. When I built my PPO, we didn’t have very good fundamentals. It worked, but I wouldn’t do something like that again.

Why do people typically fail in business?

Capitalization! If you are in business long enough, you will build brand awareness and can build a successful group. My adage is to reinvent your company every six months by taking a look at the market place at each particular time. Failure can happen if you do not adapt to change.

How hard was it to make your first million?

I used to drive a Mazda RX7 when I was practicing medicine and involved in real estate. To mobilize myself, I pushed hard to earn $1,000 for every 1,000 miles I drove. It took three or four years.

Is there one style over another that works?

Be very lucky! Have fundamentals and be at the right place at the right time. When we started in the IT business, we decided to take the data off of the desktop and put it back in the data center. You have to have a lot of luck to do that. The industry looked at doing the same thing; however, industries might wait three to five years or never follow you. It matters when the market place accepts what you are doing.

Is it better to be trusting of people or skeptical until proven otherwise?

I think you have to be both. You have to listen to what they have to say, and then be skeptical about what they have to say. Use your experience to determine what was correct in their presentation. I am a very trusting person.

How do you maintain a sense of balance when so much of your focus is on creating a successful business? It’s very difficult to have a life balance. You have to draw a line and somehow separate your family life from your business life. That is one challenge I have. How do you deal with the fear of going out there on your own?

Good question! Eventually you realize you have to listen to the advice of the people around you. You have to make the final decisions, and have to chart the path. It’s a struggle I still have.

Family Business Have you ever worked with your wife?

My wife did work with us in the real estate business. She was a decorator and decorated the model homes and condominiums.

What are the positives?

You get to be with your spouse and “talk shop”.

What are the negatives?

The negative is you are talking about “shop” and it brings business into your home life.

Have you ever had your children work for you?