Business Lesson 4 from Mr. Blandings

The customer always knows best, according to a familiar business adage.

Let’s test this premise, as we continue to explore business lessons from Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948).

As you recall, the film highlights the adventures of the Blandings, who want to leave their small city apartment and move to a house outside the city.

The Blandings found and bought an old house. It was so decrepit, however, every expert tells them that demolishing the existing structure and building a new, modern home in its place would be more cost effective.

Construction is underway, and the Blandings have stopped by to assess progress.

Business Lesson 1 from Mr. Blandings

Early in my career, a wise and seasoned executive told me he couldn’t see the future, but there was one thing he could predict with great accuracy.

Every major technology project took twice as long and cost three times as much as originally projected. Or vice versa.

He was right then, he's right now. In fact, skip the word “technology” and his observation is still completely on target.

Business Lesson 6 from Mr. Blandings

Building a house is the perfect metaphor for the challenges we face as buyers and sellers, consumers and producers.

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) highlights these parallels with brains, wit and humor.

The film shows how, from start to finish, almost everything that could go wrong does go wrong. It also shows how everyone at each step contributes to the snafus and confusion as well as the successes.

Business Lesson 2 from Mr. Blandings

As you know, we’re culling business lessons from the funny, smart film, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948).

The plot line is simple. The Blandings want to leave their cramped city apartment and move to a house with space for kids and animals.

The Blandings set out to find a house that both fits their budget and fulfills their dreams. As luck would have it, they soon find and buy an antiquated house, rich with history and surrounded by acres of land.

It’s ideal, except for one tiny detail.

Business Lesson 5 from Mr. Blandings

Packed with talent, wit and charm, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) offers a range of valuable business lessons.

Every contractor, consultant and salesperson should watch it. Here’s the situation, as we tackle Business Lesson 5.

Blandings and the architect are reviewing final bills from the many trades and craftspeople who’ve worked on the house, which is almost finished. Blandings goes ballistic when he sees the bill for the pantry room floor, because it’s much higher than expected.

Is the contractor a crook? Is he taking advantage?

Business Lesson 3 from Mr. Blandings

There are countless business lessons embedded in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948).

An especially enjoyable one features Mrs. Blandings (Myrna Loy), as she explains her color preferences to the painting contractor.

The dialogue is priceless:

Now I want the living room to be a soft green. Not quite as bluish as a robin’s egg, but yet not as yellow as daffodil buds … It should just be sort of a grayish yellow green …

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How do they do it? What makes them different?

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In July, the Kauffman Foundation unveiled a detailed proposal for new legislation designed to encourage more successful small business startups to jumpstart the US economy.

Called The Startup Act, the proposal asserts that a strong, sustainable US economic recovery will require:

• More high-growth companies
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Context

ABC Company provides specialty products and services. Like most small to mid-sized companies, it's fighting to stay afloat. In spite of the economy, it’s managed to generate sufficient revenue to break even or make a small profit eight of the past nine months. During one month, however, the losses were so huge they wiped out any gains. This quarter, two months will likely break even, but the third will show a loss.

It would be easy to assume the CEO has been asleep at the switch. Not so.