This isn't just a business book; it's a blueprint forged in the fire of real-world risk and adrenaline-fueled chaos that transformed a 130-year old cottage seafood company into a thriving international business. At age thirty-one, I was the first CFO for Perdue Farms and ten years later, as a father of five, I took a daring leap of faith: I left corporate stability for the dream of ownership.
To navigate chaos, I relied on my evolving, time-tested structure that I call Business Is Simple. It strips away complexity and focuses on just three core interconnected focal points:
- Continuously develop superior products.
- Process at a competitive advantage.
- Develop leads for sales to close.
This structure guided two complete makeovers. The first transformed Handy into a coast-to-coast national company, achieving a premium quality that opened up exports to Japanese and European markets.
The second makeover was a matter of survival, forced by environmental changes that severely reduced crab supply. With zero contacts, I booked a flight to Bangkok. This led to far-flung adventures in seven Asian countries, where I navigated sleepless nights and cultural challenges to establish soft crab processing and later, two more product lines - crab cakes and pasteurized crab meat.
Part memoir, part manual, the book is an adventure story and guide for aspiring entrepreneurs, executives, family companies and students, proving that with trust, clarity, and perseverance, extraordinary results in business are possible.
