I wish I could brag that I got out of the “I know it all” attitude thanks to having important goals, but in truth, it was my clients who helped me with this. In 2002, the business was expanding, and as a result we had an almost completely uncontrollable company. Nearly 80 percent of our medal-manufacturing orders were overdue. Since most of our customers were military or government entities, my tenure as CEO was plagued by unpleasant adventures. My workday started and ended with dealing with unhappy customers. There was no way we could even think about strategic planning—I felt as if bullets were whizzing over my head. These unhappy customers were my miraculous kick in the butt. With my feeble attempts to fix things, it took a few months before I realized I had no idea how to run a growing company. That period was a turning point for me. I started looking for answers as to what I should do to make the company more manageable so that I, as the owner, could focus on strategic planning, rather than on fixing small issues.
Unfortunately, not enough literature is available on how well-known companies have handled times like these. The subject of management tools is considered too boring, and often too difficult for most people to comprehend. You can, however, find information on how a particular product was created or how successful manufacturing and retailing companies were started. Interestingly, every prosperous company has its particular management tools, but the general public does not know when and how they were implemented. The reason for this is simple: Only people at the very top of companies are interested in this topic, and their number is limited.
Since you are reading this book, either your goals or your problems have already given you a push, and you are looking for answers to questions related to a business owner’s role, as well as to the management of a company. In the following chapters, I will discuss the functions of a Kshatriya in a business, as well as how the business owner’s role differs from that of a manager.
Chapter 3. The Main Goal and Purpose
The widely known concept of a company mission statement is an essential component of management. It should be noted that this concept can be applied to any group of people, and even to a single person. Various management books give different definitions of the mission statement concept; however, my most precise understanding of it came from studying L. Ron Hubbard’s works, particularly the Administrative Scale of a group described in the article “Basic Management Tools.”