【文章內(nèi)容簡(jiǎn)介】 dream Nebraska Furniture Mart. 而後在賣(mài)了許多年二手衣後， 1937 年靠著省吃簡(jiǎn)用存下的 500 美金她實(shí)現(xiàn)夢(mèng)想開(kāi)了 一家家具店，參酌當(dāng)時(shí)全美最大家具交易中心 芝加哥 American Furniture Mart， 她將之命名為 Nebraska Furniture Mart。 She met every obstacle you would expect (and a few you wouldn’t) when a business endowed with only $500 and no locational or product advantage goes up against rich, longentrenched petition. At one early point, when her tiny resources ran out, “Mrs. B” (a personal trademark now as well recognized in Greater Omaha as CocaCola or Sanka) coped in a way not taught at business schools: she simply sold the furniture and appliances from her home in order to pay creditors precisely as promised. 爾後她遭遇到你所能預(yù)期的各種困難 (也包括你想不到的 )，以 500 美金起家沒(méi)有任何 產(chǎn)品或地緣優(yōu)勢(shì)地去對(duì)抗資金雄厚、經(jīng)營(yíng)已久的同業(yè)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，在早期當(dāng)她有限的資源損 耗怠盡時(shí)， B 太太 (這個(gè)個(gè)人商標(biāo)在大 Omaha 地區(qū)與可口可樂(lè)齊名 )甚至把家中所有值 錢(qián)的東西變賣(mài)一空以維持信譽(yù)。 Omaha retailers began to recognize that Mrs. B would offer customers far better deals than they had been giving, and they pressured furniture and carpet manufacturers not to sell to her. But by various strategies she obtained merchandise and cut prices sharply. Mrs. B was then hauled into court for violation of Fair Trade laws. She not only won all the cases, but received invaluable publicity. At the end of one case, after demonstrating to the court that she could profitably sell carpet at a huge discount from the prevailing price, she sold the judge $1400 worth of carpet. Omaha 的零售商在發(fā)現(xiàn)到 B 太太可以給顧客更低的價(jià)格時(shí)，便聯(lián)手向家具及地毯工 廠施壓不要供貨給 B 太太，但靠著各種不同的方法，她還是取得貨源並大幅降價(jià)，甚 至因而被告到法院違反公平交易法，但最後不但贏得所有官司更大大打開(kāi)了知名度， 其中有一個(gè)案件，在法庭中為了證明即使以現(xiàn)行市價(jià)打一個(gè)大折扣後，她仍有所獲利， 結(jié)果她賣(mài)了一條 1,400 美元的地毯給法官。 Today Nebraska Furniture Mart generates over $100 million of sales annually out of one 200,000 squarefoot store. No other home furnishings store in the country es close to that volume. That single store also sells more furniture, carpets, and appliances than do all Omaha petitors bined. 今天 Nebraska Furniture 一家 20 萬(wàn)平方呎的店面，年銷(xiāo)售額卻高 達(dá)一億美金，全 美沒(méi)有任何一家零售家具店可以比得上，它所賣(mài)的家具、地毯與家電用品比 Omaha 所有其他業(yè)者加起來(lái)還多。 One question I always ask myself in appraising a business is how I would like, assuming I had ample capital and skilled personnel, to pete with it. I’d rather wrestle grizzlies than pete with Mrs. B and her progeny. They buy brilliantly, they operate at expense ratios petitors don’t even dream about, and they then pass on to their customers much of the savings. It’s the ideal business one built upon exceptional value to the customer that in turn translates into exceptional economics for its owners. 當(dāng)我們?cè)谠u(píng)斷一家公司的企業(yè)價(jià)值時(shí)，我常常會(huì)問(wèn)自己一個(gè)問(wèn)題 :「假設(shè)我有足夠的資 金與人才時(shí)，我願(yuàn)不願(yuàn)意和這家公司競(jìng)爭(zhēng)」，我寧願(yuàn)和大灰熊摔角也不願(yuàn)和 B 太太家 族競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，他們採(cǎi)購(gòu)有一套，營(yíng)業(yè)費(fèi)用低到其競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手想都想不到的程度，然後再將所 省下的每一分錢(qián)回饋給客人，這是一家理想的企業(yè)，建立在為客戶創(chuàng)造價(jià)值並轉(zhuǎn)化為 對(duì)所有者的經(jīng)濟(jì)利益的基礎(chǔ)上。 Mrs. B is wise as well as smart and, for farsighted family reasons, was willing to sell the business last year. I had admired both the family and the business for decades, and a deal was quickly made. But Mrs. B, now 90, is not one to go home and risk, as she puts it, “l(fā)osing her marbles”. She remains Chairman and is on the sales floor seven days a week. Carpet sales are her specialty. She personally sells quantities that would be a good departmental total for other carpet retailers. B 太太憑藉其高瞻遠(yuǎn)矚與家族因素考量終於決定於去年出售公司給我們，我對(duì)這個(gè)家 族與其事業(yè)已欣賞了數(shù)十年，所以整個(gè)交易很快便敲定，但 B 太太並沒(méi)有馬上回家休 息，免得如同她所說(shuō)的失去鬥志，相反的她仍持續(xù)擔(dān)任公司的負(fù)責(zé)人，在每週七天都 待在賣(mài)場(chǎng)，其中銷(xiāo)售地毯更是她的擅長(zhǎng)，一個(gè)人的業(yè)績(jī)便足以打敗所有其它零售業(yè)者。 We purchased 90% of the business leaving 10% with members of the family who are involved in management and have optioned 10% to certain key young family managers. 我們一共買(mǎi)下九成股權(quán)，剩下的一成由原有管理公司的家族成員擁有，另還預(yù)留一成 的認(rèn)購(gòu)權(quán)給有潛力的年輕人。 And what managers they are. Geicists should do handsprings over the Blumkin family. Louie Blumkin, Mrs. B’s son, has been President of Nebraska Furniture Mart for many years and is widely regarded as the shrewdest buyer of furniture and appliances in the country. Louie says he had the best teacher, and Mrs. B says she had the best student. They’re both right. Louie and his three sons all have the Blumkin business ability, work ethic, and, most important, character. On top of that, they are really nice people. We are delighted to be in partnership with them. 遺傳學(xué)家應(yīng)好好研究 Blumkin 家族為何皆能成為優(yōu)秀的經(jīng)理人， Louie Blumkin B 太太的兒子擔(dān)任 Nebraska Furniture 的總經(jīng)理已有好多年且被公認(rèn)為最精明的家具 與家電用品的最佳採(cǎi)購(gòu)者，他說(shuō)因?yàn)樗凶詈玫睦蠋煟?B 太太則說(shuō)她有最優(yōu)秀的學(xué) 生，兩者的說(shuō)法完全正確， Louie 跟他三個(gè)兒子皆繼承了 Blumkin 家族優(yōu)秀的管理能 力、勤奮工作與最重要的正直的人格特質(zhì)，他們實(shí)在是不錯(cuò)的合夥人，很高興能與他 們一起合作。 Corporate Performance 企業(yè)表現(xiàn) During 1983 our book value increased from $ per share to $ per share, or by 32%. We never take the oneyear figure very seriously. After all, why should the time required for a pla to circle the sun synchronize precisely with the time required for business actions to pay off? Instead, we remend not less than a fiveyear test as a rough yardstick of economic performance. Red lights should start flashing if the fiveyear average annual gain falls much below the return on equity earned over the period by American industry in aggregate. (Watch out for our explanation if that occurs as Goethe observed, “When ideas fail, words e in very handy.”) 1983 年公司的淨(jìng)值由原來(lái)每股 737 美元增加成為 975 美元，約成長(zhǎng)32%，但我們 從未把單一年度的數(shù)字表現(xiàn)看得太認(rèn)真，畢竟沒(méi)有什麼道理要把企業(yè)反映盈餘的期間 與地球繞行太陽(yáng)公轉(zhuǎn)的週期劃上等號(hào)，反 而我們建議至少以五年為一週期來(lái)評(píng)斷企業(yè) 整體的表現(xiàn)，若五年平均利得要比美國(guó)企業(yè)平均來(lái)得差時(shí)，便要開(kāi)始注意了 (就像 Goethe 所觀察到的，到時(shí)要注意我們所提出的解釋?zhuān)f(wàn)一要是失敗了，解釋的理由 可能會(huì)有一大堆 )。 During the 19year tenure of present management, book value has grown from $ per share to $, or % pounded annually. Considering our present size, nothing close to this rate of return can be sustained. Those who believe otherwise should pursue a career in sales, but avoid one in mathematics. 在現(xiàn)有經(jīng)營(yíng)階層過(guò)去十九年的任期內(nèi)，帳面價(jià)值由 19 美元增加成為975 美元，約以 %年複合成長(zhǎng)率成長(zhǎng)，考量到我們現(xiàn)有的規(guī)模，未來(lái)可