February 2007

Kitchener Waterloo Celebrates Business Excellence

(from left to right: Jennifer Dynes of The Natural Way Health Clinic, Stephanie Catcher of Basket Sweet Basket, and Alison Meyer of Naturally Fit.

Thursday night was the Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards Gala. This was my first time at the gala, but definitely not my last. My company was very honoured to be nominated for an award, Best Workplace Training, a category that Real Estate firms usually don’t score so highly in. Even though we didn’t win (congratulations Lutherwood!) it was a great night.

Several great businesses and leaders were recognized last night.

Rick Baker of Baker Investment Group won the award for New Member of the Year, which came as no surprise to people who know Rick, and have seen the dedication everyone at B.I.G. has for the community.

(me and Jack Baker, Chief Technological Officer at Baker Investment Group, with their New Member of the Year award)

John Baker (no relation) of Desire2Learn won Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and I had the pleasure of meeting him after. He has accomplished an awful lot, and at 29 he is only warming up. For a young entrepreneur like me, it was inspiring to speak with John.

It was great to see so many friends and clients at the gala last night. If you missed it, come out next year; it’s a great time.

Benjamin Bach is a Sales Representative with Keller Williams Golden Triangle Realty in Kitchener Waterloo. He is passionate about building wealth for his clients, and loves nothing more than to help people start building equity and get on the road to financial freedom and abundance. He wakes up each morning excited to fulfill his mission of building wealth for his clients through comprehensive Real Estate investment planning, and helping people achieve success. If you are interested in how you can start your Real Estate portfolio, or have any questions about buying a home or selling a home, you can email Benjamin (benjamin AT benjaminbach.com) or reach him at 519 772 4376.

Subscribe to Benjamin Bach’s KW Market Watch by Email

Bach on Books: Good to Great - Part I

‘Good is the enemy of great.’  After reading this book, I definately agree.

Good to Great is the result of a five year research study Jim Collins undertook with the help of his research team.  They set out to discover what good companies can do to become Great companies, and what they found were five very important things that Great companied did every time, that the comparison companies did not do:

1. Level 5 Leadership
2. First Who… Then What
3. Confront the Brutal Facts (yet never lose faith)
4. The Hedgehog concept
5. A culture of discipline

Level 5 Leadership
In every case, the good-to-great companies had Level 5 Leadership during their pivotal transition years.  A Level 5 Leader is a ‘paradoxical mix of personal humility and professional will.  They are ambitions, but ambitious first and foremost for the company, not themselves.’  Level 5 leaders, in 10 of 11 cases, came from within the company - going against the current trend of parachuting in the Wall Street wunderCEO to lead the company.  The level 5 leaders all had succession plans in place that took care of their company, while lesser CEO’s made sure to keep talented executives at an arm’s length for fear they might be usurped by them.  Level 5 leaders are resolved to do whatever it takes to make the company great, regardless of the size of the challenge, or how hard it may look.  Level 5 leaders are humble;

First Who… Then What
Get the right people on the bus.  “If you start with ‘who’ rather than ‘what’ you can more easily adapt in a changing world.” While discussing the difference between Eckerd (the comparison company) and Walgreens (the good-to-great company), Collins says this:  “Jack Eckerd had a genius for picking the right stores to buy, Cork Walgreen had a genius for picking the right people to hire.  Wheres Eckerd had a gift for seeing which stores should go in what locations, Walgreen had a gift for seeing which people should go in what seats. ”

Part II of the review to follow shortly…

Benjamin Bach is a Sales Representative with Keller Williams Golden Triangle Realty in Kitchener Waterloo. He is passionate about building wealth for his clients, and loves nothing more than to help people start building equity and get on the road to financial freedom and abundance. He wakes up each morning excited to fulfill his mission of building wealth for his clients through comprehensive Real Estate investment planning, and helping people achieve success. If you are interested in how you can start your Real Estate portfolio, or have any questions about buying a home or selling a home, you can email Benjamin (benjamin AT benjaminbach.com) or reach him at 519 772 4376.

Subscribe to Benjamin Bach’s KW Market Watch by Email

Local Kitchener Waterloo Friends Online

Check out these sites, of local Kitchener Waterloo businesspeople and entrepreneurs:

Dan Donovan is blogging his way through his Masters of Business, Entrepreneurship & Technology (MBET) at the prestigious University of Waterloo, and you can read all about it here: The MBET Experience. Check out this post, about one of my favorite people in town.

David Ehrenworth just opened up David’s Gourmet, a new ‘Vincenzo’s/Pusateri’s’ like store in Waterloo in the Keg Plaza at Northfield and King. They do fantastic corporate and personal catering and can arrange delivery to you. Go to their website for all the info.

In other news, the best wings in town are found at Morty’s. Tell Jay that Ben sent you!

Benjamin Bach is a Sales Representative with Keller Williams Golden Triangle Realty in Kitchener Waterloo. He is passionate about building wealth for his clients, and loves nothing more than to help people start building equity and get on the road to financial freedom and abundance. He wakes up each morning excited to fulfill his mission of building wealth for his clients through comprehensive Real Estate investment planning, and helping people achieve success. If you are interested in how you can start your Real Estate portfolio, or have any questions about buying a home or selling a home, you can email Benjamin (benjamin AT benjaminbach.com) or reach him at 519 772 4376.

Subscribe to Benjamin Bach’s KW Market Watch by Email

Ben’s Top Three Tips for Sales Success

1. Focus on the client

2. Give give give

3. Look at them with love in your eyes

What are your top sales tips? Leave them in the comments section!

Benjamin Bach is a Sales Representative with Keller Williams Golden Triangle Realty in Kitchener Waterloo. He is passionate about building wealth for his clients, and loves nothing more than to help people start building equity and get on the road to financial freedom and abundance. He wakes up each morning excited to fulfill his mission of building wealth for his clients through comprehensive Real Estate investment planning, and helping people achieve success. If you are interested in how you can start your Real Estate portfolio, or have any questions about buying a home or selling a home, you can email Benjamin (benjamin AT benjaminbach.com) or reach him at 519 772 4376.

Subscribe to Benjamin Bach’s KW Market Watch by Email