Ed Barr was a genius/brillant man.
Ed Barr was a serial Entrepreneur.
He owned an oil and gas company. Several Hallmark stores. Several restaurants (upscale, and some of the best in Northeast Ohio), real estate including a stable and practice track for thoroughbred horses...
His strategy was to DIVERSIFY. He liked to have a solid base, which was his gas and oil company and then he would play "Monopoly".
I once made streusal with Ed in one of his restaurants...it was his mother's recipe. This is how he relaxed once in awhile by making stuff in one of his kitchens.
But the thing I most loved about Ed was this: he was a passionate philantropist for certain non profits, including Hope Homes. My wife and I were the first direct care staff Hope Homes hired and I worked there 8 years and my wife (ex) stayed for 27. Ed Barr was a true friend of Hope Homes. But that is a story for another day.
The lessons I learned from Ed, and probably the most important was, install good people into key positions and stay out of their way and let them do their thing. Let them know you are available, accessible but don't micro manage and correct privately without passion.
I believe he was universally loved by his employees and he was loyal to them.
Also, he taught me that businesses have LIFE CYCLES. Something few successful people keep an eye on...many will just continue to do what took them to the top and not make any adjustments when trends changed.
He kept his fingers on all of his customer's pulses, and when he felt change, he made changes. Pretty simple stuff.
So the take aways secrets for SowPubbers so far regarding my picks on geniuses/brillant men are:
It is better to get shot out of the water than to rot at the dock, says Burt Morgan.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket, and when they start to smell, get new ones, courtesy of Ed Barr.
NOW for the Big Secret from Harvey Brody.
Gordon Jay Alexander
PS. I feel it is a great disservice to both these titans of business to sum up a lifetime of work in a sentence or even in a post or two...but I'm sure both of them would appreciate the mention none the less.
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