I belong to a CEO group that meets once a month, and besides getting invaluable advice from people who have already been through a lot of issues that we face here at Vine Connections as we continue to grow, they also seem to read an awful lot about running businesses (they must not sleep much). So it was from their recommendation that I read the book, “Small Giants: Companies that Choose to Be Great Instead of Being Big” by Bo Burlingham.
It’s an interesting book in a lot of ways, but it primarily addresses a topic that we run into a lot around here, which is “Should we do something because we feel it is right, or should we do it because it can make money?” This kind of topic is generally reserved for privately held companies since public companies’ raison d’etre is to make money for shareholders, and not necessarily to treat their customers and employees well, or generally “do the right thing”. But Burlingham makes the case through 14 successful private companies that doing things right instead of doing things just for profits not only leads to more financially successful companies in the long run, but also to greater satisfaction for the company owners since dollars are only one of the measures of success. An important one, for sure, but not the only one.
Don’t get me wrong—I like profits as much as the next guy/gal. But for the last 10 years, Nick and I have done 95% of the time what we thought was right for the wineries and breweries we work with, for the distributors we are partners with, and for the 15 employees who help us spread the gospel of ginjo sake and Malbec. And it’s been that 5% that has burned us every time!
We have had significant sales success over the last 10 years, and in 2009, our little company was still the biggest U.S. importer of Argentine wine retailing above $10, but the way I can tell that we are becoming a small giant is that I keep getting calls from people who want to come work for us. And these aren’t random people—they are folks who already have jobs and are within our direct circle of contact. They have had experiences dealing with our Team, not with just Nick and I, and they feel a deep desire to join our merry band if for nothing more than our philosophical outlook.
Call it mojo (as Burlingham does), reputation, or whatever you like—I call it a giant success. I hear a lot of horror stories about companies in the wine business and the ways that they operate, and I would love to hear from any of you about companies you know who have serious mojo and are focusing more on creating a rewarding journey than on the final financial destination.
This has been a tough year for most people, no doubt about it. I won’t dwell on the raft of bad news that all of you already know about. For us here at Vine Connections, it’s certainly seemed like we’ve been rolling boulders uphill, though with all the success that Argentina is having even in this economy, at least our boulders have been rolling by themselves a little after we get them over the lip.
I spent the last few days working in Santa Fe, New Mexico. OK, maybe not working all the time, but ostensibly I was here for the 
Today is International Sake Day, so to celebrate we asked internationally-acclaimed sake expert, John Gauntner to be our first ever Guest Blogger! Check out his website, 
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I spent Monday night drinking Argentine wine and Japanese sake with three young ladies. OK, before you get too envious, I was actually working, spending an evening at SF’s