Winner National EVVY Award
PUSHING WATER UPHILL
With A Rake
Memoirs of a Successful Failure
by Steve Baker
~~~~~~
What would you do when you do everything right...and it all goes wrong?
So, when was the last time you met a guy who was sued for $1.4 Billion? Well, I’m that guy and I’ve written my story about living the American dream.
My book shares the fun, excitement and pure exhilaration of building a successful company. In less than a year it grew to one of the largest travel companies in the United States with over $500 million in revenues and included business partners like Playboy Enterprises. I’m very proud to say that our company accomplished more in one year than many will ever achieve.
But, after the excitement of our tremendous success, my story also shares the shock, pain, and deep despair as I watched helplessly while the company and my life vaporized before my eyes. Between a $1.4 Billion lawsuit and the “Black Monday” stock market crash, the company could not survive. The devastation heaped upon our company, my family, and my personal life was immense. Ours was a sensational roller coaster ride that was the most fun I have had in my life, along with enough pain for two lifetimes.
And, as I explain in my speeches, when it comes to business, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that 98% of all businesses in the United States are small businesses. The bad news is that over 60% of new businesses fail within the first five years.
In my book I point out that anyone can do things wrong and fail, but guess what? You can also do everything right and still fail. What would you do when you do everything right...and it all goes wrong?
I absolutely hate the business term “situational ethics.” That’s like being a little pregnant! As entrepreneurs, my partner and I risked everything and lost everything, but not at the expense of our employees.
We believed that the greatest asset of our company was the people, and in a business failure, they should come first – not last. There is a right way and a wrong way to fail. It begins and ends with ethics, and ethics should not be situational.
As I was writing the book I did quite a bit of speaking, partly as a market test of my project. I continue to speak under the title “How to Be a Successful Failure.” Over and over again, at the end of my talks, men and women would hang around to ask me two questions: One, “Did you file bankruptcy?” Two, “Are you still married?”
I could see in the eyes of these people why they were asking about bankruptcy. Colorado just set a new record for personal bankruptcy filings and tied the 1983 record for home foreclosures.
Many people are on the cusp of financial ruin. As for the marriage question, people would explain that they had gone through a financial failure in the past and their marriage did not survive. The most serious consequence of financial failure is the destruction of relationships.
I then realized that my book had to be much more than a story about business, but the business of life. I needed to write about how it affected me personally. I poured myself out to help others hopefully avoid what I went through. I share the immense pain and sense of worthlessness that can cost a man his marriage.
I won a national writing award for this, my first book. The review board called it energetic, humorous, fast-paced and suspenseful. Readers tell me it is thought provoking and conversation generating. For that I am very proud.
But I take greater pride in a letter that I received from a reader who is going through a family financial crisis and all communication had shut down. She actually used my book to open a conversation and create a dialogue that helped keep her family intact. In part, she wrote:
"Thank you for writing your book.
Our family business is going into financial ruin
and all communication had shut down between us.
Your book opened a much needed conversation
that will help us get through the toughest time in our lives."
I worked hard to write a compelling story about chasing the American dream but it is also about ethics and relationships as we handled both great success and crushing failure. I passionately believe that it’s not if you fail in business or life, but how you manage failure that counts.
Please peruse my website for more information and while you're here you can also buy my book. I think you'll enjoy it.
THANK YOU!
Steve Baker
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