11/ 21/ 2005
by Harvey King
"I’ve decided I don't think Martha Stewart is that bad." I recently overheard that random observation in a conversation between two men in business suits waiting for a light to change at a crosswalk in midtown Manhattan.
Ever since I learned Martha Stewart was going to spend part of her time in federal prison writing a book about how to start and run a small business, I decided that I, too, don't think Martha Stewart is that bad. And now that I've read The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success as you Start, Grow, or Manage a Business, I don't think the book is that bad either. Not that I think it is good. But it's not bad.
It's filled with all the truisms you'd expect to find in a book about starting and running a business: Do something you're passionate about. Surround yourself with good people. Have a long-term view. Focus on quality, etc.
But Martha Stewart has an easy how-to way of making all really difficult things (like, say, folding T-shirts) seem achievable by mere mortals like me. Reading The Martha Rules, I get the feeling that starting, building and managing a business is no harder than, say, throwing a wedding party for 500. I can do this. Really. And it will be fun.
After reading her book, I decided to tune into her version of the Donald Trump show, "The Apprentice." (Based on its poor ratings, I guess I'm one of the few people who actually did this.) After a couple of episodes, I decided I don't think Martha Stewart is that bad of a role model for a small-business owner. While the company she runs is no longer small, the lessons she extols at the end of each program are spot-on. And if it weren't a TV program that had to get rid of people one week at a time, I think any small-business owner could narrow down the candidates in about 30 minutes. Frankly, spending a year working with some of those clowns would have Martha recalling the good life with her friends back in prison.
Watching and reading her business advice, I've decided I can learn something from Martha Stewart. She's succeeded the old-fashioned way: hard work, ambition, creativity, focus on quality, superior salesmanship and service. She's failed the old-fashioned way: losing sight of the big picture, lapsed judgment, micromanaging, expediency and pride. And she's endured the old-fashioned way: using failure as the foundation for future success.
No doubt, Martha Stewart will continue to be a pop culture lightening rod--a Rorschach test for us to compare with others regarding how we respond to her achievements and foibles.
However, as a small-business owner, I've decided she's more than a cultural icon for me. Not quite a role model, but neither is she a cautionary tale. She's not necessarily "what I want to be," but she sure says a lot of what I'd like to say and works as hard as I'd like to work.
I've decided that as a small-business role model, Martha Stewart is somewhere in the range of "not that bad." And that's a "not that bad" thing.
