10 Rules For Running a Successful Business

The partners of Granatstein Lusthouse Mar LLP agree with the principals that Morris Granatstein followed for his business and his life. As such we would like to share with you the following account by Jay Granatstein and his brother-in-law Mike Dombrow.

At the age of 93, my father, Morris (Moe) Granatstein, passed away. He had come to Canada and built a successful life for himself and his family with little more than a Grade 9 education. Most people that grew up in Toronto knew of Grant's Fine China and Gifts, this was the family store, originally owned and operated by Moe and his brother, Abe. It was here that Moe developed his life long passion for learning, he learned from everyone he came into contact with and wound up learning more than most people will ever learn in school or in life. Moe taught those around him these business and life lessons and they were best summarized by my brother-in-law Mike Dombrow during his eulogy. Mike worked with Moe for 15 years at Grant's Fine China. I have used these lessons in running my accounting practice and I wanted to share them here so that you could learn what my father taught me.
There are 10 rules Moe taught me for running a successful business, whether it be a retail business where these lessons are from, or any other type of corporate entity.  

- Jay Granatstein

Lesson #1

"You've got to treat your people well….Without them you've got nothing." Moe believed that we could never achieve major success without a dedicated and talented team of people working with us. He demonstrated his caring to those he worked with, and he was rewarded with their loyalty and respect.

Lesson #2

You've got to look after the customer. And Moe meant it! You wouldn't want to be staff members caught chatting with each other while customers waited for attention. Furthermore, you were never to promise the customer something you couldn't deliver. And once something was promised you'd better live up to your commitment.

Lesson #3

Give customers great value, but in the bargain don't work for the devil. Working for the devil is a figurative way to say you don't earn enough money. Moe would always warn that whatever strategy we undertook in business we had to have a decent return. Otherwise, we should drop the plan.

Lesson #4

Be honest in your dealings with others, and nip problems in the bud. Moe had a reputation of being brutally honest with our staff. You would think that they would shy away from him as a result. But, to the contrary, I learned that our staff greatly respected Moe for saying what needed to be said, and for doing so in a timely manner.

Lesson #5

Maintain a sense of humour. Moe had a favourite joke that he often repeated to customers who's husbands he knew had retired ……..

Moe: "So, Mrs Schwartz, what's your husband doing these days".
Mrs. Schwartz: "Moe, you know he's retired"
Moe: " Retired? I heard he's workin."
Mrs. Schwartz: "Working? What are you talking about?'
Moe: "Yeah, I heard he's working for Honey Dew."
Mrs. Schwartz: "Where'd you get that? He's not working for Honey Dew."
Moe: "Oh yeah, I heard he's at home working for Honey Dew: . 'honey do dis & honey do dat'"

The joke always left customers and staff howling with laughter - unless, that is, Moe forgot that he already used the joke on that particular customer.

Lesson #6

Never be overly ambitious or greedy. Moe understood what it meant to "have enough" and the danger of excessive ambition or greed. Moe knew the meaning of enough. There was a limit to everything. He was not a greedy man.

Lesson #7

Maintain high standards. Moe had a favourite expression whenever he found a employee's work to be shoddy, he'd look the person in the eye and say "Gee wiz, anybody can do dat,". By that, Moe meant a two-year old could achieve the same low standard, and by that remark he'd shame the person into redoing the job. Eventually everyone on staff adopted this phrase and used it whenever they noticed work that needed improvement.

Lesson #8

Be innovative. Moe knew the importance of exciting, innovative merchandise and displays, for sure. But he also looked for innovation in the way we did our work or designed our services.

One of the most important developments supported by Moe was the creation of the bridal registry notification service. It was an innovation that revolutionized the bridal registry business and increased the volume that we could handle dramatically. As a result of this change Grant's China & Gift Shops was able to serve thousands of Toronto's brides over its lifetime.

Lesson #9

Be fair to your suppliers. Moe was a believer in bargaining hard with suppliers. But he also believed that you had to be fair and leave them with a reasonable profit. Was it because he was altruistic? No, it was because Moe understood that you had to build a good relationship with suppliers in order to get fair consideration for future deals and new introductions. He had a win-win attitude: Moe believed that you had to be fair with everyone you dealt with.

Lesson #10

Know when to exit. Moe used to say to me, when you've made a bad deal, a quick exit is your lowest cost alternative. Never maintain a bad plan, hoping that things will turn around. They rarely do.


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The 10 lessons I learned from working at Moe's side for more than 15 years are essential to running a successful business.
More than that, they show the character of the man: how he cared for people, believed in mutual respect, fairness, honesty, integrity, quality, creativity, and understood that everyone had his limits - himself included. Moe lived by those rules inside and outside of his business. Those rules serve as a primer for successful living to us all.

These rules were compiled by Michael Dombrow, Jay Granatstein's brother- in-law. The rules were part of the eulogy he gave on the passing of Jay's father, on April 6, 2005