Thomas W. McMakin
Thomas W. McMakin (b. 1961) is an American business executive, author, and public speaker. McMakin is known nationally for his ideas on business development, corporate learning communities and culture building. He has served as a keynote speaker on business development in the state of Montana for U.S. Senator Jon Tester, and on equity capital for the Montana state legislature.[1][2][3] He was also entered into the Congressional Record by U.S. Representative Pat Schroeder for his advocacy on paternity leave.[4] Best known for his tenure at Great Harvest Bread Company, an American bakery franchise, McMakin is currently Chief Executive Officer at Profitable Ideas Exchange, a firm based in Bozeman, Montana.
Business Development
As Chief Operating Officer at Great Harvest Bread, McMakin “was largely responsible for ushering in a period of significant growth for the company in the 1990s.”[5] He promoted a philosophy that eschewed standardized procedures in favor of a structure that “promotes localized innovation and encourages fast learning.” The company garnered national recognition for its focus on granting franchisees autonomy to run their businesses, but also requiring participation in a shared learning community where ideas, innovations and best practices could be exchanged across the company.[6] The result was exponential growth, and as reported by the Christian Science Monitor in 2001, the company grew to “138 franchises in 35 states” and was considered “the nation's leading fresh-bread store chain.” The notoriety even led to a nation-wide marketing campaign by Microsoft touting the success of the company tied to its use of technology.[5][7]
McMakin has advised federal and state policymakers on economic initiatives and workplace culture. After advocating for paternity leave in Newsweek, U.S. House Representative Patricia Schroeder of Colorado read McMakin’s position into the Congressional Record.[8][4]
In 2004, McMakin spoke about venture equity at the Montana State Capitol as part of the Economic Development Interim Committee of 2003-04, during Montana’s 58th legislative session. He argued for the importance of Montana-based investors to growing innovative companies in Montana. His ideas are included in the committee’s final report as presented by Representative Joe McKenney and Senator Glenn Roush.[9][3]
In 2010, McMakin was a keynote speaker at Senator Jon Tester’s Kalispell workshop for small business featuring internet giant Google. McMakin argued that Montana is a state with a lot of competitive advantages, and is an ideal place for investment.[1] Speaking to an audience of local business owners, McMakin shared resources for those “seeking to grow or launch a business” and “learn more about specific programs and network with each other.”[2]
McMakin has lectured about ways entrepreneurs can access capital, and as Bloomberg reported, he “circulated a list of ten questions every entrepreneur should ask a potential VC investor.”[10] He also urged businesses to be creative to attract equity funding to a state that is not typically considered for investment.[11]
Business Philosophies
McMakin’s success as a business development advisor stems largely from his strong positions on the importance of human capital, including creating learning communities and work-life balance as pillars of business culture. In 2001, the Christian Science Monitor reported on McMakin’s philosophy: "'We've lost in our culture this sense that business and work in general should be in service to our lives," explained McMakin. "You can't balance 70-hour workweeks with a good home life.'"[5]
In the same year, Inc. Magazine reported on a Great Harvest training session, led by McMakin, describing the company as a blueprint for a new way to think about franchising, including the principles of freedom franchises and learning communities: “And therein is Great Harvest’s fundamental philosophical principle: The conviction that command-and-control is wrong, that the company’s real product is its offer of freedom to run a bakery as the owner sees fit – but with ‘handrails,’ as McMakin calls the help that’s available if wanted. Further, in Great Harvest’s view it’s only by putting freedom first – including the freedom to fail – that an organization can fully tap the magic of human creativity.”[6] Such philosophies have led to the attraction of top talent.[12]
Education and Foreign Service
From 1980-1984, McMakin attended Oberlin College in Ohio where he studied Government. In his final year at Oberlin, McMakin served as President of the Student Cooperative Association (OSCA). The Oberlin Alumni Magazine published a profile on McMakin in 2001.[13]
After graduating in 1984 with a bachelor's degree, McMakin served in the Peace Corps, spending his first year in the Baltic region and the next two in Cameroon as a small enterprise development volunteer working with women's groups; then as Country Lead for a year in Estonia. Upon returning home, McMakin worked in Boston as an airline cargo loader, a teacher in Vermont, and a legislative aide in Virginia. McMakin completed a non-degree business program at Stanford Graduate School of Business and is a Goldman Sachs Scholar.[13][14][15][16]
McMakin's dedication to economic development and opportunity in Africa is a continued theme throughout his career and writings. McMakin, with a group of friends and family, raised money to build a new school in the village of Baichii, Cameroon. He traveled back to the African nation in 2011 to celebrate the dedication of the school.[17] In 2020,IndustryWeek included McMakin's ideas on growing economic opportunities in Africa in the "The Economy: Emerging Markets" vertical.[18]
Career
In June 1993, McMakin joined Great Harvest Bread Company in Montana, starting as a newsletter editor and becoming Chief Operating Officer in 1997.[13] By the end of 1998, Fast Company praised the organization for its rapid growth and localized innovative approach to franchising, characterizing the strategy as “produc[ing] a big competitive advantage for the whole company.”[6] McMakin was with the company through 2001.[19]
McMakin served as Operating Affiliate for private equity brands McCown DeLeeuw/TSG Consumer in San Francisco from 2001 to 2003. In 2003, McMakin co-founded Orchard Holdings Group, a private equity firm based in Cincinnati, Ohio where he served as managing director through 2010. McMakin joined the Montana-based consulting company Profitable Ideas Exchange in 2010 where he currently serves as CEO.[20]
Published Works
Books
Bread and Butter: What a Bunch of Bakers Taught Me About Business and Happiness (2001, St. Martin’s Press)
Bread and Butter is a book about personal and business success. It’s a narrative tale of the franchising success story of Great Harvest Bread Company; and it’s a description of an innovative business model known as a "freedom franchise", documenting the company’s growth from a single bakery to a multimillion dollar enterprise with, at the time of publication, 140 stores across 40 states. It is both an accounting of McMakin’s discovery of a job but also a transformative lifestyle within the Great Harvest organization and how his immersion story serves as a blueprint for contemporary entrepreneurship, offering inspiration for young professionals. The book covers various strategies such as fostering a learning community, relying on profits instead of debt, and implementing per-week hour caps to promote work-life balance.[19][21]
How Clients Buy: A Practical Guide to Business Development for Consulting and Professional Services (2018, Wiley)
How Clients Buy, is a book co-authored by Tom McMakin and Doug Fletcher, and delves into the dynamics of the client-advisor relationship in the professional services industry, offering insights into the psychology of clients and how they make decisions. Explored within are the key factors that influence clients' buying behaviors, emphasizing the importance of trust, credibility, and the establishment of a strong client-advisor rapport. The book provides practical strategies and techniques for professionals to build meaningful relationships with clients and ultimately win their business by navigating the intricate process of attracting and retaining clients in a competitive market.[22][23]
Never Say Sell: How the World's Best Consulting and Professional Services Firms Expand Client Relationships (2020, Wiley)
Never Say Sell is a book that examines strategies employed by top-tier firms like BCG, KPMG, EY, Accenture, and IBM to create recurring revenue streams. Co-authored by Tom McMakin and Jacob Parks, it serves as a roadmap for professionals in fields such as consulting, accounting, and law, for both independent practitioners and those that are a part of teams responsible for growing key client accounts. The book emphasizes that delivering quality work alone is insufficient for retaining clients and outlines proven techniques and approaches that leading service providers use to deliver added value, cross-sell services, and cultivate ongoing revenue from existing client engagements. Never Say Sell is a resource for learning how to transform one-time clients into long-lasting and lucrative relationships as a way to generate repeat business in the professional services sector.[24]
Articles
News and Business Articles
- Newsweek (1994) - "The Politics Of Paternity Leave"[8][4]
- Legal Management (2018) - "How to Be a Rainmaker"[25]
- Chief Executive (2019) - "The Critical Difference Between Credibility and Trust"[26]
- IndustryWeek (2020) - "Calling Africa: Why the Forgotten Continent Can Be the Next Global Factory"[18][27]
- Entrepreneur (2020) - "Memo to Expert Service Providers: Carve Yourself a Unique Niche"[28]
- Attorney At Work (2020) - "To Build Business, Forget the Funnel and Think of a Garden"[29]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Tester's Kalispell workshop brings together Internet giant, small businesses". Senator Jon Tester. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Flathead Beacon Staff (11 July 2010). "At Tester's Business Workshop, Advice on Investing and Technology". The Flathead Beacon. Retrieved 17 November 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 Murdo, Pat (1 November 2004). "Economic Development and the Search for Equity Capital: A Final Report of the Economic Affairs Interim Committee for the 2003-04 Interim" (PDF). Montana Legislature. Retrieved 17 November 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Congressional Record, Volume 141 Issue 147 (Wednesday, September 20, 1995)". www.govinfo.gov. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Lights out for long hours?". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Hopkins, Michael S. (1 December 2020). "Zen and the Art of the Self-Managing CompanyThe owners of Great Harvest Bread Co. are building a "learning organization" -- a company that fosters innovation and almost runs itself". Inc. Magazine. Retrieved 17 November 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name ":6" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Winters Lauro, Patricia (24 October 1999). "PERSONAL BUSINESS: DIARY; That Smell of Success". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 November 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 8.0 8.1 Newsweek Staff (24 September 1995). "The Politics Of Paternity Leave". Newsweek. Retrieved 17 November 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Economic Affairs Interim Committee (11 March 2004). "58th Montana Legislature: Economic Affairs Committee Draft Agenda" (PDF). Montana Legislature. Retrieved 17 November 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Entrepreneurs, Pay Heed". Bloomberg.com. 2005-01-27. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ↑ Struckman, Robert (2 February 2005). "Former head of Great Harvest: Take advantage of where you live". The Missoulian. Retrieved 17 November 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Syvertson, Donna (25 July 2001). "Rising to the top in Montana". The Missoulian. Retrieved 17 November 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Hirschman, Carolyn (1 October 2001). "Business Unusual". Oberlin Alumni Magazine. Retrieved 17 November 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Peace Corps Times Staff (1 October 1990). "PEACE CORPS TIMES: A Quarterly Publication for Peace Corps Volunteers - Serving Worldwide" (PDF). Peace Corps Times. Retrieved 17 November 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Tasah, Chia (31 July 2015). The Life of an African Peace Corps Child: The Life and Experiences of a Peace Corps Child of Kom, Cameroon (1st ed.). iUniverse. pp. Ch. 6. ISBN 978-1-4917-7157-0. Search this book on
- ↑ "Goldman Sachs | Student Programs - Scholarship for Excellence". Goldman Sachs. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ↑ Schontzler, Gail (26 October 2011). "Dream Big! Bozeman kids help build a village school in Africa". The Bozeman Daily Chronicle. Retrieved 17 November 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 18.0 18.1 IndustryWeek Staff (2020). "The Economy: Emerging Markets". IndustryWeek. Retrieved 17 November 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 19.0 19.1 McMakin, Tom (2001). Bread and Butter: What a Bunch of Bakers Taught Me About Business and Happiness (1st ed.). St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9781429938112. Search this book on
- ↑ Valle, Elena del (2019-09-30). "Podcast with Tom McMakin, co-author, How Clients Buy, about how clients buy professional services". Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations website and podcast. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ↑ Publishers Weekly Staff (2001). "BREAD AND BUTTER: What a Bunch of Bakers Taught Me About Business and Happiness by Tom McMakin". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 17 November 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ McMakin, Tom; Fletcher, Doug (2018). How clients buy: a practical guide to business development for consulting and professional services. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley. ISBN 978-1-119-43470-2. Search this book on
- ↑ Williams, Martin J. (2019-10-01). "Book review: How Clients Buy". The B2B Marketer. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ↑ McMakin, Tom; Parks, Jacob (2020). Never Say Sell: How the World's Best Consulting and Professional Services Firms Expand Client Relationships (1st ed.). Wiley. ISBN 978-1119683780. Search this book on
- ↑ "How to Be a Rainmaker". Legal Management. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ↑ McMakin, Tom (18 December 2019). "The Critical Difference Between Credibility and Trust". Chief Executive Magazine. Retrieved 17 November 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Calling Africa: Why the Forgotten Continent Can Be the Next Global Factory". IndustryWeek. 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ↑ McMakin, Tom (9 March 2020). "Memo to Expert Service Providers: Carve Yourself a Unique Niche". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 17 November 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ McMakin, Tom (5 March 2020). "To Build Business, Forget the Funnel and Think of a Garden". Attorney at Work. Retrieved 17 November 2023. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
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