Why Entrepreneurs Should Practice “Shoshin”
In 1973, Vernon Hill had an idea: Why not start a bank that’s as convenient as a retail store?
The thing is, Hill wasn’t a banker. Though he’d worked part-time at one while studying at Wharton, his experience was mostly in real estate; specifically, scouting locations at which to develop new McDonald’s stores. Schlepping from one burger purveyor to the next, the uniformity of the chain’s locations fascinated him: “You don’t have to think about what time a Home Depot, a McDonald’s or a Starbucks is open,” Hill said later. “They’re open. You just go.”
It was based on this notion — exemplary customer service in a standardized environment — that Hill launched Commerce Bank. But it didn’t happen without some blowback. Other bankers didn’t hesitate to inform Hill that they thought he was crazy. Of the 15 prospective investors he invited to an initial meeting, all but seven walked out after he laid out his plan. Hill’s idea was so radical, such a dramatic departure from commonly-held banking wisdom, that industry experts assumed it would fail.
They couldn’t have been more wrong. Investing $10,000 with Hill back in 1973 would be worth $2 million today. “Did we think this would happen?” Morton Kerr, one of the original Commerce board members, asked Philadelphia Magazine in 2006. “Are you kidding me?”
