Hmmm
Well, I am an entrepreneur. I got my start delivering newspapers, where I got my first lesson in bad debt. On the other hand, I also learned the wonders of delegation, since I was able to convince my father that he should deliver my papers while I was on holiday.
I tried a venture in lawn mowing, but one of my first contracts was a field that doubled as a parking lot for one of the local manufacturers. After walking the mower the two miles to the field, I discovered that the stones, pop bottles (glass in those days) and other debris had an unpleasant habit of spitting out the back end and cutting my legs.
Over the years I have owned businesses in consumer residential services, and professional practices. I have managed businesses in manufacturing, retailing, the hospitality sector and distributing. I spent years as controller of a junior gold miner, been special business projects manager for a venture capital group with interests in consumer electronics and offshore import and distribution, and been involved in heavy construction products warehousing. I have played a role in more than sixty-five operating companies.
Functionally, I have tackled pretty much every area, from marketing and new product line development through sales force management, plant operation and facility relocation, purchasing, accounting and finance.
I have started businesses up, and turned them around. I have divested operations, merged and amalgamated businesses, and when needed, filed petitions for businesses.
I hold a Masters of Business Administration (specialising in Management of Innovation and New Technology - MINT) that I earned in 2001, after I learned my trade through more than 25 years of hands on experience in the school of hard knocks. I also write code for software, a masochistic practice I have tried to avoid without success, since I started in 1975.
My name is Mike Mazer, and I hope that this blog provides some value for the time you spend reading my postings.
