was always tempting to see how dumpy it was, how small it was, or any other negative aspect that would make his stores seem better. He would never tolerate those types of thoughts. When he and whomever came back from visiting the competition, he would force them to focus on what the competition did better than their stores did. Once he went into a store in Tennessee and the place was awful. The produce smelled, and it was just a disaster. In addition, his associates were kidding each other wondering what Sam was going to say about this situation. Sam looked at the back of the store and saw a cigarette rack and said, "You know, that's the finest cigarette merchandising I've seen in a year." Sam's view of his visits to the competition was that you have to see what they do better than you and learn from them. You must never have the arrogance to take your competition for granted, because that can come back and hurt you. Diversification Sam Walton felt that a business should always diversify, spread their risk. While Walton may have had his fortune tied up in one business, he still sold everything and anything he could get a good price on. Sam Walton felt that if you want anything bad enough, you could find a way to do it. Sam Walton said,"There's a steep price you pay for success, and successful people in business know that." Sam's philosophy on leverage was that you couldn't spend more than you're taking in, that leverage will always come around and bite you. Conversely, Walton also felt that tough times magnify opportunity for those who avoid debt. He always said that there will come a time when big opportunities will be presented to you, and you have to be in a position to take advantage of them. Sam Walton told a story about how back in the late 1970s, when Wal-Mart had about 250 stores, when he received a call from the chairman of Kmart offering to buy Wal-Mart. Walton replied, "Gee, that's funny. I thought we'd buy you." The Kmart p...
