The Clean and Green Club

Another Recommended Book: ONO: Options Not Obligations: Enrich Your Personal Life by Rethinking Your Financial Life by Marc Warnke (Morgan James, 2009)

In his first book, Warnke lays out a compelling case for succeeding, staying within your means, and being a “family first entrepreneur” who understands that quality time with kids and high ethical standards are more important than the million-dollar deal. However, he’s had a few of those deals as well.

Warnke encourages business people to think strategically, using what he calls the “Scrabble model.” Just as an experienced Scrabble player knows how to place tiles for maximum points, so the savvy business person looks at any possibility in terms of how well it fits in with the entrepreneur’s strategy: how much time it needs, how big the potential reward might be, how much energy it will take, and at what level of risk.

On ethics, he encourages readers to make sure that “all of your actions fall within the parameters of the highest moral and ethical standards. When profitability gets in the way of ethics, it is only a matter of time before a business blows up and goes under. If you keep your moral and ethical standards high, you’ll attract a long list of people waiting to do business with you because they know they can count on your integrity. That simple fact is worth a fortune.”

Warnke had to come to this realization the hard way, though. He’s not ashamed to admit that in his early years, he tried to put himself first at the expense of others, and also struggled with alcoholism. But when he changed his ways, he changed them permanently, and bettered himself in the process. These days, he understands that a give/give relationship works best, and that we should all “be the customer you want to have.”