The Facts of Business Life: What Every Successful Business Owner Knows that You Don't

About the Author

A graduate of Mount Royal College in Calgary, Alberta, and the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, William (Bill) McBean began his career with General Motors of Canada Limited (GM) in 1976. After holding several management positions with GM, in 1981 he accepted a position with the Bank of Nova Scotia (ScotiaBank) as manager of a sizeable commercial lending portfolio. Two years later, however, GM approached him about opening a new automobile dealership in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, and, along with ScotiaBank, offered to lend him the required capital. Accepting the offer, he started the business the following year, and it became profitable from the outset.

Although the Yorkton business became one of the most profitable GM dealerships in the region, in 1992 McBean was presented with an even greater opportunity in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he and his friend Bill Sterett purchased an underperforming automobile dealership. Applying his business expertise, McBean not only turned the company around, but bought out several additional poorly-performing import and domestic automobile franchises. Under his leadership, the company grew from $32 million to $160 million in sales and from 75 to 300 employees over a period of 11 years. During that period, the car manufacturers he represented continually awarded him and his companies honors for business excellence. Because of its success, the automotive group attracted the interest of several major public companies, and in 2003 ...