After spending years climbing the corporate ladder at national credit card issuer MBNA Corp., Craig Lewis decided he wasn't going to be content unless he could run his own company.
"I got nearly to the top, but I still wasn't the boss," said the former senior vice president of marketing at the 25,000-employee operation.
Searching for a more entrepreneurial job and better control of his life -- for years the bank transferred him every 15 months -- Lewis set out to buy his own small business. He settled on a failing Los Angeles fence maker called Artisan Precast Inc. The company's concrete fences that resembled stone, wood and other materials were unusual, he reasoned, and could be sold profitably if he applied his management and marketing skills.
In late 2006, he bought the assets of the insolvent company and set out to turn it around while learning some hard lessons about what it takes to be in charge -- starting with what he called his own "unconscious incompetence."
That means, in business school parlance, being so new to a job that you are unaware of how much you don't know and in danger of making bonehead errors big and small.
"You have to quickly figure out what you don't know and get on top of it," Lewis said, and gradually work your way up to "conscious competence."
One of the things the Wharton School alumnus wasn't clear on going in was how much less genteel his new industry was than banking.
"Construction can be rough," Lewis said. "People will take advantage of you, especially when you are smaller."
For instance, if you mistakenly set your bid for a potential fence-building job too low, some general contractors will warn you that you're bound to take a loss by working for them -- and some won't warn you.
"It's caveat emptor," Lewis said. "I probably overestimated the skill sets we had on our team. We all had a lot of learning to do."
Fortunately, Lewis wasn't a complete neophyte in the real estate business and had already taken on risks. After leaving MBNA he bought and upgraded some distressed apartment buildings before selling them at a profit. In one case, he and his property manager had to work closely with police and tenants to rid his Sun Valley complex of drug dealers and other troublemakers.
The outcome was excellent, he said, because his tenants got a safer place to live and the value of his property rose. "The police need all the help they can get from building owners and civilians," Lewis said.
