Word: heitz
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...business in the 1960s, and in some ways it would be harder to start now-but it also would be easier." He got a stake by "borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, and then borrowing from somebody else to pay Peter." A friend put up $5,000. Today, says Heitz, $5,000 is nothing. "On the other hand, it is easier today to get much more money. Now people become instant successes...
...There is a lot of talk that the small businessman cannot make a mark in these days of high prices, costly credit and crushing competition. Maybe the skeptics and fainthearted should motor to California's green-carpeted Napa Valley and speak with Joe Heitz, entrepreneur...
...Heitz started with almost nothing, and he certainly is no Henry Ford II, but he can say, with Ford's proud independence, "My name is on the building." Right in his backyard, in two gray stone structures that are 100 paces from his white frame house, Heitz, Wife Alice, Son David and four hired hands make a product that is sold in half the nation's states. He is chief executive of Heitz Wine Cellars, which means that he is also vintner, bacteriologist, accountant, marketing manager and occasional lawn mower...
Many professional critics call steely-haired, iron-willed Joe Heitz, 58, one of America's two or three best wine makers. His 1970 Cabernet Sauvignon knocked off the fabled Château Latour, Château Lafite Rothschild and other French pedigrees in some blind tastings. When French experts sent him a praising letter, he wrote back: "Why don't you lower your import barriers?" The visitor gets the idea that Heitz would have done well even if he were making caps or car wax instead of wine...
...enterprise, Heitz believes, the small businessman can excel against the big, rich competitor if he is willing to do several things...