Oriental Trading Company is a successful business that has been around for over 50 years.
The company focuses on quality products, low prices, and a large selection.
These factors have helped Oriental Trading Company to build a strong competitive advantage.
In Part 1, I went through Borsheims, Buffett’s jewelry retailer in Omaha. It has historically had a very strong business model, although this may be changing. And his jewelry business has a lot of interesting parallels to his biggest retail business, Nebraska Furniture Mart. Company 2: Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM) I was in Omaha with […]
Back in 2017 and 2018, I took a bunch of Peking University students to Omaha to have lunch with Warren Buffett. And we also did visits (arranged by Berkshire) to several of his private businesses around Omaha. And as every business he buys has a competitive advantage, it was a good chance to try and […]
In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses lessons from Warren Buffett on compounding and competitive advantage. He shares insights on how to build businesses that can grow over time, and how to identify companies with sustainable competitive advantages.
In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses the concept of “criticality” as a type of switching cost. He specifically talks about Wabco, one of Warren Buffett’s companies that has fairly powerful B2B criticality. Wabco is a supplier of braking systems for trucks and buses, and its products are critical to the operation of these vehicles. As a result, customers are reluctant to switch to other suppliers, even if Wabco’s prices are higher. This gives Wabco a strong competitive advantage.
In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses the concept of “criticality” as a type of switching cost. He specifically talks about Wabco, one of Warren Buffett’s companies that has fairly powerful B2B criticality. Wabco is a supplier of braking systems for trucks and buses, and its products are critical to the operation of these vehicles. As a result, customers are reluctant to switch to other suppliers, even if Wabco’s prices are higher. This gives Wabco a strong competitive advantage.
In February 2017, I chaperoned 20 business students from Peking University to meet Warren Buffett in Omaha. It turned out to be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, an investment pilgrimage of sorts. In 4 articles, I document what happened and what we learned. I have included a lot of detail, especially on the Berkshire companies we […]