Other Business Books

The full title of this book by Larry Kesslin, Chris Winter and Susan Caba is

Breakpoints: Where Businesses Get Stuck. and How They Get Unstuck!

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it Three Stars.

Here is my review.

An interesting book about the growing pains as companies get bigger

While this book has the subtitle “where businesses get stuck. .. and how they get unstuck”, it’s really about the growing pains from startup through to building a business of 100+ people. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by Charlie Gilkey is

The Small Business Life Cycle: The No-Fluff Guide to Navigating the Five Stages of Small Business Growth

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Three Stars. This means Worthwhile.

The business life cycle from the entrepreneurial idea through to mature businesses is taught in theoretical studies of entrepreneurship and business. It also has real world implications because the challenges facing the entrepreneur change as the business grows and becomes more established.

This short book gives an overview of the stages which is useful for aspiring entrepreneurs. The challenging work is only starting when the business is formed and there will continue to be plenty to do. In fact, there is always more than could be done.

I think it’s less useful for business owners with businesses. They have problems that need to be solved and real life doesn’t fit neatly into a theoretical model. As the owner tends to work with a short term detailed focus, wherever the business is currently, the book doesn’t have much to say that’s relevant. This is inevitably the weakness of a book that looks along the life cycle and the shorter the book is, the less it can say that’s helpful to navigate away from any one stage.

I much prefer a book like The E-Myth Revisited which is packed with light bulb moments. Owners can relate to the frustrations, recognise themselves in why they started and then accept they need to change.

Perhaps it’s caught me on a bad day but I thought the book was quite dull and uninspiring.

Recognising that businesses differ with age and maturity is important to understand. There is an adrenalin rush at the start and then a series of frustrating problems. Some businesses stay very small and don’t experience many of the growing pains. In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on “scaling up” which can be thought of as an optional stage or perhaps a series of optional stages. There are a huge number of books telling you about the startup phase and an increasing number of books that look at the issues around scaling up.

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The full title of this book by Robert Kelsey is

What’s Stopping You?: Why Smart People Don’t Always Reach Their Potential and How You Can

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it Three Stars.

Here is my review.

Starts well but finishes limply

I’ve bought this book twice. The first time it was recommended by someone in my mastermind and the second time, I saw it on Amazon and thought it looked interesting because I was interested in constraints and why people get stuck.

I’d forgotten I’d read it the first time until the book arrived and it all looked incredibly familiar. I buy and read a lot of business books but I can’t remember ever buying one I’d forgotten I’d already read. It says a lot about the small impact of the book on me. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by Seth Godin is

Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it Three Stars.

Here is my review.

A powerful analogy but a disappointing book

I’ve developed a bit of a habit of reading Seth Godin and being disappointed. I find it with his books and his famous blog. He is an expert at marketing himself.

This is another book where I hoped I’d gain much more than was actually delivered. I’m fascinated by how businesses stand out from their competitors. I also think it’s an issue that is under developed in many companies. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by Jack Skinner is

Turnaround Strategies for Customer Centric Operations: Turn-by-Turn Directions on the Path to Recovery

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it 3 Stars.

Here is my review.

Propaganda for turnaround managers

This is a strange book for the turnaround manager cast as the hero in a propaganda broadcast.

I’ve read a lot of business books but I’ve never experienced this before. Yes some books are obviously designed to sell but not like this although the propaganda is toned down later in the book. [continue reading…]

In my review of

11 Keys To Successful Business Turnarounds

by Trevi Lim posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it Two Stars.

Here is my review.

Confusing and poorly structured

The book makes a huge claim for itself. It claims to be “the most powerful e-book on the net for rescuing your business from financial disaster. ”

Nonsense. [continue reading…]

In my review of the book

Business Turnaround in 7 Easy Steps by John Quinn

posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it 3 Stars.

Here is my review.

A short guide to help you improve your business

I’m not keen on the title of this book. Turning around a business is rarely easy and, perhaps the most difficult step (not in the book) is accepting that you need to take urgent actions to save your business. Too often business owners leave it too late which is why failure rates are so bad. [continue reading…]

In my review of the book

Fantastic Finance: Cost Volume Profit Analysis by Mohit Pandey

posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it 1 Star.

Here is my review.

Dreadful. Incomprehensible in Kindle format

One of the worst books I’ve ever seen.

Cost volume profit analysis or as it’s also known, break even analysis is such an important subject for business owners to understand. It needs a much better book than this one.

Sorry I came back and extended this review to explain why it was so bad but that part of the review has been lost. I find this sometimes happens with Amazon if I edit a review I’ve started.

From memory, it was very badly written so, if you’re tempted, make sure you try the Kindle sample first and you can see for yourself why I had such problems.

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In my review of

As A Man Thinketh

by James Allen posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it Two Stars. This is Disappointing.

Here is my review

Recognised as a self improvement classic but the language is old fashioned

This is one of the foundational works of the self improvement sector made popular over the last 20 to 30 years by men like Tony Robbins. [continue reading…]