by Paul Simister
on June 21, 2020
The full title of this book by Brain Tracy is
Crunch Point: The Secret to Succeeding When It Matters Most
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a 5 Stars rating. This means it is Excellent.
Here is my book review.
An excellent book to help business owners and managers through difficult times
I’m a fan of the author. He’s a great synthesiser of ideas and advice across a wide range of subjects. He and his team clearly research very carefully before they put together his books and audio recordings. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on April 23, 2020
The full title of this book by Steven Reiss is
Who am I?: 16 Basic Desires that Motivate Our Actions Define Our Personalities
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a 5 Stars rating. This means it is Excellent.
Here is my book review.
Fascinating with very wide implications
This is a fascinating book for understanding yourself and others.
The 16 desires are present to varying degrees in all of us. It is the strength and direction of the desire along with the combinations that make us who we are. This then underpins or weakens our relationships as our desires complement or clash with others. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on July 9, 2018
The full title of this book by Sandy Steinman is
The Small Business Turnaround Guide: Take Your Business from Troubled to Triumphant
In my review of posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it Five Stars. This means it is Very Highly Recommended.
Here is my review.
A very good book for helping under performing businesses
I feel this book gets off to a bad start by trying to be funny about a bad situation. It doesn’t create the right impression. It immediately corrects itself by saying there is nothing funny about a failing business.
Many turnaround books are written about big businesses but this one is aimed at owner managed businesses. It starts by giving you a pep talk. It’s going to be tough to turnaround your business but you can do it. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on May 9, 2018
The full title of this book by Howard Mann is
Your Business Brickyard: Getting back to the basics to make your business more fun to run
In my review on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Five Stars. This means it is Excellent and is Very Highly Recommended.
Here is my book review.
Put the fancy stuff to one side and get back to basics
I read a lot of business books but rarely do I find one that connects so strongly with the frustrated, stressed-out business owners from the very start.
It’s not the best of book titles but it’s a metaphor that refers to a catching exercise for wide receivers in American football. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on April 26, 2018
The full title of this book by Tom Shapiro is
“Rethink Your Marketing: 7 Strategies to Unleash Revenue Growth”.
In my review at Amazon.co.uk, I gave it a FIVE star rating, meaning that I rate it as excellent.
Here is what I posted.
An excellent and thoughtful book to get your business back on track
The book encourages you to rethink seven different areas:
1-your audience
2-how they think
3-your goals
4-your marketing mix
5-your metrics
6-your revenue model
7-your future
The aim is to get your business growing again. Too often, companies get stuck and the owner-managers don’t know what to do other than more of the same, copying competitors or jumping on the latest fad. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on January 30, 2017
The full title of this book by Andrew Miller is
“Hope Won’t Pay the Wages: How to deal with the personal impact of a struggling business“.
In my review at Amazon.co.uk, I gave it the full FIVE Stars, meaning I consider the book to be excellent.
Here it is.
A great help for struggling business owners
There are plenty of books about how a business in trouble can be turned around but this is the first book I’ve seen that focuses on the business owner. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on November 24, 2016
We have more things to do than time to do them in and this is why these summaries of well known books can be so useful. They capture the big ideas without the padding.
Summary: The E-Myth Revisited: Review and Analysis of Gerber’s Book
I have a love and hate relationship with the full book, The E-Myth Revisited.
Will the summary have the best bits without the worst? Yes, it’s excellent and I gave the summary a full FIVE stars rating in my review on Amazon.co.uk.
Here is my book summary review.
An excellent summary that gives you the important ideas of Michael Gerber without the irritating bits
I believe The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It is one of the most important small business books ever written. I recently wrote a blog article about the 12 best business books for business owners and it was the first I mentioned. Not because it provides all the answers but it does a great job of highlighting the problems and their causes. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on November 8, 2016
The full title of this book by Matías Birrell and Javier Arévalo is
“Forget the Urgent!: Rather focus on the important: A business dialogue based on the best seller ‘The Goal’ by Eliyahu M Goldratt“.
In my review at Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a rating of FIVE Stars. That means I think it is excellent.
Who Should Read This Book?
- Anyone interested in the Theory of Constraints.
- Small business owners who want to improve.
The Big Idea
Every business faces constraints unless it is able to generate an infinite amount of money. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on May 11, 2013
The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt and Jeff Cox
Book Review Rating – 5 Stars
“The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement” is a fantastic book about performance improvement in a manufacturing business wrapped up in a novel that is hard to put down.
First published in 1984 this book introduced the world to the Theory of Constraints.
The big idea is that many of the ideas for improving a business are misguided at best and expensive mistakes at worst.
That’s because an improvement in an area outside of the constraint that is holding back performance is more an illusion than substance. Real improvements come from removing the constraint.
The Story Of The Goal
I think this was the first popular management book to be written as a story but it is an extremely effective teaching method for putting across the big ideas. The weakness is that it’s hard to pick up the details to put the ideas into action. Eli Goldratt wrote The Race as the follow-up hands-on guide. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on March 3, 2013
The E Myth Revisited by Michael E Gerber
Book Review – 5 Stars
I believe this book, “The E Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work And What To Do About It” is a must read for every business owner and entrepreneur.
I don’t think you’ll enjoy it but there are some key lessons.
What Is All The Fuss About With The E Myth Revisited?
Several people recommended this book by Michael Gerber to me and when I first read it I didn’t get it.
The style of writing didn’t suit me.
I couldn’t empathise with the story of Sarah and her business All About Pies.
I didn’t want to help turn a client’s business into the McDonald’s of their industry. And I don’t think they want that either.
The writing is soppy and sentimental when I prefer hard nosed, content rich, practical business books.
The E Myth Revisited didn’t tell me “how” to change a business for the better. [continue reading…]
