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.
These are the players who are fast, nippy and supposed to excel at catching. The exercise involves them throwing a building brick to each other at short range. Any lapses in concentration become painful mistakes.
This is a short book which won’t take you long to read. It’s written with style and panache.
I suspect the chapter on distinguishing between your true story and the false stories you tell yourself to rationalise events, will hit home for plenty of readers. It’s too easy to make excuses which stop you doing what you probably know needs doing.
I both applaud and take issue with the chapter that tells you to ignore your competitors. The book is right, your biggest competitor doesn’t write a cheque with your business name on it. Your focus must be on your customers but you are in a race and you need to do what’s necessary to win or be prepared to find a new race you can win.
Each “brick” has sensible advice which takes you back to basics. It sounds simple, it is simple but most of us (me included) overcomplicate our lives. After explaining each point, there is a short “how to do it” guide.
The book has a few typos or editing errors but please don’t let that stop you. The book cover image is also smaller than it should be so it looks wrong in your Kindle library.
Overall, I think this is an excellent book for getting you back to basics. As the author says, these basics are common in all businesses and represent 85% of what is happening. Get these right and you can spend more time on the 15% that makes your business unique.
You can get it from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com
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