I have been around businesses most of my life. Both my parents ran them, and as an accountant and business coach, I have helped many grow and be successful. I have also seen many businesses fail, including my father’s, and so I have been passionate about what it takes to build a successful business for many years. I am constantly on the lookout for great authors who have been through a journey and learn from their successes and failures. It was hard to select only 5 books in this review as I have read so many, but I hope that you find these as useful as I have.
I wrote
The BIG Dipper: How to Survive the Rollercoaster Ride of Business Ownership
This was one of the first books I was recommended to read when I started business coaching, and I was so glad that I did. Jim Collin's research is second to none and resonated so much with my own experience of building successful businesses.
His conclusions are simple to understand and apply to any business, and this is why I use them whenever possible with the businesses I own and coach. From his Hedgehog principle to the focus on vision, values, and purpose, getting the right team on the bus, and making sure you can be passionate, profitable, and the best at the business you are in, he really has set the way to take a business from Good to Great.
________________________________ Can a good company become a great one? If so, how?
After a five-year research project, Jim Collins concludes that good to great can and does happen. In this book, he uncovers the underlying variables that enable any type of organisation to make the leap from good to great while other organisations remain only good. Rigorously supported by evidence, his findings are surprising - at times even shocking - to the modern mind.
Good to Great achieves a rare distinction: a management book full of vital ideas that reads as well as a fast-paced novel. It is widely regarded…
In this book, Gerber discusses three types of business owners: the Entrepreneur, the Manager, and the Technician.
I have seen all three of these types in real life, and I agree with Gerber that 80% of businesses are run by technicians. I also agree that this type can struggle the most to build a profitable business that works without them. But unlike many other books, Gerber also gives ideas on what to do about it, which I loved. From putting in systems and processes to building a great team, the book got better and more engaging the more you read.
E-Myth \ 'e-,'mith\ n 1: the entrepreneurial myth: the myth that most people who start small businesses are entrepreneurs 2: the fatal assumption that an individual who understands the technical work of a business can successfully run a business that does that technical work Voted #1 business book by Inc. 500 CEOs. An instant classic, this revised and updated edition of the phenomenal bestseller dispels the myths about starting your own business. Small business consultant and author Michael E. Gerber, with sharp insight gained from years of experience, points out how common assumptions, expectations, and even technical expertise can get…
I am always on the lookout to learn from experts in their field, and Marcus Sheridan is clearly one of these. Having built his swimming pool business to a Multimillion dollar revenue, it was great of him to put his marketing lessons into this book so that people like me could copy them.
His insights into building a website into an industry-leading reference site that pulls in so much more business were a revelation. He gave a clear structure on where to start, what to include, and how to make the search engines love the content that I post.
The revolutionary guide that challenged businesses around the world to stop selling to their buyers and start answering their questions to get results; revised and updated to address new technology, trends, the continuous evolution of the digital consumer, and much more
In today's digital age, the traditional sales funnel-marketing at the top, sales in the middle, customer service at the bottom-is no longer effective. To be successful, businesses must obsess over the questions, concerns, and problems their buyers have, and address them as honestly and as thoroughly as possible. Every day, buyers turn to search engines to ask billions of…
Being a business coach, I am always looking for lessons from the sporting world to help my clients and this book delivered in spades. Woodward's story of how he took a bunch of talented individuals into a World Cup-winning team was gripping from start to end, even if you are not into Rugby.
I loved his team-ship rules and how talent is only the beginning of building a successful team. It also confirmed that even talented people need to leave the team if they don’t agree to keep to the values of the team.
'There is so much more to the man than single-minded determination.' Sunday Telegraph
'His first day in the job of England coach is superbly described, and thereafter he is forever going the extra yard to make his team great.' Sunday Times __________
Winning! tells a remarkable story - an unforgettable journey that began in September 1997 and took the English Rugby Team team from the lower ranks of international first-class rugby to the top as World Cup Champions.
Sir Clive Woodward and his team mounted a campaign of vast change, great learning, team building and clear vision to achieve their…
There are many books written on Leadership but very few on management. This is a small but powerful book that I have read many times.
While the concept of giving your team 1 minute of your time on a regular basis is simple, it is never easy, so having a template that I could follow was of great help. His concept of the 1-minute praise and 1-minute reprimand has helped many of my clients and me over the years to deal with difficult situations, and I even give it to team members so that they know what I am trying to achieve.
A revised edition of the timeless business classic—updated to help today’s readers succeed more quickly in a rapidly changing world.
For decades, The One Minute Manager® has helped millions achieve more successful professional and personal lives. While the principles it lays out are timeless, our world has changed drastically since the book’s publication. The exponential rise of technology, global flattening of markets, instant communication, and pressures on corporate workforces to do more with less—including resources, funding, and staff—have all revolutionized the world in which we live and work.
Now, Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson have updated The One Minute Manger…
My book tells the story of a character named Ken, who is just a normal guy who has a crazy idea to give up a good job and start his own business. He is not a born entrepreneur–if they truly exist–just a guy with a dream to achieve something for himself and his family.
This book is written for all business owners who feel they are going through the ups and downs of the rollercoaster of business ownership. You'll learn from the key lessons that Ken faces, with action points that you can apply in your business, to make the rollercoaster ride an enjoyable, rather than a scary experience.
After Dr. Shawn Jennings, a busy family physician, suffered a brainstem stroke on May 13, 1999, he woke from a coma locked inside his body, aware and alert but unable to communicate or move. Once he regained limited movement in his left arm, he began typing his story, using one hand and a lot of patience.
With unexpected humour and tender honesty, Shawn shares his experiences in his struggle for recovery and acceptance of his life after the stroke. He affirms that even without achieving a full recovery life is still worth…
Locked In Locked Out: Surviving a Brainstem Stroke
After Dr. Shawn Jennings, a busy family physician, suffered a brainstem stroke on May 13, 1999, he woke from a coma locked inside his body, aware and alert but unable to communicate or move. Once he regained limited movement in his left arm, he began typing his story, using one hand and a lot of patience.
With unexpected humour and tender honesty, Shawn shares his experiences in his struggle for recovery and acceptance of his life after the stroke. He affirms that even without achieving a full recovery life is still worth…
