Book Review - Common Sense Business
Posted at 10:38 AM - Tuesday, May 27, 2008 by Joseph - 0 comments
Common Sense Business by Steve Gottry is jam packed full of solid business advice. The author started a business in the '70s and had tremendous success. Then through his own mismanagement the business went under. He has since started a new business that is now thriving.The main benefit to this book over other books I have read is that the author has been through the entire business cycle. He has started, succeeded, failed, started, and succeeded again. Someone who has over 30 years of experience running their own company should be able to give a few pointers to the new guys.
Gottry breaks the book down into three sections The Small Business Life Cycle, Building on Your Assets, and Conquering Your Natural Enemies. The first section is what you would expect and is quite similar to many other small business books. The other two sections are where this book really shines.
The second section, Building on Your Assets, is all about improving what you already have. Everything from your own personal skill set to your capitol and your employees and your relationship with the community. For me personally, the improving myself section is the most important. For the foreseeable future my company will be a one man shop, so I need to invest heavily in myself. One tip is to read up on new business trends from magazines. According to Gottry, these are the minimum: Wired, Fast Company, Inc., Fortune, Forbes, BusinessWeek, and local business magazines. I hope to be able to find time to at least glance through these magazines on a regular basis to keep my business knowledge up to date.
The Conquering Your Natural Enemies sections was quite helpful as well, but a bit short. I wish Gottry had spent more time fleshing out this section of the book. One main point I took away from the section is that just being busy is not mean being productive. I must make sure that I am always doing things that are useful and not just doing things. On the other hand, Gottry points out, I need to make sure that my business does not become an addiction. Becoming a workaholic would end up destroying my life. The point of me starting this business is so I can spend more time with my family and have more control over my time. If I end up spending all of my time working, everything is for naught.
Steven Gottry does a wonderful job of blending business sense with personal narratives. The book was highly enjoyable to read and quite useful. I highly recommend it!
Book Review - Getting Things Done
Posted at 5:19 PM - Monday, May 12, 2008 by Joseph - 0 comments
Getting Things Done by David Allen is a fantastic book, but a victim of its own success. I had heard a lot of the advice in this before. It’s similar to when someone goes to the theater to see Shakespeare’s Hamlet and thinks that it’s full of clichés. The original ideas are so good that they have become part of the world around us. Still, reading the ideas in their original form is a great way to jumpstart your productivity.
One main thing that I took away from the book was to just do quick tasks as soon as I realize they need to be done. In the book Allen says any task that takes less than 2 minutes should be done immediately. I agree with this because I have found that I lose a lot of time going over what I need to do and procrastinating on the little things. When I get them out of the way, my to-do list seems much less overwhelming and I am able to focus on what really needs to get done.
When using the Getting Things Done system everything is processed and categorized only once. It is either done immediately, if it takes less than 2 minutes, put in the do as soon as possible pile, or put in the waiting pile. The waiting pile contains things that cannot be completed immediately for any reason. Then all that is needed to be done is to pick up the takes more than 2 minutes pile whenever you have time. Then everything gets done and you don't have to waste time and mental energy constantly trying to remember what needs to get done.
Overall, this book is a must read. It can probably be skimmed because you will have heard much of the information before. It's worth investing a little bit of time learning from a productivity master so you can same huge amounts of time and stress later. The goal of the book is to allow you to relax, which is all anyone really wants anyway.
One main thing that I took away from the book was to just do quick tasks as soon as I realize they need to be done. In the book Allen says any task that takes less than 2 minutes should be done immediately. I agree with this because I have found that I lose a lot of time going over what I need to do and procrastinating on the little things. When I get them out of the way, my to-do list seems much less overwhelming and I am able to focus on what really needs to get done.
When using the Getting Things Done system everything is processed and categorized only once. It is either done immediately, if it takes less than 2 minutes, put in the do as soon as possible pile, or put in the waiting pile. The waiting pile contains things that cannot be completed immediately for any reason. Then all that is needed to be done is to pick up the takes more than 2 minutes pile whenever you have time. Then everything gets done and you don't have to waste time and mental energy constantly trying to remember what needs to get done.
Overall, this book is a must read. It can probably be skimmed because you will have heard much of the information before. It's worth investing a little bit of time learning from a productivity master so you can same huge amounts of time and stress later. The goal of the book is to allow you to relax, which is all anyone really wants anyway.
Book Review - How To Make Big Money in Your Own Small Business
Posted at 3:08 PM - Tuesday, May 6, 2008 by Joseph - 0 comments
I just finished How To Make Big Money In Your Own Small Business by Jeffrey J. Fox and I have to say I'm not very impressed. I was hoping for some full fleshed out ideas and tried and true tips, but it just felt like a quick list of thoughts from an author who just wanted to put out another book. In 150 pages he spits out 49 tips and doesn't go into any detail. I also found some of his tips contradicting other authors I have read.Now I'm not saying there was nothing good in the book at all. There were a few good things I gleaned from this quick read. One thing that I can do to beat my competitors is to work harder. There is an interesting story of a grocer who goes out of business and complains to his grandfather who started the business. The grocer claims the new grocery store owners in the area were working 18 hours per day and he didn't know how to compete with that. The grandfather's response was to tell the young man to work 20 hours per day.
I think the grandfather is right. I can always work a little harder. If I read a bit less for pleasure, I can read a bit more about starting a business. I can write a bit more code, make one more blog entry, or research on more start up cost. There is always something I can do. If I can outwork the competition, I will be successful.
One tip that I found contradictory to other readings was his opinion of the home office. Fox believes that no one should work out of the home. He says the distractions are too much and no work will get done. I think that a motivated and focused person could be just as productive working out of their home. To be fair, I'm a bit biased because I am starting my business out of my home. There are also tax benefits to working out of your home. If you set aside a room of your home as an office, you can deduct that part of your mortgage payment off your taxes as a business expense. So, not only are you getting free space to start your business, you get a tax break on your normal living expenses. I think Fox discredits the home office a bit too much.
In a nutshell, if you want a quick read that may plant a few seeds of ideas, pick up this book. If you are looking for great in-depth advice to help start your business, look else ware.