Book Review - The 51 Fatal Business Errors and How to Avoid Them by Jim Muehlhausen
Category Book Review Jim Muehlhausen The 51 Fatal Business Errors and How to Avoid Them
Deciding what books to accept/read/review can be a rather eclectic process for me. One of my genres is business books, and author Jim Muehlhausen offered me a review copy of his book The 51 Fatal Business Errors and How to Avoid Them. Although I'm quite far behind in books to read and review, I accepted because it looked interesting and he also had the same last name of my sister-in-law. Not too many Muehlhausens running around that I've seen. Fortunately, my luck paid off, as 51 Fatal Errors is an excellent book filled with practical advice for the CEO of any small business. He cuts through the conventional wisdom hype and the "fad d'jour" to offer up solid ways to keep yourself on track (and out of the bankruptcy courts).
Contents:
Introduction - Using the Gym Membership; Enter At Your Own Risk; What's Good for G.E. Isn't Always Good for G.E.; Is It Time to Fire Your C.E.O.? (Yes, I'm Talking About You); Best and Worst Practices; Mule-Kicks; What Now?
Muehlhausen is a business coach who has worked with thousands of people and groups to help them succeed in the business world. From that experience, he's distilled 51 "fatal errors" that, if not caught and dealt with, could mean rough times for your organization. For instance, right out of the gate we get Fatal Error #1 - Hiring Your Competitor's Rejects. You may think that you'd never hire the worst people that your competitor let go. But think about it. For some reason, the previous employer didn't think this person was valuable enough to keep at any price. Yes, there are people who are let go or who leave that are exceptions to the "reject" rule. But the odds of you being able to deduce the exceptions from the rules every time are very small. Do keep your eyes open for the stellar individual you might want to hire away or that left through no fault of their own. But also pay attention to finding high-aptitude people who can be trained for a position, and that will become great. Another one that was eye-opening was Fatal Error #14 - Paying Yourself Below Market Value. Many small-business CEOs feel they can't take a salary out of the business as they need to plow all of the profits back into the business. But realistically, that means you're giving the business an artificial subsidy that will never be paid back. Paying yourself *some* level of salary avoids the temptation to view the business as more profitable that it actually is, and puts you in a more realistic mindset as to how the business is doing.
The format of each chapter (one fatal error per chapter) is concise and easy to follow. There's the explanation of the error, a real-life example, a solution, a "mule-kick" (a jolt of reality), and a place to jot down notes. There's also quite often a "bonus" which is a reference to his website for more information or actual forms/products to use. Written in a blunt, no-nonsense style, it's nearly impossible not to find at least a handful of mistakes you're currently making. Couple that with solutions that are also just about as blunt, and you have a guidebook that will serve you well as you try and become a success in the business world. And trust me, you'll get a whole lot more out of this book than you will from some hot business guru who is touting their "fad d'jour"...
Deciding what books to accept/read/review can be a rather eclectic process for me. One of my genres is business books, and author Jim Muehlhausen offered me a review copy of his book The 51 Fatal Business Errors and How to Avoid Them. Although I'm quite far behind in books to read and review, I accepted because it looked interesting and he also had the same last name of my sister-in-law. Not too many Muehlhausens running around that I've seen. Fortunately, my luck paid off, as 51 Fatal Errors is an excellent book filled with practical advice for the CEO of any small business. He cuts through the conventional wisdom hype and the "fad d'jour" to offer up solid ways to keep yourself on track (and out of the bankruptcy courts).
Contents:
Introduction - Using the Gym Membership; Enter At Your Own Risk; What's Good for G.E. Isn't Always Good for G.E.; Is It Time to Fire Your C.E.O.? (Yes, I'm Talking About You); Best and Worst Practices; Mule-Kicks; What Now?
Muehlhausen is a business coach who has worked with thousands of people and groups to help them succeed in the business world. From that experience, he's distilled 51 "fatal errors" that, if not caught and dealt with, could mean rough times for your organization. For instance, right out of the gate we get Fatal Error #1 - Hiring Your Competitor's Rejects. You may think that you'd never hire the worst people that your competitor let go. But think about it. For some reason, the previous employer didn't think this person was valuable enough to keep at any price. Yes, there are people who are let go or who leave that are exceptions to the "reject" rule. But the odds of you being able to deduce the exceptions from the rules every time are very small. Do keep your eyes open for the stellar individual you might want to hire away or that left through no fault of their own. But also pay attention to finding high-aptitude people who can be trained for a position, and that will become great. Another one that was eye-opening was Fatal Error #14 - Paying Yourself Below Market Value. Many small-business CEOs feel they can't take a salary out of the business as they need to plow all of the profits back into the business. But realistically, that means you're giving the business an artificial subsidy that will never be paid back. Paying yourself *some* level of salary avoids the temptation to view the business as more profitable that it actually is, and puts you in a more realistic mindset as to how the business is doing.
The format of each chapter (one fatal error per chapter) is concise and easy to follow. There's the explanation of the error, a real-life example, a solution, a "mule-kick" (a jolt of reality), and a place to jot down notes. There's also quite often a "bonus" which is a reference to his website for more information or actual forms/products to use. Written in a blunt, no-nonsense style, it's nearly impossible not to find at least a handful of mistakes you're currently making. Couple that with solutions that are also just about as blunt, and you have a guidebook that will serve you well as you try and become a success in the business world. And trust me, you'll get a whole lot more out of this book than you will from some hot business guru who is touting their "fad d'jour"...
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Posted by Pam Muehlhausen At 19:25:27 On 05/09/2008 | - Website - |