Customer Reviews

Effective Operations and Controls for the Small Privately Held Business

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I thought this was a wonderful small business book. It is well organized, clearly written, and packed full of content. I loved the "Checklist for Starting, Developing, Maintaining, & Improving Your Small Business" included at pages xiv and xv that was comprised of the following 7 parts:

1. The Grand Idea

2. Type of Organizaton

3. Financing

4. Planning

5. Facilities & Equipment

6. Operating Systems

7. Organizational Concerns

These seven topics are what an entrepreneur must consider when investigating and researching a business idea that possibly will be converted into a business plan at some point. And I highly recommend anyone writing a business plan get a copy of this book to help remind them of important things to cover in that plan - either directly or indirectly. However, this book does not specifically talk about business plans. It is a business operations book.

This book was written by a CPA, MBA, PhD who is President of his own management consulting firm: Reider Associates. It is probably fair to assume this book is a marketing piece for the author's firm. The book is without question written for entrepreneurs who may lack training in accounting and management. I say this because during college as an accounting major I covered everything in this book. And this book will help its readers navigate through all the financial data and reports required to operate a small business.

My favorite part of the book was where it explained how one can implement effective operating systems and procedures so a company can run like a well-oiled machine and be free of fraud, theft, and other irregularities. There are many checklists, bullet lists, diagrams, and exhibits throughout the book. There is just so much covered in this book that will help an entrepreneur better run her existing company, and better plan her next ventures. I cannot praise it enough. 5 stars!

PS. Examine the Search Inside feature available for this book. The Table of Contents is included there and will inform you with specificity what the book covers.

Reider offers plentiful advice for someone contemplating starting up her own business, or who perhaps is already running such an operation. Such tips include not believing that "all customers are created equal". The reality is that some customers are more profitable than others, and thus should be given more attention. These customers are the bread and butter of a successful business, and you need to identify them amongst your existing customer base.

Related to this is another good suggestion. You should not keep some customers. These are the ones that yield low profit and are often usually also high maintenance.

The book also has chapters on doing elementary but vital financial analysis of your business. Giving various metrics that can indicate your performance.

The text is also bereft of much technical jargon. Quite readable.