17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conversation, Down-to-Earth, & Practical. A Great Read!, April 16, 2006
This review is from: Fire Someone Today: And Other Surprising Tactics for Making Your Business a Success (Paperback)
Bob Pritchett, CEO of Logos Research Systems, writing in a conversational tone, has given an excellent book filled with advice for entrepreneurs, for small business owners and managers. His chapters, however, are filled with such down-to-earth practical advice, that I suspect anybody could benefit. Prtichett claims that his only qualification to writing this book is that he's an entrepreneur (like his target audience); he's not CEO of any fortune 500 companies (but then again neither are you or I); he isn't the one-in-a-million super success stories (neither are you or I); he doesn't claim to have THE secret to success (THE secret doesn't exist so don't buy the books that claim to have it). What he has is life experience as a modestly successful entrepreneur who has lots of mistakes behind him.
I found that the pages flew by. I never found myself awed by his intelligence or genius but I often found myself amazed by the simplicity of his advice that I may not have thought of had they not been put on paper in front of me. He makes you take a step back from the busy-ness and status quo of the small-business-owner's day and gives you advice that you need to hear but probably won't if you ask those closest to you. So basically, I found this to be a helpful, refreshing, and easy read.
Finally, and this is what makes this book truly a success in my mind, since the advice is so specialized so as to apply only to upper management in major corporations, the concepts that he discusses apply to anybody who will ever be in a position of leadership. Most, but not all, of the application in the book is within a small-business context, but since he discusses strategies rather than specific application, much of the content is applicable to any leadership arena no matter how big or how small.
PS As an added benefit, if you're a user of Bob's product (I am, and in my opinion it is the best Bible software made), reading this book will help you understand why Logos is how it is.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Practical, easy to read small CEO advice, March 18, 2007
This review is from: Fire Someone Today: And Other Surprising Tactics for Making Your Business a Success (Paperback)
This book presents the author's advice for owner/managers of small companies. In 200 pages, he presents 22 chapters on diverse and important topics. Here's my reaction to each chapter (where 1 = Not so good, 10 = Great).
1 Fire Someone Today (10, great review for those who hesitate firing slackers or misfits, mentions how to do it correctly)
2 You Are the Reason You Are in Business (10, you need to control the critical process/technology)
3 Nobody Loves Your Baby Like You Do (10, don't delegeate your vision for the company)
4 There Can Be Only One - Plan for Your Partner's Departure (10, be the benign dictator, how to evaluate business partners, how to always have a way out)
5 Don't Hire Anyone You Haven't Interviewed (7, basic information)
6 Cash Is King (7, basic information)
7 Quality, Price, Service -- Prioritize (9, interesting but simplistic model for niching)
8 Nobody Needs an Optimistic Accountant (6, probably true, but basic)
9 You Can Always Find 5 % (8, too oriented on nickling and diming vendors, too oriented away from growth, mentions important reports and methods)
10 Profit is Why You Are in Business (7, basic information, too oriented on profits alone, did not describe why profits are necessary for growth)
11 If You Are Not Growing, You Are Shrinking (10, interesting discussion of market dynamics)
12 Good Systems Protect You from the Perfect Employee (10, discussion on blogs, make it easy to build good systems)
13 The One Who Writes Wins (10, but basic information)
13 Read (10, great information on business intelligence, interesting remarks on business books, biographies vs business histories, novels)
15 Don't Fly Blind -- Build a Dashboard (10, important, basic information that most businesses don't prepare, doensn't and probably can't mention all the numbers any business needs)
16 Visit Everyone in Person (10, excellent reason for supporting the airlines)
17 Press Is Yours If You Ask -- And If You Want It (10, how to use publicity to your advantage without getting skinned by the media)
18 In Acquisitions, the Buyer is the Loser (10, this was really great information, how to use the process to your advantage)
19 Buy Lunch (10, excellent reason for supporting restaurants, like Chapter 16)
20 Winning Takes 51 % (10, how to categorize decisions, when to make them quickly, slowly)
21 Some People Are Your Greatest Assets (10, how to treat exceptional candidates, good is the baseline, follows "up or out" mentality of chapter 1)
22 Business Is a Serious Game (7, your decisions have consequences to your employees)
This book is easy and enjoyable to read for businesses with 5 to 200 employees.
John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
From Engineer to Entrepreneur, May 1, 2006
This review is from: Fire Someone Today: And Other Surprising Tactics for Making Your Business a Success (Paperback)
As an engineer with a desire to "live my dream" by starting my own business, I have read my share of business books. Many of these were either "twelve steps to a better business" or gave me flashbacks to case studies and business models that bounced off my skull in college 25 years ago.
Bob speaks from the heart and the book connects. The lessons learned from successes and blunders in a small business communicate dearly and are very effective. It is a good read, but one that sticks even after the first pass. I do not have to review some checklist to know several issues I can address immediately to make my business better.
I was greatly encouraged after reading the book. It has helped me better see the areas I need to work on to bring my business into focus.
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