Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits!: 4 Keys to Unlock Your Business Potential

Top positive review

Great, great book. Every small business owner should read it

Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2022

Great, great book. Every small business owner should read it.

95% of the business content out there is for big business, books, courses, master degrees, etc teach best business practices tha the big companies are applying, unfortunately the context, the business stage, etc. of big business is incredibly different of the context, the reality of small business. In the other hand 98% of world wide businesses are small businesses.

This book is an incredible source of finance wisdom for small business, it focus on the reality of small businesses and give you direct tools, tips and strategies to have a healthy, profitable business.

2 people found this helpful

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

jasonCbraatz

It's OK. Great tips. But the IRS is the author's BFF

Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2012

The good: Very good tips, I was busy jotting notes into my evernote throughout the read of this book. If you are a kindle reader, it's worth the money and it's a very quick read full of good info. I would recommend it for this reason.

The bad: Too much information on company valuations, and some other topics that may do not really apply to the title.

The ugly: This CPA/author has a love affair with arguably overpaying the IRS and taxing authorities. I would be the first person to acknowledge that as a business owner, especially, everything should be above-board and one should pay what you owe. However, in reading this book, remember that there are legal tax strategies out there for a reason, and you should explore those strategies before "being excited about paying the IRS 43% of your income" (to paraphrase what this author writes). So if you disregard his love-of-(over)paying-taxes parts, and the subjects that don't belong in the book, it'd easily be a 5-star read.

19 people found this helpful

1,066 total ratings, 229 with reviews

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From the United States

Rodrigo Laddaga Lopez

Great, great book. Every small business owner should read it

Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2022

Verified Purchase

2 people found this helpful

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Charles Swihart

Any small business owner should read this!

Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2014

Verified Purchase

Like some others here, I'm a bit skeptical on his view of owner salary vs savings on SS taxes, but at a minimum you should at least look at the numbers based on a "real world" market salary for the owner and not the $30K you are paying yourself in salary to avoid taxes. In the end it's the Dave Ramsey principle that emotion and motivation are part of the equation. Greg maintains that what you will profit if you stick to his system will FAR outweigh those extra SS taxes.

This view was actually hard for me to look at because I my accounting picture wasn't quite as rosy as I thought it was, but now I have some good ideas how to tackle the issues and make it more profitable. More profitable doesn't always mean more revenue either. It may just mean more efficiency.

I have read all sorts of business books from E-Myth to Good to Great, etc. As the E-Myth would explain, I'm a technician that went into business without a clue about how to run one though somehow I've made it 11 years and been profitable the whole way. This book, like no other I've read, gives me some insight into the P&L and how to use it as a guiding light. It explains how to look at labor efficiency when I had no clue what that was.

At a minimum you will come away with some new ways to look at your accounting numbers that might just show you which employees are making you money and which ones are not.

This book went quickly for me. Read it in two days. If you are trying to make your business more efficient, I think you'll love it.

27 people found this helpful

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Joe

Top 10 business book I've ever read

Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2018

Verified Purchase

I've read between 50-100 business books. This is probably top 5.

This is the accounting book I had been looking for. I'm a marketing consultant with 2 other team members. I rarely look at finances and needed a reset. I have Xero and a bookkeeper and accountant, but feel lost and like I don't have a grasp of things.

Biggest takeaways

1) Use a forecast not a budget. Budget is a license to spend, forecast is a path to growth. Spend 75% of time on forecast, 25% on budget.
2) Set a salary cap for your labor force, like a football team. Never heard this before, makes a ton of sense.
3) Pay attention to the cost of labor and labor efficiency. A business can't grow/operate without labor, but you need to monitor productivity. One reason this is much more than an accounting book.
4) Pay yourself a competitive wage - don't overuse the distribution if you're a single member LLC. This one was a real shocker, but makes sense.

If you're a tiny operate <10 employees, I guaranteed this book is worth it's time.

He presents some tables and methodologies that go beyond standard P&L reports and gives you a great daily/weekly/monthly operating routine.

41 people found this helpful

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Jonathan Godwin

A great book for entrepreneurs who need help with their numbers

Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2022

Verified Purchase

I am a CPA and this book was recommended to me by another CPA. What a great read! I have already bought a copy for a client and I’ll do it for more of them. I do a good job of explaining numbers to my clients but it never hurts to get better at it. All my clients will benefit from this awesome book!

3 people found this helpful

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Derek Bauer

Easy to read and understand; A solid foundation to business ownership

Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2013

Verified Purchase

Good principles and written in such a manner that it should be an easy read for most. I was hoping to learn a lot from this book, and learned that I am very much on-track as unbeknownst to me, I had been running my business this way the last 3 years. I credit Dave Ramsey for getting me thinking along these lines a few years back when I started implementing his teachings, and there are similarities to that and what is in this book (get and stay out of debt, live within your means, grow organically, etc.). I agree that labor costs are a HUGE variable in profitability, or lack thereof. One takeaway for me was that once your business hits a certain profitability % (15% in the book), you should invest in growing the business which initially may drop the profit rate, but ultimately should increase it. I have gotten comfortable with a respectable profit margin and should instead work to slowly grow the business. I will only do so with a no-debt approach, though.*************IF you are a business owner and not regularly paying yourself ... like I did years ago ... READ THIS! You will get a lot of value from it.

2 people found this helpful

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W Baskin

No more guessing. A MUST for business owners and entrepreneurs. Avoid mistakes and make the right moves.

Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2016

Verified Purchase

The book I wish I had 20 years ago! Answers so many questions and gives specifics on what to do. I had an "ah ha!" moment in every chapter. My forehead is bruised from smacking it so much. I've owned a physical therapy private practice since 1993, and now I know the reason for every financial issue I've had, and I know now how to fix it and prevent it. It's perfect for ALL business owners and entrepreneurs! If you have a business that pulls in .5 to 1 mil a year, you'll find examples that are YOU all through the book. If you are below that amount, it shows you how to get there, then it shows you how to break beyond 1 mil with very specific rules for ALL businesses. If you've been stuck - this is your Godsend. There is a huge difference in the actions you need to take if you are a 50K biz vs 250K vs 1mil vs 5 mil vs 10 mil...know the rules for where you are now and how to get to the next level and avoid fatal mistakes.

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Amazon Customer

New Business owner must buy

Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2022

Verified Purchase

When I bought this book my business is heading to debt free and growing. New business owners, self-employed, anyone need to start a business. Scaling your business and knowing the true money math is key to a successful business. GET THIS BOOK AND THE NEW ONE AS WELL YOU WILL NOT REGRET! IT WORKS!

2 people found this helpful

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Jeff Weber

Excellent book with a unique perspective on break even analysis

Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2015

Verified Purchase

This book has plenty of excellent advice and is a fast read. Highly recommended for anyone looking for some big picture KPI to focus on growing your business. As a CPA and a financial leader in the manufacturing industry myself, I am always seeking additional knowledge to expand my skill set and improve processes. Greg's focus on 10% being the true break-even is a novel concept that squares well with what I have seen to date in my career. He lays out details on what to look for in your business, how to measure it, and how to make it happen.

This book exceeded my expectations. It is written clearly enough that a novice in accounting/finance can understand it but has insights that professional accountants and managers will appreciate.

One thing to note: this book seems to specify that it focuses primarily on businesses up to 5 million; however, I have worked almost entirely in much larger entities than that and believe the information provided is just as applicable in these larger companies.

2 people found this helpful

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Carl Dawson

Watch The Payroll!

Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2013

Verified Purchase

I've been a business manager or owner for forty years or more, and typical accounting procedures (P&L, Balance Sheet, etc) offer a plethora of detailed information, which is a valuable thing for some purposes. However, those procedures are designed primarily to please the IRS (thus the detailed minutiae) rather than the manager who needs succinct, directed information in order to make business decisions in a hurried, critical situation. In this book, the authors have suggested a "short form" info method almost identical to one I had my own accounting department develop for my use that highlights the most important areas of continual attention. Their "short form" and mine focuses on the "Salary Cap" aspects of successful profitability, in that the payroll-related costs are typically the most influential on profit or loss.

Other than the "Salary Cap" ideas, the rest of the book is fairly straightforward accounting processes, but presented in language that even a disinterested Engineer or Salesman can appreciate, when evaluations are performed.

2 people found this helpful

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Richard A Gonyou

Business truths: what every business owner or manager must know before it is too late

Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2020

Verified Purchase

Simple Numbers should be a must-read for everyone who owns or manages a small or medium-sized business. What I love about this book is that it is for the small and medium-sized business and does not go on and on about how Apple or Google or Amazon runs their xxx billion-dollar corporation. It is VERY different when you are running a business on a shoestring and bootstrapping growth. It is very different when you wear five hats on a typical day. It is very different when you do not have much room for error. Greg Crabtree may not be a household name, but brother, if your every in Vancouver BC I will go to your seminar without question.

2 people found this helpful

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