I really like this book, Profit Wise. As I read it I appreciated numerous great reminders for myself and thought of many client situations and profiles that different parts of the book spoke directly too (the common challenges of work, life and leadership.)
This book is a quick read and at firsts seems like a bit simplistic however, keep reading. It is an important checks and balance for a business leader. On one hand very basic and on the other hand it is some of these basics that many leaders and companies are sorely forgetting and missing. The author does a great job of highlighting the many elements that need to be considered for a business to be successful and therefore profitable. If success is from doing the right things and we know profit tends to follow… this book is about “the right things”. It could even be used as a book you read and re-read a small section daily as part of your morning habits to keep these important consents top of mind.
The author touching key topics a business owner / leader needs to pay attention too: marketing, hiring, compensation, building team, customer care, negotiating, problem solving / decision making, time management, long term planning, etc. While a person might want to dive more into a given topic the beauty of how this is written is it allows a quick reminder of why it matters, some quick tips and questions to assess if you have this or need this without getting bogged down in the details. The book has a nice balance of suggestions based on experience, sage encouragement and questions to make it easy for you to apply.
This would be a great book for many
- a student or blooming manager/leader in a company seeking to understand the parts of a business and what it takes to set it up well,
- for an Entrepreneur designing and starting or growing a business,
- or the business leaders that is needing to pivot their business or division
- A seasoned business owner … while there is much they might have written themselves, there are also key reminders that can be useful to identify areas that might be neglected or could be upgrade in your work and business
Love the questions at the end of the chapter for personal reflection and to help make connections. It is also nice the author has created free worksheets to help work through the concepts and apply them.
Some great Profit quotes …
On hiring: “If you can’t gather enough people with the inclination and ability to do what you ask them to do, then you run a day care facility instead of a business.”
Also… “We make better decisions because we have more unique perspectives represented at the table.” (Diversify in your hiring)
On culture: “your culture requires a constant input of energy and wise decisions to remain productive.”
On customer service: “Even as the bar continues to be raised, superior customer service remains a profitable way to differentiate yourself from the competition, because much of the competition still can’t put all the pieces together.”
On negotiating: “Think in shades of gray rather then black and white. Things are not always as they appear, and no one has a monopoly on the truth.”
On Decision making: “Not deciding to decide is still a decision, and usually not a very good one.”
Also … decision making that happens because of your own emotional maturity and “knowing thyself”, “We make our best decisions when the analytical parts of our brain work in concert with the emotional parts.”
On time management: “Recognize the dysfunctional relationship between perfectionism and procrastination.”
Also the Critical skill to: “Arrange your day so it aligns with your natural energy flow.”
On long term planning/thinking: “Burnout is the chronic condition that occurs when your challenges take more energy from you than they return. You eventually lose interest in solving the same problems over and over. The experience of burning out can be similar to going broke.”
Overall encouragement: “Your life is a brief candle. Cast light where there is darkness, and share your flame with the world by living with love in your model.”
Great book for a leaders review and reflections. Highly recommend!
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