Written by: Christina Archer, COO
5 Must Reads for Small Business Owners that will turn your company around in 2018
Many of these must reads for small business owners were read as part of a book club with my peers. The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt was one that was assigned to me during my MBA program at the University of Florida (Go Gators!). All of these books offer great tips on how to manage your company's growth in order to predict the kind of growth that is aimed to help you meet your goals. When I first started in business I thought any kind of growth was good. I quickly learned that is not the case. These books really helped me hone in on what it is that I was really trying to attain and focus on getting there!
This book helped me tremendously with finding the next leaders in my organization. I was always thinking that leaders are just born leaders and you either have it or you don't. Turn the Ship Around helped me understand how to let go of control and sit back and watch the cream rise to the top. This is a huge step in growing your small business. Without it, you remain stuck. I highly recommend this book. We also read this as a book club with our team which I think helped get everybody thinking about leadership as a whole.
I'll be honest, it's been a while since I read this book, but it was a great read! This one helped me understand the stages of growth in your company. We most definitely hit some rough spots during our high growth years and this book helped me understand that it was normal and how to not make the same mistakes again. The bottom line is we need to make sure we have the right amount of process, leadership, and communication in our organization before we are able to grow.
This was a book that was assigned to me during my MBA program at the University of Florida. I have to say I was very excited to be assigned a book that was actually an interesting read compared to some of my Finance books 🙂 This book helped me understand that you are only ever as strong as your weakest link. A huge part of business and refining process in your business is finding the bottlenecks! If you don't identify bottlenecks and get rid of them or think of new ways to do things, you will never get better. We like to say at my company "work smarter not harder".
This is a must read book that is almost more like a workbook when growing your small business. We were able to use the tools given in this book to map out where we wanted to go and how we were going to get there. You can't do that without a plan! By honing in on our goals and breaking them down into manageable chunks, we have been able to set quarterly goals that all add up to a great annual goal, 5-year goal, 10-year goal, and beyond. You absolutely should have your management team read this book!
This is more of a starter book for small business owners but it is still one I really like. The discussion is working ON the business as opposed to working IN the business. This is so tough when you first start out because most people start a business because they like the trade (making muffins, fixing computers, etc.) and not because you like to run a business. Once you learn how to get out of actually doing the trade and instead managing the business you can really start to grow.
That's it for my list of 5 must reads for small business owners! Of course, there are many more books I have loved and have helped me grow and many I haven't read. Do you have a favorite business book?
About DPC Technology
DPC Technology is a Florida based IT and Managed Services provider with extensive knowledge in network design and implementation, hardware, storage, security, disaster recovery, and HIPAA Compliance. Established in 1995, DPC has a comprehensive array of support offerings including Technology Consulting, Project and Technology Management, and Outsourced It Support to help businesses solve complex problems, security challenges and meet compliance mandates. For information, call (844) 260-5020 or visit www.dpctechnology.com