« First Pitch in Only 247 Days | Main | Convincing Customers to Choose You »
Ruthless Advice for Business Owners
By Robert Skrob | June 19, 2008
I’ve been doing a lot of traveling this week. I flew to Baltimore on Sunday, then Jacksonville on Wednesday. Now I’m driving back from St. Augustine to Tallahassee today. On my trip I read a new Dan Kennedy book, No B.S. Ruthless Management of People and Profits: The Ultimate, No Holds Barred, Kick Butt, Take No Prisoners Guide to Really Getting Rich. I wanted to give you a quick review.
In the interest of disclosure I’ve coauthored a book with Dan Kennedy, the Official Get Rich Guide to Information Marketing. I’ve been a client of Dan’s since 2003 and a subscriber of his newsletter since 2000.
Over the years I’ve heard snippets of Dan’s employee management techniques as part of coaching meetings or as the answer to questions at a seminar. However, this book carefully pieces together an exceptional employee and business management system that’ll make any business owner more profitable.
One of the essential truths discussed in the book is that employee’s role in a business is to generate profits for the business owner. While employees and press think your business exists to create jobs. The fact is those jobs must be contingent on the employees generating profits for you. For every employee or hiring decision you must determine the return on investment. What profits are going to be generated in your business by this employee?
Dan also clearly defines how all employees eventually go lame. As a business owner it’s easy to become emotionally attached to an employee and to rationalize their poor performance. After all, they have a family to feed. However, Dan clearly illustrates that it’s your responsibility to yourself and the rest of your employees to never tolerate poor performance. Dan cites several examples of successful business leaders who turned into poor performers after a number of years. While long employee tenures need to be celebrated they are rare and business owners must become clear about the purpose of employees in business.
Dan also provides a lot of real world strategies for managing and motivating employees. There is a detailed discussion of employee bonuses and incentive compensation. Too many business owners, including myself in the past, tie bonuses to company-wide performance. Also, they give bonuses as a way of saying thank you or sharing profits. Dan shows you how to create bonuses that encourage the performance you want in your business.
More than anything, Dan’s book gives business owners permission to run their businesses for their profit. Too many newscasters and business experts teach business owners how to be sensitive to employees. In effect they foster an environment where the business owner works for the employee. Instead, Dan shows you how you can reclaim your business from your employees. How you can wrestle control and build a business that you enjoy owning.
This book is a great investment in your sanity as a business owner. You’ll learn a lot from Dan’s no nonsense perspective.
PS – This isn’t the book to share with your employees. After they read it they’ll hate Dan Kennedy for writing the book and they’ll hate you for giving it to them.
Topics: Operations | 4 Comments »
May 19th, 2010 at 1:15 AM
does anyone know a website or tutorial about business management ?~`*
August 30th, 2010 at 3:19 AM
business management is sometimes a very tedious task to do but it is also enjoyable.~,
October 10th, 2010 at 1:14 PM
i love to do business management coz i love to make manage small businesses~:~
September 10th, 2011 at 4:05 PM
I am very pleased with all the articles on your web site. I recieve a lot of tips to help me.