BOOKS WORTH READING

Knowledge and information are one of the greatest assets a person can have when they are thinking about starting/buying a business or wanting to improve their business processes and systems.  There are many people who have been "down the road less traveled" from which you can gain insight and experience if you will take the time to apply the concept to your personal or business situation.  Seldom can you do exactly what someone else did and make it work the same way in your business.  Each business is unique with its own culture, management style, customer experience, customer demographics, vision and much more.  Therefore, it is critical that the business owner understand the context, concepts and the key principles others are using and adapt them to your business.  Make them yours so they fit within your culture, management style, etc. 

One should always start with the end in mind to avoid the trap of events and decisions not accomplishing the desired outcome.  There are many quality books on the different segments of business.  Each can deliver a thought, an idea, a practical application or a learning point that can be applied in our work.  Reading appropriate books is an excellent way of challenging yourself to constantly improve your personal and business processes and systems. New ideas challenge one to think and process the information and to apply it in such a way that it brings greater value to the person and/or the enterprise.  

With the idea of expanding your horizons and your thinking the following list of books offer thought provoking ideas, processes and systems that may have application in your life and business.  By no means is this list complete or intended to be complete.  It is provided with the intent to generate thought and provoke contention with the result that the reader will be challenged to rethink processes and systems and in the end, improve his/her business processes and personal skills.

Collins, Jim, "GOOD TO GREAT"; (HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2001)

Gerber,Michael,  "The E Myth Revisited";  (HarperBusiness, 1995)

Covey, Stephen R., "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"; (Fireside, 1990)

Zemke, Ron; Raines, Claire; Filipczak, Bob, "Generations At Work"; (AMACON, 2000)

Gerber, Michael, "E Myth Mastery"; (HarperCollins, 2005)

Sandler, David H., "You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike At a Seminar"; (Bay Head Publishing, 1995)

Block, Peter, "The Empowered Manager"; (Jossey-Bass, Inc.,Publishers, 1987)

Levinson, Jay Conrad, "Guerrilla Marketing Weapons: 100 Affordable Marketing Methods For Maximizing Profits From Your Small Business"; (A Plume Book, 1990)