A Tale of a Business Failure

by John D. Davis
 ISBN: 9780982421703, Paperback- $18.99 BUY

A Tale of a Business Failure is a story of how a highly successful company quickly eroded and failed.
The impact of the company on the shareholders lives modified behavior and decision-making to the point that the company was directly affected.

This is not a story about why businesses fail. Instead, this is a story about how my company failed and how the shareholders lives were forever changed. Unfortunately, my education, training and experience were not enough to prepare me for the events that led to the demise of this company.

Businesses fail. It s that simple. Research by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests that 56% of startup businesses do not survive past four years. With the odds being against an entrepreneur, what makes them even try?

In my case, it was simple. I already started and built a successful public accounting practice. Additionally, I had acquired a troubled company in the transportation industry and completed a successful turn-around. I knew that I was smart enough to be successful again, so failure never even entered my mind. When the opportunity presented itself again, I was eager and jumped at the chance. But the deal did not go as planned. After having fantastic initial success, we soon struggled tirelessly and endlessly to find solutions to save our company. But we could not.

As a financial professional, this event is much too embarrassing to share. In fact, after drafting most of the book, I put it in a drawer never wanting to show it to anyone. Why share such a personal failure with the world? I continued to ask myself. Besides, I realized that the company and the story faded to darkness and I was spared public embarrassment for failing. I was safe.

Over time, I also realized that I was constantly drawing on my failure experience when counseling my business clients. My experience was allowing me to help identify dangerous conditions and head off disasters before they occurred. I learned more than I ever realized. The more I reflected on the story, the more I realized that the lessons were too valuable to stuff away in a desk drawer. The tale needed to be told. Others needed to benefit from my story.

What happened to our company and how we dealt with our continued adversity is only part of the tale. How it affected our lives is the other part of the story. I was not alone in this tale and my actions and reactions affected everyone involved. Functioning with continued stress takes its toll on a person and everyone has a breaking point. The combination of the personal and business failures makes for interesting lessons.

Although I present this as a story about one company, the lessons are deep and far reaching. Anyone that currently owns a business; is contemplating owning business; is involved with a business as a consultant, banker, or lawyer; is a business educator; or is a student of business will benefit from reading this story.

I will be surprised if anyone can read this story without getting at least one shiver down their spine.



Good to Great - Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't

by Jim Collins
 ISBN: 0066620996, Hardcover- $16.50 BUY

Jim Collins asked the question, "Can a good company become a great company and if so, how?" In Good to Great, Collins concludes that it is possible, but finds there are no silver bullets. Collins and his team of researchers began their quest by sorting through a list of 1,435 companies, looking for those that made substantial improvements in their performance over time. They finally settled on 11--including Fannie Mae, Gillette, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo--and discovered common traits that challenged many of the conventional notions of corporate success.

Making the transition from good to great doesn't require a high-profile CEO, the latest technology, innovative change management, or even a fine-tuned business strategy. At the heart of those rare and truly great companies was a corporate culture that rigorously found and promoted disciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner. Good to Great is one of those books that managers and CEOs will be reading and rereading for years to come.


Inside The Magic Kingdom - 7 Keys to Disney's Success

by Thomas K. Connellan
 ISBN: 1885167237, Hardcover- $13.00 BUY

Look in Mickey's Briefcase . . . Now, an outsider takes you inside the incredible Disney service culture and presents simple, powerful concepts in a fun, memorable way that just may change the way you conduct business. Based on hours of interviews and discussions with present and former Disney employees, Inside the Magic Kingdom discloses the secrets behind Disneys success . . . and explains why, of its more than 30 million guests each year, over two-thirds are repeat customers.

This upbeat, easy-to-read book illustrates clear, solid principles with examples that are well-known to Disney insiders but virtually unknown to outsiders until now. Outlines the seven keys to Disney's success. Now the principles that drive the culture and phenomenal success of Disney are disclosed in this fun, easy-to-read book. You will learn many insider secrets that will spell success if implemented in any business.


McDonald's - Behind the Arches

by John F. Love
 ISBN: 0553347594, Paperback- $11.05 BUY

McDonald's: it is the world's premier entrepreneurial success story, a company whose growth worldwide continues to be astonishing. In tough financial times, McDonald's proved that ingenuity, trial and error, and gut instinct were the keys to building a service business the entire world has come to admire. In the years since McDonald's: Behind The Arches was first published, McDonald's has been a trendsetter in advertising, focusing on different ethnic groups as well as the physically disabled.

McDonald's created McJobs, a program that employs both mentally challenged adults and senior citizens. And because its franchisees have their fingers on the pulse of the marketplace, McDonald's has evolved successfully with the health food revolution, launching dozens of new products and moving toward environmentally-safe packaging and recyclable goods. Inspiring, informative, and filled with behind the scenes stories, this remarkable saga offers an irresistible look inside a great American business success.


Competing on Value

by Mack Hanan, Peter Karp (Contributor)
 ISBN: 0814450369, Hardcover- $17.47 BUY

Presents a new approach to selling that emphasizes not competing on the basis of the best price, but the highest value--i.e. demonstrating to current and prospective customers that using your products or services will either cut their costs or improve their revenues. This book discusses VALUE. Value is not what you put INTO your products and services, it is what the customer GETS OUT. Three qualifiers of value are how much, how soon, and how sure--these are what the customer needs to know. In summary, this is highly recommended for every company that sells products and/or services.


Practice What You Preach - What Managers Must Do to Create a High-Achievement Culture

by David H. Maister
 ISBN: 0743211871, Hardcover- $18.20 BUY

Maister, a professional service consultant, surveyed 6,500 employees at 50 worldwide companies to evaluate the relationship between company financial performance and employee satisfaction and loyalty. He found a direct and dramatic correlation. Here, he offers detailed commentary from CEOs, managers and staffers, and analysis of the survey results. Bosses in all kinds of companies will benefit from his solid advice, which should be required reading for executives and upper level managers.


Leadership

by Rudolph W. Giuliani, Ken Kurson
 ISBN: 0786868414, Hardcover- $16.35 BUY

This highly anticipated book from New York's once controversial, now beloved former mayor opens with a gripping account of Giuliani's immediate reaction to the September 11 attacks, including a narrow escape from the original crisis command headquarters, and closes with the efforts to address the aftermath during his remaining four months in office. But, he argues, he did not suddenly become a great leader on September 11, and "had been doing [my] best to take on challenges my whole career."

Throughout, he displays the hands-on management that marked his administration, including his willingness to respond swiftly and in person to crises, to prove that he could be relied on when the city needed him most. While some critics found his style too aggressive, he has an effective counterargument: "Before September 11, there were those who said we were being overly concerned [about security]," he observes. "We didn't hear that afterwards..."


The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Restoring the Character Ethic

by Stephen R. Covey
 ISBN: 0671708635, Paperback- $11.20 BUY

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change was a groundbreaker when it was first published in 1990, and it continues to be a business bestseller with more than 10 million copies sold. Stephen Covey, an internationally respected leadership authority, realizes that true success encompasses a balance of personal and professional effectiveness, so this book is a manual for performing better in both arenas.


Jump Start Your Business Brain: The Scientific Way To Make More Money

by Doug Hall
 ISBN: 978-1578601790 , Paperback- $16.99 BUY


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