Book Summary Preview : The 51 Fatal Business Errors

The Big Idea

The 51 Fatal Business Errors focuses on lessons learned by business owners and CEOs from their successes and failures, and is intended as a practical guide to shape one’s own business. It offers incisive, readily applicable real-life experience gleaned from what the author, Jim Muehlhausen, calls ‘the world’s most expensive business school’: The School of Hard Knocks. To this end, the book determines the 51 most crucial errors a company can face and discusses how to overcome them.

Why You Need This Book

This book is designed to be used as a reference each time a new issue in one’s business venture arises. In that vein, it discusses the 51 most crucial business errors to be overcome, fleshes concepts out with real-life examples, and provides action steps towards determining the most effective solutions to these errors.

Unlike many business books which refuse to stray too far from simply discussing business theories, the book does so to empower the reader not just to read and be informed, but to act upon what he/she has read – in short, to translate learning into action.

For the sake of brevity and ease of understanding, only a few of the most important and significant errors as identified by the author are taken up at length in this summary.

Using the Gym Membership

Business success cannot be learned in school. It does not come with any MBA certificate.

It is best discovered by enrolling yourself in the School of Hard Knocks - where practical knowledge is taught through tough lessons.

Most business books are like gym memberships. They get all exciting at the start, but end up without seeing any action. Most business books discuss a lot of information and theories, but cannot be proven useful when the time comes to put what has been learned into practice. Done right, a business book should energize you and leave you with tangible action items to make your business better.

Here are some specific tools needed to get your business in shape and 'toned'.

Enter at Your Own Risk

If your heart is really set on coming up with meaningful action for your business to move to the next level, then you must have courage and unlimited understanding for accepting mistakes you may have made along the way, changes you can adapt, and fresh goals that you can set. Points and observations raised in this book are neither for the fainthearted nor those who are already satisfied with their business’ standing. Instead, this is for those few entrepreneurs who are eager to make and see things happen. In fact, you may find yourself disagreeing on some parts, so here are two important warnings:

Warning # 1: What is discussed here might get in your face a bit, as you’ll be dealing with tough questions to answer for the benefit of turning your business into something GREAT. Treat it as an act of compassion which aims to prevent you from being the common CEO who may well have talent and capability but might fall short of his or her true potential.

Warning # 2: Do not be offended each time the phrase “small business” is used. The SBA defines the small business as less than fifty million dollars in sales and fewer than five hundred employees. Any small business would be happy to attain those goals.

emember, it is very much essential to be open to points that will make you REALLY think and eventually act.

 

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