The 51 Fatal Business Errors and How to Avoid Them

By Jim Muehlhausen

Book Overview

Starting a business is easy! Successfully running a business can be a challenge. Jim Muehlhausen has traveled the country collecting best and worst practices from business owners. The 51 Fatal... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0981608205
• ISBN13: 9780981608204
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Maxum Communications
• Length: 189 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

No-nonsence, practical advice for every small business owner...

Deciding what books to accept/read/review can be a rather eclectic process for me. One of my genres is business books, and author Jim Muehlhausen offered me a review copy of his book The 51 Fatal Business Errors and How to Avoid Them. Although I'm quite far behind in books to read and review, I accepted because it looked interesting and he also had the same last name of my sister-in-law. Not too many Muehlhausens running around that I've seen. Fortunately, my luck paid off, as 51 Fatal Errors is an excellent book filled with practical advice for the CEO of any small business. He cuts through the conventional wisdom hype and the "fad d'jour" to offer up solid ways to keep yourself on track (and out of the bankruptcy courts). Contents: Introduction - Using the Gym Membership; Enter At Your Own Risk; What's Good for G.E. Isn't Always Good for G.E.; Is It Time to Fire Your C.E.O.? (Yes, I'm Talking About You); Best and Worst Practices; Mule-Kicks; What Now? Muehlhausen is a business coach who has worked with thousands of people and groups to help them succeed in the business world. From that experience, he's distilled 51 "fatal errors" that, if not caught and dealt with, could mean rough times for your organization. For instance, right out of the gate we get Fatal Error #1 - Hiring Your Competitor's Rejects. You may think that you'd never hire the worst people that your competitor let go. But think about it. For some reason, the previous employer didn't think this person was valuable enough to keep at any price. Yes, there are people who are let go or who leave that are exceptions to the "reject" rule. But the odds of you being able to deduce the exceptions from the rules every time are very small. Do keep your eyes open for the stellar individual you might want to hire away or that left through no fault of their own. But also pay attention to finding high-aptitude people who can be trained for a position, and that will become great. Another one that was eye-opening was Fatal Error #14 - Paying Yourself Below Market Value. Many small-business CEOs feel they can't take a salary out of the business as they need to plow all of the profits back into the business. But realistically, that means you're giving the business an artificial subsidy that will never be paid back. Paying yourself *some* level of salary avoids the temptation to view the business as more profitable that it actually is, and puts you in a more realistic mindset as to how the business is doing. The format of each chapter (one fatal error per chapter) is concise and easy to follow. There's the explanation of the error, a real-life example, a solution, a "mule-kick" (a jolt of reality), and a place to jot down notes. There's also quite often a "bonus" which is a reference to his website for more information or actual forms/products to use. Written in a blunt, no-nonsense style, it's nearly impossible not to find at least a handful of mistakes you're currently makin

Great Ideas for Any Executive

This guy gets it! In today's world, with changes coming at you at break-neck speed, most of us never take time to review our current business system from top to bottom. As Muelhausen points out in 51 Fatal Business Errors, there's a lot of land mines for an executive to avoid in order to take his company (or his department) to the levels that it should achieve. Spotting and defusing them before they do major damage is critical to achieving and maintaining success. The book makes it clear that it's not always about the new technology, a different management structure, or the latest products from R & D--sometimes its just removing a few negatives that are keeping us from reaching our goals. I understand Muehlhausen uses this book as the basis for speeches he gives around the country. I'm looking forward to catching him when he comes to Atlanta. Jim Deitz, The Franchise Doctor

Next Level Thinking!

Mr. Muehlhausen provides just the type of "down and dirty" material that a business person needs to grow their organization to the next level. The format lends itself to problem specific reading and the concise format makes it approachable. It's on my "Go-To" list of business books that I recommend to my peers and associates. Must read!

51 Fatal Business Errors

This is absolutely a must-read for any small business owner or emerging business CEO. Within a plethora of business books on the market, Muelhausen's book stands out due to its solution-oriented approach and effective application to real-life business situations. Most importantly, he succinctly tackles a variety of issues that many CEOs simply ignore or hope go away on their own. On issues that need a more in depth exploration, Muelhausen offers valuable (and free!) additional resources to help meet the challenges. This is a quick read that you will continue to pull off the shelf as concise user's manual for business success.

Reference manual for success

I was blown away by the content in this book. The 51 Fatal Business Errors is more like a reference manual for successfully operating a profitable business. As someone who has started and run several different businesses, I only have time for practical, real-world advice and ideas. 51 Fatal Business Errors definitely delivers in that regard. I highly recommend this book for any business owner or anybody who wants to become one, while avoiding the many pitfalls too many of us have tended to make.