In many trades, the onsite industry included, when someone with years of experience buys a business of their own, you often hear them say that while they’re definitely an expert in the field, their business acumen could use a little work. Luckily there are many resources out there to help each one of us become better at the business end.
In the long process of working toward the purchase of the company I have worked for since 1989, I used a lot of resources to help me become a much stronger businessperson.
The Small Business Administration has a program called SCORE where business mentors (retired professionals with great business backgrounds) will work directly with you one-on-one for free.
I also read a lot of business books. I have for a long time. More and more great books are available that I highly recommend to any installer who wants to excel at the business end as much as they do at the installing end.
There are a lot of great books out there; I’m happy to share longer lists and more ideas if you want. Here is a core list of books I think will benefit an installer who wants to be better at business management.
The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins
While this book is not just a business book, it will benefit those in business. A person I have worked with for 36 years asked if I read this book, and in 36 years I’ve never heard him mention reading a book even once. Now our company has five people who have read this book. Although to me it has always been just my internal way of dealing with issues, the author really does an amazing job of example after example of why this very simple technique brings big change for a lot of people. A bonus is if you listen to this one on an audio book platform and hear the author directly; she is really amazing. Start here.
BE 2.0 by Jim Collins and Bill Lazier
The BE in the title stands for Beyond Entrepreneurship and the subtitle is: Turning Your Business into an Enduring Great Company. Jim Collins is super famous in the business book world. His other must read (this is a two for one) is Good to Great. Good to Great is a book about finding the right people and how that will make all the difference to your business. His books go into way more detail than I can elaborate on here. This book is called BE 2.0 because it is the second time that Beyond Entrepreneurship has been released and this one is heavily updated. After Netflix won a major entrepreneurial award, one of the co-founders was giving a presentation to CEOs and said, “Memorize the first 86 pages of Beyond Entrepreneurship.” Jim Collins has several great business books; these are two I would highly recommend.
What I really like about BE 2.0 is that it’s the most ‘complete’ book on the list. For company perfecting, this one has a wider spectrum of great information than the rest. From leadership and strategy, to innovation, a map of what makes great companies tick, and tactical excellence. There are a lot of great examples to see how the ideas they are explaining work at actual companies. You really cannot go wrong with BE 2.0.
Strong Ground by Brene Brown
If you are the leader of your company or a leader within a company, you are currently leading with a limited core of what you know about leadership. This is a brand-new book on leadership. Brown runs a company that researches and teaches leadership on a global scale. Her company’s core training classes, Dare to Lead, works with major companies, sports teams and other organizations teaching them leadership; and also learns from them what works and what doesn’t. This author reminds me a lot of the author of Let Them, as she uses personal stories from her home and work life to illustrate her points. This book is densely packed full of a lot of information.
What amazes me about this book is how many different facets of leadership she discusses. It’s great to hear how leadership is a skill that can be learned and how many different organizations and companies grow their leadership. You’ll find great, proven examples of how to sharpen and enhance leadership skills and qualities. Even if there is something in this book you didn’t agree with, there is far more that you will benefit from. I really appreciate books that I learn from, I’m glad I found this one.
Best Team Ever: The Surprising Science of High Performing Teams by David Burkus
You do want the best team ever, right? David Burkus is an organizational psychologist. That’s what originally drew me to him. Boy, did I need an organizational psychologist. I have taken pages of notes from him. He has great ideas, great insights and he makes everything he talks about interesting. I always want to learn from the best and Burkus is one of the best.
What I appreciate about this book is, he does not waste a word. He explains the science behind high performing teams one detailed step at a time. He gives three elements that all high performing teams have and then breaks down each of those elements into outstanding detail, with great real-world examples. I read to learn and improve my abilities as a businessperson. This book definitely helped on both counts.
Leading People Safely: How to Win on the Business Battlefield by James T. Schultz and Brian L. Fielkow
Safety should always be priority No. 1. This book walks through why that is using a fascinating real-world example. One of the authors took over a company whose safety record was being measured by how many deaths they had on the job per year. When he made safety the top priority, his company became the No. 1 company in his industry in his market. This book provides great ideas for how you can make safety a core part of your company, and how that raises the bar on all other aspects of your company.
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
This is on here to see who is actually reading this article. Will this book make your company better? Probably not. But you are never too old to read this classic about a guy digging a basement. If you have younger operators on your team who have never read this, get them a copy. Keep copies in your truck for the kid watching your crew out the window. Yes, this one is just for fun, but also relevant to our industry. Kind of.
This is not a complete list, but a good place to get started. There are so many more books that are extremely beneficial to those wanting to strengthen their business background. Do yourself a huge favor and when you can, read some books on business. When driving from job to job I listen to them on an audio platform. Many business books really will help to make a difference in your understanding of what makes businesses successful. It has and continues to do so for me.
What’s the business book you’ve found most helpful? Comment below.
About the author
Todd Stair is owner and president of Herr Septic and Sewer, Inc., with over 35 years’ experience designing, installing, repairing, replacing and evaluating septic and mound systems in southeast Wisconsin. He is the author of The Book on Septics and Mounds and a former president of the Wisconsin Onsite Water Recycling Association.
