If you’re a business owner or someone exploring the idea of buying a franchise, chances are that you’re interested in absorbing as many ideas for running asuccessful and modern business as you can get your hands on.
Opening a book to seek out relevant information from others is a characteristic that should serve you well — especially if you want to keep up with the latest innovations and strategies in business.
Our Picks: 5 Books for Franchise Business Owners
We’ve chosen five helpful books for franchise and business owners alike that have generated considerable attention among top business leaders as well as the business media. Here’s the quick list, with reviews below:
- Built to Sell: Creating a Business that Can Thrive Without You by John Warrillow
- The Educated Franchisee by Rick Bisio
- The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
- Mastering the Rockefeller Habits 2.0 by Verne Harnish
A quick glance inside these books might explain why they’re generating such buzz. Most importantly, a common theme among the books is one of developing and realizing a vision for the long-term success of your business.
1) Built to Sell by John Warrillow
This book underscores a common mistake among entrepreneurs: they build a business that relies too heavily on their talents and not those of others. Consequently, when they wish to sell the business, they worry that it won’t flourish without them.
Built to Sell reverses this paradigm by showing business owners how to focus on products and services, avoiding price wars with competitors and generating consistent revenue by introducing products that customers cannot live without. Author Jo Burlingham calls it “thoroughly enjoyable and engaging.”
2) The Educated Franchisee by Rick Bisio
This great read offers a comprehensive look at franchises by showing potential owners 1) where to find quality franchises; 2) how to elicit the information about a franchise; 3) how to select the best franchise; 4) how to ensure that the franchise makes money; and 5) the “keys to success” in owning a franchise. This is the second edition of The Educated Franchisee. Bisio also has written The Franchisee Workbook.
3) The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
The book does just what its title suggests — it revisits the 1986 bestseller E-Myth, or “the fatal assumption that an individual who understands the technical work of a business can successfully run a business that does that technical work.” Rather, Gerber says that businesses thrive because of innovation, quantification and orchestration. In revisiting his theory, Gerber outlines the lifespan of a business – from infancy to its “mature phase” – and explains how to “apply the lessons of franchising to any business, whether or not it is a franchise.”
4) Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t doesn’t waste time in stating its premise, and purpose: “Good is the enemy of great,” Collins says. “The vast majority of companies never become great, precisely because the vast majority become quite good — and that is their main problem.” Companies that are “born with great DNA” are easy enough to track. Collins also explores how good, mediocre and even awful companies can achieve superiority. (Hint: they share some distinguishing characteristics.) Collins has written three previous business bestsellers: Good to Great, Built to Last and How the Mighty Fall.
5) Mastering the Rockefeller Habits 2.0 by Verne Harnish
Since its original publishing, this book is an updated version of Harnish’s bestseller, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. Now titled Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It…and Why the Rest Don’t (Mastering the Rockefeller Habits 2.0), the latest version is written to appeal to employees of every rank — from front-line staffers to senior executives. It aspires to engage all of them in the growth and success of a company through practical ideas and techniques – all aimed at building an industry-dominating business.
Business Lessons for Future Success
Read one book or read them all – or get a group of like-minded friends to each buy one book and then pass them around and absorb all the valuable lessons you can for your business. As you work to incorporate new ideas for our business, also use the advice in our helpful e-book below to review and perfect your business model for a successful future.
