Just what the world needs, another business book But what if you got into business to do what you love and a few years in, you’re still spinning your wheels? You’re thinking, “Business wasn’t supposed to suck the life out of me and make it harder to get ahead!” In Practice Makes Profit, David feels the same way. As a dermatologist running his own private practice, he faces dilemmas common to most small businesses. Graham, a business and finance expert, walks him through a process that begins by identifying the bottleneck. Thanks to Graham’s easy-to-follow stories about business principles, David increased his taxable income by 20x without working himself into the ground. In his debut business book, Graham W. Scott draws from his 25 years of experience growing his accounting firm and helping ordinary solopreneurs, small businesses and non-for-profits solve complex problems. His methodology is based on a bottleneck management system known as the Theory of Constraints—and the best part is anyone can apply it and get results. Whether you own a law firm, HVAC service, accounting firm, hair salon, massage therapy practice, dental clinic, bakery or automotive shop, you can follow David’s journey with Graham, find the parallels in your business and turn it into an efficient and highly profitable establishment.
Graham Scott’s book (booklet) is a quick intro to the Theory of Constraints as applied in a small business where the constraint is or at least should be) the business owner.
Lots of quick, simple examples drawn from a variety of business make the concepts come to life.
Nice short book that showcases the five focusing steps of “Theory of Constraints” applied outside of the typical manufacturing setting (or outside of an IT setting if you took a liking of the “Phoenix Project”).
This is a practical, systems-minded book about running a firm like you mean it—less “hope,” more process; less heroic hustle, more repeatable performance. Scott’s emphasis leans into operational discipline: standardization, control, measurement, and getting the practice to behave like an enterprise rather than a collection of rainmakers with Outlook calendars.
Why it works: it respects reality. Firms don’t scale on inspiration; they scale on routines that survive bad weeks, turnover, and the occasional partner mood swing. If you’re trying to escape the tyranny of improvisation, there’s value here.
Why it loses a star: “profit” talk can become a euphemism for efficiency worship. The book’s posture sometimes feels like it could accidentally produce a cleaner hamster wheel instead of a freer firm. I wanted more explicit emphasis on value creation (and value pricing) versus simply tightening the machine.
Net: a solid operator’s guide—useful, occasionally bracing—but for transformation-minded professionals, it’s a means book, not an end book.