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Scale: Seven Proven Principles to Grow Your Business and Get Your Life Back
A concrete road map to rapidly grow your business without overextending yourself
Business owners want growth, but they fear that growth will take over their lives. The surprising truth is that the only way to truly scale your company is to reduce its reliance on you. This means that, done right, you get growth without sacrificing your life.
Jeff Hoffman and David Finkel offer a blueprint to rapidly grow your existing business while also gaining more freedom. Their three-level action plan, based on their own experiences starting, scaling, and effectively exiting from multiple successful companies, helps you determine the best strategy for growth in your own company. More important, they provide practical advice on how to execute in the face of conflicting demands and multiple responsibilities. By breaking down the path to scaling into seven principles, any owner can increase profits and their own freedom.
Scale is for entrepreneurs who wonder if they really own their business, or if their business owns them.
Business owners want growth, but they fear that growth will take over their lives. The surprising truth is that the only way to truly scale your company is to reduce its reliance on you. This means that, done right, you get growth without sacrificing your life.
Jeff Hoffman and David Finkel offer a blueprint to rapidly grow your existing business while also gaining more freedom. Their three-level action plan, based on their own experiences starting, scaling, and effectively exiting from multiple successful companies, helps you determine the best strategy for growth in your own company. More important, they provide practical advice on how to execute in the face of conflicting demands and multiple responsibilities. By breaking down the path to scaling into seven principles, any owner can increase profits and their own freedom.
Scale is for entrepreneurs who wonder if they really own their business, or if their business owns them.
1 pages, Audio CD
First published August 14, 2014
114 people are currently reading
538 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
January 28, 2021
I really enjoyed this book by one of the guys that built Priceline.com. Really good useful information and tips to grow a business that doesn't depend on you to run. Great worthwhile read.
October 13, 2019
I'll begin with my review by relaying the best quote in the book: "You rarely win with money. The best you can hope for is not to blow it completely."
While that quote was in the context of hiring employees and managers (and being careful with larger compensation packages), the quote applies to just so many things in life I thought I'd bring it out of it's pages.
This is a 5-Star read for anyone who really needs a good primer on growing a business from the basics up; the authors take the reader through the journey of building processes, defining a short-list of items to work on every quarter beginning with a question in the negative: "what is impeding my growth," or "what is in the way of not selling x,y,z" and becoming a barrier-breaker for those challenges.
For those who lick up business books as thorough as golden retrievers cleaning their food bowls, there isn't anything new that you won't find in other business books. Worded differently, the same questions they ask could be done in the positive (for example) like what's done in Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity with additions from The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results and various tidbits found in The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less. I'd further argue that the principles are almost identically outlined in The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It and it's much less dry than this one.
That said, I am an outlier (not in the same category to Malcolm Gladwell's use of the term). I read a lot of business, marketing, finance and non-fiction books (in general) so my analysis above isn't a fair comparison to those who are interested in scaling a business or non-profit organization without having previously read other books on the subject. Therefore, from the perspective of a "scaling primer," this checks all the boxes and while I didn't take "new" information from this read, it galvanized topics which I was already aware of and gave me the thirst to dig into them a bit more than I had in the past.
While that quote was in the context of hiring employees and managers (and being careful with larger compensation packages), the quote applies to just so many things in life I thought I'd bring it out of it's pages.
This is a 5-Star read for anyone who really needs a good primer on growing a business from the basics up; the authors take the reader through the journey of building processes, defining a short-list of items to work on every quarter beginning with a question in the negative: "what is impeding my growth," or "what is in the way of not selling x,y,z" and becoming a barrier-breaker for those challenges.
For those who lick up business books as thorough as golden retrievers cleaning their food bowls, there isn't anything new that you won't find in other business books. Worded differently, the same questions they ask could be done in the positive (for example) like what's done in Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity with additions from The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results and various tidbits found in The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less. I'd further argue that the principles are almost identically outlined in The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It and it's much less dry than this one.
That said, I am an outlier (not in the same category to Malcolm Gladwell's use of the term). I read a lot of business, marketing, finance and non-fiction books (in general) so my analysis above isn't a fair comparison to those who are interested in scaling a business or non-profit organization without having previously read other books on the subject. Therefore, from the perspective of a "scaling primer," this checks all the boxes and while I didn't take "new" information from this read, it galvanized topics which I was already aware of and gave me the thirst to dig into them a bit more than I had in the past.
July 21, 2019
The holy book of process
The book does an absolutelly brilliant job at bestowing the reader with the “process based” mindset that is needed to scale self-sustaining companies.
The authors complemented each theoretical principal present in the book with practical nuggests that the readers can use in their quest towards monitoring and improving the way that their companies function internally.
Overall, the book increases the perceptive abilities of the reader on aspects such as branding, KYC, process monitoring and definition, business management, time management, team management and executive leadership.
Pure awwwesomeness!
The book does an absolutelly brilliant job at bestowing the reader with the “process based” mindset that is needed to scale self-sustaining companies.
The authors complemented each theoretical principal present in the book with practical nuggests that the readers can use in their quest towards monitoring and improving the way that their companies function internally.
Overall, the book increases the perceptive abilities of the reader on aspects such as branding, KYC, process monitoring and definition, business management, time management, team management and executive leadership.
Pure awwwesomeness!
February 10, 2022
A book about scaling your business. This was my companion during my workout mornings. Often tempted to go for a visual version of the book rather than listening as the authors David and Jeff talks about lot of tools. This book has only seven chapters, seven principles about scaling your business. The authors you may realize are not saying anything totally new that you are not aware of, nevertheless it is one good collection of toolkits to have. Visit https://mauimastermind.com/ for their free toolkits.
May 14, 2024
This touched on many areas that any founder would want to know early on in their company's development. It asks the right questions and I appreciated the focus on business controls, strategic plans and quarterly focus areas. Even someone who is self-employed with no employees could benefit from the principles outlined here. Some may find it boring because it didn't get into any wild ideas about growing your business (think Millionaire Fastlane), but I found it organized, practical and logical which I always prefer to "no one else is going to tell you this" business fantasies.
February 14, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. Being a newish business owner reading this book gave me a lot of clarity on what setting up a business well on the front end looks like. I feel like this is a book I will return to on a regular basis to refer to and grow with. If you are involved in any sort of business I would highly recommend this book.
January 11, 2021
It is more on the general management than scaling. While there is nothing new in it, I would say that it’s a great summary of the essentials that a young businessman seeking growth might need. Touches the topics of target markets and branding; processes and controls; innovation; strategic planning; business owner’s approach; company lifecycle; and others.
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June 24, 2021I abandoned this one about 3/4 of the way through as it was no longer relevant to things I was pursuing in my life.
For small-business owners looking for freedom, I highly recommend it though. The premises laid out provide a practical path towards building a non-owner reliant business.
For small-business owners looking for freedom, I highly recommend it though. The premises laid out provide a practical path towards building a non-owner reliant business.
October 31, 2020
Wow, this book contains a lot of great insights.
I’ve now read it one time, and will need to revisit each chapter when working ‘on’ my business, in stead of ‘in’ it!
I’ve now read it one time, and will need to revisit each chapter when working ‘on’ my business, in stead of ‘in’ it!
November 11, 2020
Solid business book, plenty to implement with some key takeaways
June 16, 2021
Deadly book
I am plan on using it again starting tomorrow for the items I may have glossed over because they were complicated. This book is value for your buck.
I am plan on using it again starting tomorrow for the items I may have glossed over because they were complicated. This book is value for your buck.
January 18, 2023
Probably a good book for beginners but none of this was new to me so my rating is subjective, not objective.
May 31, 2022
While the book is solid overall, I particularly recommend reading the section on universal business systems (UBS). Very actionable.
June 19, 2015
This was a great read. The authors basically lays a foundation to building a long term successful business. If I could describe what this book is about in less that 5 words, I'd say "business foundation building" If that's what your looking for this is your book. If your business is already well on its way..it may be a little tough; though not impossible, implementing some of the suggestions but if your just getting started or in the beginning phases...this is a great book. It also is very interactive, with questions, downloadable pdfs, etc.
June 7, 2023
This is a short read but it's a really good book. I like it better than E-myth Revisited. The concepts are similar to the stuff they teach in business school. It's very comprehensive similar to Traction by Gino Wickman (but more detailed) and Scaling Up by Verne Harnish (but less complex).
It summarizes a lot of the concepts you can find in business books. If you haven't read a business book, I think this will cut your research time. If you've read a ton of business books like me, Scale is a great refresher.
It summarizes a lot of the concepts you can find in business books. If you haven't read a business book, I think this will cut your research time. If you've read a ton of business books like me, Scale is a great refresher.
February 18, 2016
This book is a must-read for anyone looking to start a business. The authors, who have successfully created and sold companies, provide their tips and best practices for scaling a company. Jeff Hoffman and David Finkel share experiences from other successful companies, and provide a set of online tools at the end of the book. The biggest takeaway for me was hire the right people. If you don't do that, your company cannot move forward.
September 23, 2016
An entertaining and enlightening book that provides suggestions on every aspect of running a business. Among the best are set aside time every week to isolate yourself and think/brainstorm be creative. Business cannot exist 'today,' they have to be ready for change, and should lead change. Another hint is so see out diversity and let the interplay of ideas stimulate innovation. This is not accounting 101 -- but there are pages on managing money efficiently; this is big picture concepts.
December 11, 2016
A bit too technical and over my head for where my small businesses are at. Seems better maybe for larger businesses. Good information and principles, just too advanced for me to personally get into.
August 13, 2019
Very similar to Emyth and therefor not really recommended for anyone that has read that already. If you didn't, this is a good book to read if you're looking to grow a business. I do think Emyth is more fleshed out and more easily adapted to your own business.
I did get some nice pointers and folded quite a few pages with the purpose of reviewing them at some point. So that's a plus.
I did get some nice pointers and folded quite a few pages with the purpose of reviewing them at some point. So that's a plus.
December 14, 2021
Excellent set of tools, backed by substantial business operational and finance theory more than "startup scene slogans" well worth following through on as much as possible. - Now to put it into practice
Re-read: still a core book for anyone building a business. In the box-set of books me.
Re-read: still a core book for anyone building a business. In the box-set of books me.
August 20, 2016
There are some real actionable steps to be taken from this book at any stage of business.
The is however aimed at people who have already successful businesses but are struggling to grow beyond a plateau. This will definitely be re-read once I hit a more advanced stage of my business.
The is however aimed at people who have already successful businesses but are struggling to grow beyond a plateau. This will definitely be re-read once I hit a more advanced stage of my business.
May 3, 2015
Smart read. Learned a lot
June 29, 2015
Business owners will be challenged by this book to make their companies better
November 9, 2015
Good book to grow your business in today's society
February 12, 2019
Amazing book. The tag line don’t give yourself a job but build a business hit home. Everything is actionable and great for anyone who is running a company which is stuck in the you running it phase as opposed to the scale it up so it doesn’t need to phase. Definitely some good pointers.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews