If your New Year’s resolutions included making more money, making valuable contacts, getting better organized and eliminating people problems, here are my recommendations. (I know it’s time to do a book review column when the piles of new books on the floor of my office make walking dangerous.)
“Let Go of Clutter,” by Harriet Schechter, a.k.a. “The Miracle Worker,” (McGraw-Hill, $16.95), arrived just in time to inspire a major office cleanup. Schechter’s no-nonsense approach helps even the most disorganized soul make some headway. One of her tips says to “make a conscious effort to let go of at least one unit of clutter” every day it makes good sense. It can be a container full of stuff or one item, but toss something out on a daily basis.
Schechter, who is based in San Diego, is considered a pioneer in the professional organizing industry. One of my favorite suggestions in the book is to create an “un-to-do” list of projects and obligations that aren’t really that important to your life or your business.
“Masters of Networking: Building Relationships for Your Pocketbook and Soul,” by Ivan R. Misner and Don Morgan (Bard Press, $16.95), features short contributions and suggestions by master networkers, including Tom Peters, Jay Conrad Levinson and Jack Canfield. If you thought that networking meant bringing a pocketful of business cards to a chamber mixer, think again. These folks take networking very, very seriously. You’ll learn about the DISC system, which stands for dauntless, indefatigable, supportive and careful and how to project a powerful aura when entering a room. Buy this book, then buy a new suit, get your hair cut and get out there.
While you are feeling dauntless and indefatigable, devote some attention to keeping your customers and clients happy. “Seven Power Strategies for Building Customer Loyalty,” by Paul R. Timm (Amacom, $24.95), reminds every business owner that without loyal customers, you have no business. Timm, a professor at the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University, manages to impart fairly complex ideas in a very readable way. The book has lots of anecdotes, charts, worksheets and quizzes, but it doesn’t read like a textbook. “Successful companies view recovery as an opportunity,” he writes in a chapter about placating upset customers.
If this is the year you are foolish enough to open a restaurant, don’t do it without buying a copy of “The Restaurant Start-Up Guide,” by Peter Rainsford and David Bangs Jr. (Dearborn Trade, $22.95). Here are some sobering statistics: About one-third of all restaurants will fail in the first year, and another one-third will fail in the second year, according to research by the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. But, if you make it to the thirdyear, 65 percent will be around for their 10th anniversary.
Restaurant guidebook
This interactive guidebook is packed with charts, graphs and critical insider information. You’ll learn about portion control and consistency, which is the No. 1 thing that customers want in a restaurant. If they like your pasta primavera, they want it to taste the same way every time they stop in for dinner.
If better branding is on your to-do list this year, check out “The Revenge of Brand X” by marketing consultant Rob Frankel (www.robfrankel.com). The book is written in a chatty manner and is very self-promotional, but it has some good advice on creating a powerful brand. I couldn’t find the price anywhere on the book, on the order form or on his Web site, so I have no idea how much it costs.
Since tax season is upon us, here are three good books for business owners. Bernard B. Kamoroff, my favorite CPA/author released a newly revised edition of “422 Tax Deductions for Businesses and Self-Employed Individuals.” (Bell Springs Publishing, $17.95). This self-published paperback may sound like a snore, but the book, which is set up in an easy-to-read, alphabetical format, is filled with lively quotes, photos and cartoons to take the sting out of doing your taxes. You’ll learn all kinds of cool things, like the fact that clothing with your company logo on it is tax deductible, so forget casual Friday make your employees wear uniforms everyday!
He also points out that if you pay any kind of kickback to obtain business, and the kickback is “legal,” it’s also deductible.
Another CPA, Martin Kaplan, has revised and updated his popular book, “What the IRS Doesn’t Want You to Know,” (Villard, $16.95). You’ll learn that while most retirees flock to Florida or Nevada to live in a state with no income tax, if you prefer cold weather, you can also move to Alaska, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming. Criminal enforcement of the tax laws also varies from region to region. If you live in New England, Ohio and Michigan, you’ll have a smaller chance of being audited. The IRS district offices in California are consistently aggressive in auditing individual returns, according to Kaplan.
Finally, if your business is destroying your marriage or personal life, check out “The 6 Secrets of a Lasting Relationship,” by Dr. Mark Goulston and Philip Goldberg (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, $23.95). Goulston, a respected Los Angeles psychiatrist who counsels many upset entrepreneurs, has written a very smart, no-frills handbook designed to help you save your marriage or a close relationship. While it’s easy to look for companionship outside your marriage, it usually leads to disaster.
“When your worst day at work is better than your best day with your partner, it’s time to work at getting the fun back,” Goulston writes. He contends that the loss of enjoyment in a relationship seldom disappears overnight, but gradually fades away. “While it’s naive to expect the spontaneous delight of early love to last forever, it’s tragic to let enjoyment slip so far away, it can’t be retrieved.”
Jane Applegate is the author of “201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business,” and is CEO of SBTV.com, a multimedia site providing small-business resources. She can be contacted via e-mail at [email protected], or by mail at P.O. Box 768, Pelham, NY 10803.
