Growing a Business

Rating:
Summary: Without question, one of the best business books available .
Review: A "humane" treatment of business. Hawken demostrates that business as practised by "corporate" America, where the interest of the shareholder is supreme, and where the employee is an"afterthought", is the reverse of what it should be. A farmer can't force his crop to grow too fast, or slow it's development: his crop has a speed that is just right. So with business: too much forced growth (with excess capital, for example) can be just as dangerous as too slow growth. This book should be read by anyone desiring serious longterm success

Rating:
Summary: Without question, one of the best business books available .
Review: A "humane" treatment of business. Hawken demostrates that business as practised by "corporate" America, where the interest of the shareholder is supreme, and where the employee is an"afterthought", is the reverse of what it should be. A farmer can't force his crop to grow too fast, or slow it's development: his crop has a speed that is just right. So with business: too much forced growth (with excess capital, for example) can be just as dangerous as too slow growth. This book should be read by anyone desiring serious longterm success

Rating:
Summary: Good Read
Review: A very insightful book from the man who understands business. I read this book in one sitting and boy it is a better one compared to the many business books that I've read. Hawkin really knows how to run a business. What's intriguing about Hawkin is that he started business from ground zero without any prior business education. He succeeded because of his leadership, persistence, and most importantly, a willingness to learn. It is a good read for anyone who wants to go into business or desires to grow a business. Suggested reading: Creativity in Business by Michael Ray

Rating:
Summary: Great encouragement to be true to yourself!
Review: A wonderful business book that encourages you how to run a business that you would like to be a customer at. Gives hope that it is possible to do something you believe in the way that you want to do it. Unfortunately the book is now 10 years old, but the principles are timeless.

Rating:
Summary: A must for every would-be and current business owner.
Review: As a business consultant and co-owner of Smith & Hawken, a highly successful catalog business, Paul Hawken knows what works and what doesn't for businesses, large and small. He's set it all down, in a style that makes you want to keep reading.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Book for New Business Person
Review: I just sold my company and, looking back over the ten years it took to build, this book was the BEST resource and touchston I had. I bought a copy for each new employee. And each one loved it. Written in a non-MBA tenor, this book is for everyone. I only wish the accompanying PBS sereis was still around because it was a fantanstic companion to the book.

Ten years after starting, I can honestly say, Mr. Hawkin was right. And thankfully, I made my money the RIGHT way. No regrets.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Book for New Business Person
Review: I just sold my company and, looking back over the ten years it took to build, this book was the BEST resource and touchston I had. I bought a copy for each new employee. And each one loved it. Written in a non-MBA tenor, this book is for everyone. I only wish the accompanying PBS sereis was still around because it was a fantanstic companion to the book.

Ten years after starting, I can honestly say, Mr. Hawkin was right. And thankfully, I made my money the RIGHT way. No regrets.

Rating:
Summary: Motivated me to start my own business!
Review: I read Growing a Business a couple of years ago while I was in college at The University of Michigan. This top-notch book gave me the drive that I needed to start my own business and leave college to work for myself FOREVER. Since reading this book, I learned that my father was friends with Paul and was given the opportunity to meet him at Ball State University. When I first read the book I thought, "how could anyone have such determination and drive to start a company," after meeting him I realized that Paul Hawkin truely is a man who made his life what he wanted it to be...purely successful.

This book WILL help you to be successful in the business world. I'm a living example of the power of this book and would STRONGLY suggest that anyone interested in business read it.

You won't regret it!

Sincerely,

Michael Rosenman [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Valuable
Review: I read this book and watched the TV series around 1990. I credit Growing a Business, as much as anything I ever read or heard, for the success of my company today.

In 1992 a group of first-time entrepreneurs started a company together. Some of the group had a blueprint of how a company is supposed to start. Get capital. Build something. Launch it. Succeed. They had not read the book, or they had but did not believe it spoke to us.

Some of the group had a more organic idea, inspired in part by this book. Each company has its pace, its flow, its learning curve. The CEO is the clock, the pacer, the navigator. There is a constant calculator going on each decision, each day, extrapolating payoffs, comparing the costs and benefits. And there is a recognition of what we are going into business for and structuring the business to support those objectives.

For example, we wanted a great place for employees. Each employee would share the experience and benefits. The "Startup 101" types of books treat this topic as an add-on after you do all the important things. Hawken makes it primary. It is primary if you want a place for the best people to do their best work. Structure your company around the employee experience and all else falls into place - if that is the kind of company you want.

An important lesson from this book is serious initial capital for inexperienced entrepeneurs can be a mistake. Hawken describes this. So important. So easy to overlook.

Large amounts of startup capital allows you to outsource parts of a company you may not totally understand yet. It makes some mistakes very expensive. It dulls the creativity at times, the innovation to do more with less. It might encourage one to do things just because you see other companies doing them. It tempts you to make large steps, when it is critical in modern markets to learn to make many smaller steps.

And so on. This book may not fit every entrepreneur. It certainly does not provide all the information you need for growing a company. But for some of us it describes a pattern for growing a good company.

If you are thinking about starting a company, or are in the early stages of a startup, I recommend this book. It might change how you do things, and you might get more satisfaction from the adventure as a result.

Rating:
Summary: Valuable
Review: I read this book and watched the TV series around 1990. I credit Growing a Business, as much as anything I ever read or heard, for the success of my company today.

In 1992 a group of first-time entrepreneurs started a company together. Some of the group had a blueprint of how a company is supposed to start. Get capital. Build something. Launch it. Succeed. They had not read the book, or they had but did not believe it spoke to us.

Some of the group had a more organic idea, inspired in part by this book. Each company has its pace, its flow, its learning curve. The CEO is the clock, the pacer, the navigator. There is a constant calculator going on each decision, each day, extrapolating payoffs, comparing the costs and benefits. And there is a recognition of what we are going into business for and structuring the business to support those objectives.

For example, we wanted a great place for employees. Each employee would share the experience and benefits. The "Startup 101" types of books treat this topic as an add-on after you do all the important things. Hawken makes it primary. It is primary if you want a place for the best people to do their best work. Structure your company around the employee experience and all else falls into place - if that is the kind of company you want.

An important lesson from this book is serious initial capital for inexperienced entrepeneurs can be a mistake. Hawken describes this. So important. So easy to overlook.

Large amounts of startup capital allows you to outsource parts of a company you may not totally understand yet. It makes some mistakes very expensive. It dulls the creativity at times, the innovation to do more with less. It might encourage one to do things just because you see other companies doing them. It tempts you to make large steps, when it is critical in modern markets to learn to make many smaller steps.

And so on. This book may not fit every entrepreneur. It certainly does not provide all the information you need for growing a company. But for some of us it describes a pattern for growing a good company.

If you are thinking about starting a company, or are in the early stages of a startup, I recommend this book. It might change how you do things, and you might get more satisfaction from the adventure as a result.