By David C. Rhoa, originally featured in SBAM’s FOCUS Magazine
My experience with business books is this – they come in one of two flavors: “the fond reflection” or “the academic dissertation.”
In “the fond reflection” flavor, the author (in most cases a well-known, successful entrepreneur) takes the reader on a sanitized trip down memory lane in an effort to convey, “How I got to where I am today.” While potentially entertaining, such journeys are seldom helpful to the would-be-entrepreneur who is reading the book in an effort to “learn from the master.” All memories fade over time, even bad ones. While it may not be the intent of the author, the result is often a recitation of events that have become less genuine with the passing of time. Successes appear almost commonplace, and tales of failure seem to lack any sense of true human emotion.
In “the academic dissertation” flavor, the author (in most cases a business theorist or journalist who has watched business from the sidelines or from the ivory towers of academia) attempts to convey to the reader a checklist of things they must do to craft and launch their first business. No attention is ever given to the fact that the author has never really done any of the stuff talked about in his/her book.
Then, every once in a long while, along comes a book that knows how to speak to the entrepreneur as an entrepreneur. A book authored by someone who has not only crafted success for themselves, but someone who is STILL DOING IT EVERY DAY and can explain it to the reader with honest emotion and relevant detail. That book is Grind: A No-Bullshit Approach to Take Your Business from Concept to Cash Flow by Michael McFall.
Grind is a quick read, but packed with easy to understand, real-world applications for any person looking to make the leap from ideation to action. McFall pulls no punches about what it takes to craft the reader’s idea into a business, and perhaps most importantly, forces the reader to take a prolonged look at themselves before endeavoring to create a business.
McFall speaks from genuine, personal experience that took him from serving as a barista in a two-location coffee shop to co-CEO of one of the fastest growing franchises in the country. McFall accurately details the key strategies and subtle nuances essential in creating, maintaining and growing a small business in our contemporary environment.
McFall’s approach is often blunt (as the title might suggest), but nonetheless entertains and equally informs. He is not shy about highlighting how and where he has failed along the way. Moreover, McFall is able to draw on nearly three decades of experience in working with countless would-be entrepreneurs as he works to expand the BIGGBY Coffee empire.
For those people out there thinking of starting their own business or for those who seek to understand what it takes to bring a business to life, it is with great enthusiasm that I recommend Grind: A No-Bullshit Approach to Take Your Business from Concept to Cash Flow by Michael McFall. If you already own a business, read this book and you will recognize—sometimes with joy and other times with pain—the many challenges that McFall describes.
David C. Rhoa is president of Marana Group. Family-owned and operated since 1977, Marana Group is dedicated to assisting clients in the simplification of work processes through the channels of data, documents and distribution.
This book review was first published on Goodreads.com (July 2019).
Some content has been edited.