Common Sense Business

“Has the potential to transform how all companies are run…Nothing could be more valuable!”—Mark Drewell, CEO, Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI) From two of the world’s most successful business leaders comes Common-Sense Business—an accessible, actionable guide to better leadership, increased profits, and a more sustainable economic model predicated on prudence and socially conscious business. Common sense and prudence have long been among the guiding tenets of society, but in today’s economy they have been completely abandoned in the interest of blindly maximizing profits. Common-Sense Business shows that this current economic model is both detrimental and unsustainable, and that we must transform the global economy along the lines of common sense toward the common good. Ted Malloch, a thought leader and policy influencer in global economic strategy, and Whitney MacMillan, the former chairman and CEO of the world’s largest private corporation, draw on recent research, history’s greatest minds, and their own successes to explain that ethically driven business is both a moral and financial necessity. Inspired by Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, this work explains to readers in all walks of life that ethically driven business will lead to better long-term profits, larger customer bases and more positive customer relations, and a holistically improved business. This book is a must-read for business owners, entrepreneurs, students, and businessmen and women in all sectors of the economy.

Deborah Meaden is known to millions for her straight-talking, no-nonsense approach on BBC2's Dragons' Den, and in Common Sense Rules she shares insights and observations gleaned from a life lived in business. Some of them come from witnessing the successes - and the failures - of others. Many more, though, are drawn from her own business ventures. She shows, for example, how an early stint in a holiday park gave her a crash course in customer relations. She frankly and honestly analyses why her first enterprise, which started so promisingly, turned sour. And she explains why turning down a multimillion-pound offer for her chain of holiday parks was the best decision she ever made. As direct and to-the-point on the page as she is in the Den, Deborah Meaden is a superbly clear-sighted and experienced observer of business success, and her book is guaranteed both to inform and inspire.

I am fed up with people making the world more complicated than it really is. Egos, me-first mentalities, and unrealistic expectations all get in the way of our success. We make things complicated because we want the attention gained from pretending to be experts. We put superficial standards on everything we do. Why? Because we thrive off of the "high road" mentality. Where have all these complications we added to our lives and our businesses gotten us? We have a failing economy, failing social structure, thousands of unprepared young people, and lives so hectic that we all die by the age of 65 from stress-induced heart attacks. If you ask me, I think it's time we simplify a few things. We don't need complications; we need common sense. We have justified our "standards of excellence" while forsaking the simple and natural rules provided by our own God-given common sense. We no longer recognize what is true and false. We only recognize what we believe to be true or false. We convince ourselves that life is hard, that business is complicated, and that only the very best and well educated will succeed. I see things differently. After years of studying and practicing business, I have begun to realize that those with the most success, those with the best lives we all want to emulate all have one thing in common: they have found a way to simplify what they do. Success comes from peeling away the complicated structures, ego-driven, "I'm an expert" mentality, and sophisticated expectations of how things ought to be. Success is about finding the easiest, most efficient means of accomplishing a task or goal. True success is about having the time to enjoy life, the freedom to treat others fairly, and the opportunity to make a difference in everything that we do. Common sense tells us that the shortest distance between any point is a straight line. Common sense tells us that effectiveness comes from finding the simplest way of doing something. Common sense has a lot to tell us. In fact, it can teach us everything we need to know about life, business, and success. Are you ready to learn why the finer things in life are the simplest things? Come with me as we journey to discover how simply applying some common sense to our lives can change the world.

Do you own or plan to own a small business? Do you work for a small business and desire to better understand your boss? Do you know someone who owns a business and wants to be stronger, more focused, and more successful? This is the book for you. The truth is that many business books offer a lot of wonderful sounding theories, but they have little practical application in the real world of small business. Common Sense Business is full of life-and-death ideas. Follow Steve Gottry's advice and your business will live and thrive. Ignore it and your business could founder or die. Benefit from Gottry's experience as an entrepreneur who grew a hugely successful media agency, experienced a harrowing business failure, then rebounded with a new business and a fresh start on life. Common Sense Business tells you how to succeed throughout every phase of the small business life cycle -- from starting to operating, growing, and even closing down a business. No matter the state of the economy or the maturity of your business, you will find winning solutions to the questions and situations you face every day. Steve Gottry will help you understand yourself; your employees, customers, and vendors; and how people come together to form a successful business. You will learn how to maximize your business's assets and how to ward off those threats that could eat away at your resources and peace of mind, including debt, sloppiness, addiction, and fear. Warm, honest, funny, and factual, entrepreneur Steve Gottry tells the whole truth about successfully managing a business through good times and bad.

The United States is supposed to offer economic opportunity to everyone. It shouldn’t take a worldwide pandemic and nationwide protests to bring economic and racial inequality to the forefront of problems we desperately need to solve. But now that the opportunity is here, what should we do? How can we create more equality, opportunity, and growth for everyone? Not someday, but what can government and the private sector do right now to disrupt a status quo that almost everyone wants to change? In Common Sense, the New York Times best-selling author Joel Greenblatt offers an investor’s perspective on building an economy that truly works for everyone. With dry wit and engaging storytelling, he makes a lively and provocative case for disruptive new approaches—some drawn from personal experience, some from the outside looking in. How can leading corporations immediately disrupt our education establishment while creating high-paying job opportunities for those currently left behind? If we want a living wage for everyone, how can we afford it while using an existing program to get it done now? If we subsidize banks, what simple changes can we make to the way we capitalize and regulate them to help grow the economy, increase access, and create more jobs (while keeping the risks and benefits where they belong)? Greenblatt also explains how dramatically increasing immigration would be like giving every American a giant bonus and the reason Australia might be the best place to learn about saving for retirement. Not everyone will agree with what Greenblatt has to say—but all of us can benefit from the conversations he aims to start.

Eight-year-old kid barber J.D. joins forces with his sister, who has beauty shop dreams, in this hilarious illustrated chapter book series. J.D. is a barber battle champion. He's graduated from home haircuts to having a regular chair at the neighborhood shop, Hart and Son, and he's making enough money to keep his candy jar stocked and his comic book collection growing. And yet, J.D. knows it's time for his next challenge. He doesn't just want to be the best barber in Meridian, Mississippi—he wants to be the best barber in the state . . . and maybe the country! When his older sister, Vanessa, starts to gain a following online for her hair tutorials, the kids decide that to truly level up, they must join forces. How do two siblings with big personalities, big ambitions, and competitive spirits work together (or not) to take over the hair world? Check out the other chapter books in the J.D. the Kid Barber series: J.D. and the Great Barber Battle J.D. and the Hair Show Showdown