Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself

Michalowicz (Profit First), host of the Profit First podcast, takes an unvarnished look at the hard realities of life as an entrepreneur, offering readers clever and effective ways to regain control of their most precious commodity: time. He shows readers how to achieve “organizational efficiency” and manage resources so that the most urgent tasks consistently get accomplished. First, readers must determine their “4D Mix”—Michalowicz’s term for how time is allocated among doing, deciding, delegating, and designing—and make adjustments to optimize it so that their businesses can run smoothly. The author provides a list of seven steps to take readers there and dedicates a full chapter to each. He suggests that the reader “declare your company’s queen bee role,” identify the core function of the business, “capture systems” (figure out how workflows function in practice, not in theory), and “balance the team” to maximize efficiencies. Michalowicz also coaches businesspeople through the mindset shift of asking “What are the most important things to get done?” and “Whom will I have get this work done?” rather than “How do I get more done?” Full of familiar but not gimmicky advice, Michalowicz’s guide will please entrepreneurs with its actionable and well-presented ideas. (Aug.)