REVIEW: “The Art of Profitability” by Adrian Slywotzky

“No profit means no business,” Adrian Slywotzky asserts in his book, Art of Profitability. Yet, as simple as this reads, we know that simple is never easy.

Still, Slywotsky attempts to show the journey to a profitable business is a breeze if we focus on how we learn. Like Educational Psychologist Benjamin Bloom’s taxonomy levels of knowledge, Slywotsky shows us awareness, awkwardness, application, assimilation, and artistry are the hierarchy to understand Profitability.

There are 23 profit models in this book, which will help you open your mind to big business and how it makes its money. One of my favorite lines from the book is, “Profitability is a way of thinking. Profitability is thinking differently, always asking: ‘How’ does high profit happen? “To paraphrase, Slyowtsky tells the reader to ask herself the same question five times until she arrives at the answer.

No business equals a hobby. A hobby means you pay instead of someone paying you. Yet, so many people go into business without thinking about how they will make a profit. Too many corporate executives are in business without continuously thinking of strategic profit models.

I highly recommend this book to anyone self-employed, anyone thinking about a system that will create a big business for you, investors, or even employees. Even W-2s will recognize the signs your employer is about to downsize and/or go belly-up.

copyright (c) 2010 MH