Press
Article: Go: AirTran Inflight Magazine
Tough Guise
George Cloutier thinks most management experts are wrong. “They’re all saying, ‘Work with everyone and be everyone’s best buddy,’” says the author of Profits Aren’t Everything, They’re the Only Thing. “This is the opposite.”
Cloutier, the chairman and founder of American Management Services, has spent more than 30 years telling small and mid-size business owners what they don’t want to hear, but what they need to hear. “I’ve developed a very strong view of the school of tough love,” he says. “Small businesses don’t have the time and resources to be particularly tolerant of mistakes and problems….”
Carol Mann Agency Blog
Profits Aren’t Everything, or Are They?
Now more than ever, small business owners need a reality check, and Cloutier delivers just that: 15 no-nonsense, tough-love maxims that won’t go down easy, but will help any open-minded entrepreneur get back on track and stay in the black in any economic environment. Among his controversial (yet proven!) Profit Rules: “Teamwork Is vastly overrated” and “The best family business has one member.” This is essential reading and a long- overdue wake-up call for the 23 million small- and midsize business owners across America.
Review: Booklist
Book Review
Small business consultant and CEO George Cloutier sets forth 15 rules on how to make money, all of them packed with client examples and a no-nonsense attitude. Many of his regulations will amaze, shock, and awe small-business owners. His principles include: pay yourself as CEO—like three to four cents on each dollar of revenue; be a micromanager; fire and hire faster; don’t tolerate mediocrity; focus on individual performance—not teamwork; budget with an iron fist; be a tyrant; if you need to, file for bankruptcy—and do it quickly and early. Harsh ways to work? Yes, yet all his principles are founded on a success that’s
hard to argue with.
Review: Jon Ingham's Strategic HCM Blog
Profits Aren’t Everything, People Count Too
The key idea of this book is pretty simply: small business owners need to focus obsessively, and exclusively, on profit, in order to stay in and grow their businesses.
Review: Publisher's Weekly
Book Review
This slim but forceful debut by turnaround management expert Cloutier serves as a wakeup call for small business owners who have been hit hard by the recession. “Don’t blame the economy,” he writes. “Recession or no recession, if your small business is failing, it’s your fault!” Cloutier dishes out tough love in pithy chapters that introduce his 15 “Profit Rules” (e.g., “Love your Business More than Your Family,” “The Best Family Business Has One Member” and “Teamwork Is Vastly Overrated”). While Cloutier’s provocative pronouncements seem designed for maximum shock value, each rule relies on practical business principles: maintain tight controls, pay for performance and focus on sales at all times. This blunt work will not be for the timid business owner afraid to re-evaluate operations, planning, compensation or family dynamics. For those ready to focus on profits, though, Cloutier’s book is loaded with valuable advice on how to get back on track and stay in the black in any economic environment.