Business Vitals Coaching wasn’t built in a vacuum. It draws on a shelf of business books — plus one podcast — that shaped how we think about diagnosing and fixing a small business. None of this is required reading for a client; it’s here for anyone curious where the thinking comes from.
We are not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any of the authors, publishers, or shows listed below. These are simply the works that influenced our own thinking, and we don’t receive anything if you buy or borrow them.
Core Framework
Fix This Next — Mike Michalowicz
The five-layer idea at the center of everything we do: fix the lowest broken need in a business before chasing the next one.
Profit First — Mike Michalowicz
Profit and owner pay come off the top, not what’s left over — the thinking behind our own E4B™ System.
The Pumpkin Plan — Mike Michalowicz
Grade every customer, then go deep on the best ones instead of chasing everyone.
Clockwork — Mike Michalowicz
Find the one role only you can play, then build a business that doesn’t need you every hour.
All In — Mike Michalowicz
Building a team people don’t want to leave.
Surge — Mike Michalowicz
Spotting and riding a timing shift in your industry before competitors do.
Get Different — Mike Michalowicz
Standing out instead of just trying to be “better.”
Wider Systems Thinking
The E-Myth Revisited — Michael Gerber
The “could a stranger run this from your instructions” test for a business’s systems.
Traction — Gino Wickman
Quarterly priorities (“Rocks”) and a steady weekly team rhythm.
Built to Sell — John Warrillow
Whether a business runs on its owner, or on its systems and team.
Reaching the Right Customer
StoryBrand — Donald Miller
The customer is the hero of the story; the business is the guide, not the star.
The 1-Page Marketing Plan — Allan Dib
Marketing broken into three honest phases: before, during, and after the sale.
For Restaurant Owners
Profit First for Restaurants — Kasey Anton
Restaurant-specific numbers for a food business’s typical costs.
Unreasonable Hospitality — Will Guidara
The small, human moments that make a regular feel remembered.
Your Restaurant Sucks! — Donald Burns
A blunt, restaurant-specific gut check on where things go wrong.
Building the Team
The 6 Types of Working Genius — Patrick Lencioni
Matching a task to the person who’s actually wired to enjoy doing it.
Making a Fix Stick
Atomic Habits — James Clear
Small, stackable changes stick better than big, ambitious leaps.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People — Stephen R. Covey
Beginning with the end in mind, and doing first things first.
On Craft and Storytelling
Captivate — Vanessa Van Edwards
Reading a room, building rapport quickly, and knowing when to let silence do the work.
Revisionist History (podcast) — Malcolm Gladwell
Looking for the real story behind a number instead of settling for the obvious one.
Have a book that shaped how you run your own business? We’d genuinely like to hear about it — send us a note.