Book SummaryBusiness Made Simple, by Donald Miller

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Business Made Simple

If you’ve ever asked yourself why you aren’t making as much progress in your business career as you’d like, Donald Miller says he knows the answer: You’re not adding enough value to your company. Businesses always have the bottom line in mind, and they’re much more likely to notice and promote people who quantifiably bring more money into the company than people who simply do exactly what’s in the job description and nothing more. For this reason, Miller argues that you should see yourself not as a mere employee, but as an investment by your organization—and one that should provide a good return.

Miller proposes 11 steps to become a good...

Business Made Simple Summary Your Goal in Business: To Be a Good Investment for Your Company

To succeed in business, you must add value to the company. This means being able to make money for a company, writes Miller. If you can do this, you’re far more likely to rise within an organization or find success starting your own business, because the only thing leaders and investors care about is your ability to generate value.

(Shortform note: Making a company money may be...

Business Made Simple Summary 11 Steps to Become a Good Investment for Your Company

Miller recommends 11 sequential steps that can help you become a good investment for your company. Let’s look at each.

Step 1: Develop Value-Adding Character Traits

The first step to becoming a good investment is strength of character, writes Miller. A strong, value-driven character consists of these 10 traits:

Trait 1: You See Yourself as an Economic Asset. Successful professionals view themselves as entities that can provide value to a company (rather than merely as employees). Learn how to quantify and explain what value you add—for instance, how many sales you made last year and what revenue those brought in. Additionally, try to earn back for the company at least five times your salary: This nets the company a modest profit.

(Shortform note: There’s a growing business trend that argues that instead of viewing yourself as either an employee or a value-creator, you view yourself as an important part of a business’s culture. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, [businesses are increasingly focusing on creating work environments that make employees healthy and...

Shortform Exercise: Enhance Your Value-Adding Character Traits

Consider which of Miller’s 10 value-adding character traits you could improve, and determine specific actions you can take to do so.

Review Miller’s 10 value-adding character traits. List three that you either don’t yet possess or could improve on.