Michael Contento’s THE BOTTOM LINE falls into two familiar genres: the person who succeeds despite having no advantages and business leadership.  In the first genre, authors typically takes the line that, if they can succeed, anyone can – once they adopt the principles and attitude of the author. Invariably, though, the author tends to have certain key attributes that they don’t even mention as germane to their success. Contento is no exception to this rule. In the second genre, however, he offers some advice and insights that most business books gloss over or don’t mention at all. He devotes an entire chapter, for example, to punctuality. He boasts that he has never been late for a meeting in his entire career, whether with clients or his staff. His argument is that punctuality shows that you’re reliable and considerate, which gets you business. He even goes into detail about his techniques and how punctuality itself lets him be more productive.

As for having no advantages, Contento gives a standard narrative about being a screw-up as a youngster, flunking out of school, and so on. Yet, inadvertently, in telling his story, he reveals the fundamental attributes that prepared him for success as an entrepreneur. For instance, he landed his first job when he was 14 years-old at a popular clothing store because his sister persuaded her boyfriend to get him in. And he mentions throughout the book the example his father set for him about the need for discipline and hard work. This kind of family support is true of the vast majority of entrepreneurs. Moreover, Contento devotes several pages to his ability to read people, acknowledging that this is a trait which accounts for his success. But u8nfortunately, that is a skill that can’t really be taught. Similarly, although he refers several times to his lack of schooling, he mentions only in passing that he got involved in software troubleshooting by teaching himself and getting other people to teach him. And that was how he started his first company. Yet, obviously, if you can learn to troubleshoot computers without formal tuition, you must have a pretty high IQ – another attribute that all successful entrepreneurs possess but that can’t necessarily be taught.

THE BOTTOM LINE is very well-written with a well-paced conversational tone and contains a lot of useful advice for people who want to start their own business.

~Kevin Baldeosingh for IndieReader