I Didn't Finish This Business Book — And That's Okay: A Review of Building a Business Through Good Times and Bad

Rating: ⭐⭐ (2/5) | DNF

I want to start by saying something I think more readers — especially women entrepreneurs — need to hear: it is perfectly okay to put a book down. Your time is one of your most valuable resources, and not every book that sounds promising is going to deliver what you need. This is one of those books for me.

Building a Business Through Good Times and Bad: Lessons from 15 Companies, Each with a Century of Dividends by Louis Grossman and Marianne M. Jennings had everything going for it on paper. A bold title, a compelling premise, and real company case studies spanning over a hundred years of business history. I picked it up expecting practical, hard-won wisdom I could apply to growing a sustainable business. What I found instead was a very different kind of read.

What the Book Is Actually About

The authors examine 15 companies that managed to pay dividends consistently for over a century — through recessions, wars, cultural shifts, and market upheaval. If you are a researcher, an academic, or someone who genuinely loves deep-dive historical business analysis, this book may be exactly what you are looking for. The research is thorough. The examples are real and well-documented. Grossman and Jennings clearly did their homework.

But here is the honest truth: this reads like a research book, not a business guide.

Why I Put It Down

I kept waiting for the practical takeaway — the moment where the authors translate all of that historical data into clear, actionable insight. That moment never really came for me. The book has a tendency to circle back over the same ground without building toward a sharper point, and after a while I realized I was reading more out of stubbornness than genuine engagement.

The business examples are interesting in isolation, but the connective tissue between "here is what these companies did" and "here is what you can do" felt thin. As a small business owner who values intentional, sustainable growth, I needed more of a bridge between the research and the real world.

Who Might Actually Enjoy This Book

I do not want to dismiss this book entirely, because I think it genuinely has an audience. If you are a student of business history, enjoy case study-heavy reading, or are working in a corporate or academic context where you need to understand long-term organizational resilience, this book has real merit. The premise alone — studying companies that survived for over a century — is fascinating and worth exploring.

My Honest Recommendation

If you are a small business owner or entrepreneur looking for practical guidance on building something that lasts, this is probably not the book for you. You may find yourself, as I did, feeling like you are doing a lot of reading without getting a lot closer to your goals.

There is no shame in knowing what kind of reader you are and what kind of resources actually serve your growth. For me, this one was a 2-star DNF — and I am at peace with that.

Have you read this book? Did you have a different experience? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

This post contains my honest, independent opinion. I was not compensated for this review.