Skip to content

A free book by Sal Shakir

How It Runs

Stop doing the work. Start owning the business.

If the business stops when you stop, this book is for you.

Cover of the book How It Runs by Sal Shakir

Why this book exists

I had fifty people working for me and I could not leave for a week.

My father was the best in his class. He finished number one in HVAC trade school. He bought a van. He found a partner, a man who promised to quit his job and build the company with him.

The partner never quit his job.

I watched what that did to him. He lost more than seventy pounds in about two months. This book exists because of what he kept saying: "I don't know how this country runs. I studied it, but I can't apply it."

Two things every company needs

Which box are you in?

I have coached hundreds of companies. Almost all of them are missing one of two things: structure or revenue. Most owners who pick up this book are in the hustle. Money is coming in. Nothing is holding it. And the owner is the only thing keeping it from falling apart.

Structure and revenue in a four-box grid: most owners who pick up this book are in the hustle

The hustler had to die for the business owner to live.

Where you are going

Worker. Boss. Leader. Owner.

One picture is not enough, four: the ten year, five year, three year and one year views of the company

The whole book in one picture

Everyone in your company is rowing.

In most companies, people row in different directions. Not because they are bad at rowing. Because nobody told them where the boat is going, which oar is theirs, or how to tell if it is moving.

Everyone in the boat: the whole book in one picture

What is inside

Five parts and a rim.

Part 1 · Vision

Where are we going?

The picture at 1, 3, 5 and 10 years. Keep it, pass it or sell it.

Part 2 · Structure

How does the business operate?

Every role owns one number. Reading the chart to find your next hire.

Part 3 · Revenue

How do we make money?

Where customers come from, and what a customer costs you.

Part 4 · People

Who makes it happen?

Hiring for a role and a number. The first ninety days.

Part 5 · Data

How do we know if it is working?

What you take home, and how you can see it.

The rim · The Weekly

The one meeting that runs the business

Ninety minutes that touches every part, every week.

Five parts and a rim: Vision, Structure, Revenue, People, Data, and The Weekly

This book is for you if

  • You are an owner doing the work yourself
  • You run a trade, a service or a local business
  • The business stops when you stop
  • You want it to run without you and pay you

It is not for you if

  • You want a get-rich plan
  • You are not willing to change how you run the business

About Sal

Sal Shakir

Sal paid off his parents' mortgage in 2018. He has had his hands in thirty-one companies and runs events for business owners.

Read it now

Read the first 10 pages free.

Get the full book, free

Where should I send your copy?

Add your name, email and phone and the whole book opens on this page. Your copy also goes to your inbox.

© 2026 Sal Shakir