A tactical book on the common reasons why businesses fail, and what to do about it. Knowing how to do the work is a lot different from knowing how to run a business. Everybody is a combination of 3 people: Technician, manager, entrepreneur. It’s knowing which one you need to be at certain times that’s the key. It advocates setting up a business as if it were a franchise, being able to replicate and systemise everything. The E-Myth Revisited (highlights) People who are exceptionally good in business aren’t so because of what they know but because of their insatiable need to know more. The mundane, tedious little things done right make a business great. Business is a way to know ourselves. A mirror to what we know and how we act. Just because you like baking pies doesn’t mean you … Read More
A brain dump of business ideas
I don’t know what it is about me, but I can’t stop myself coming up with business ideas. Not just business ideas for the sake of business, but better ways to do things. More effective ways. This is a great habit, but it can also be dangerous. Instead of thinking specifically about the problems or goals I’m working on, my mind can wander. I may be trying to work through a marketing plan, and I find myself thinking about how cool it would be to have a QR code on my kids pyjamas, with a link to a bedtime story. So any idea I get, I write it down and try and forget about it. If more ideas about it pop into my head, I’ll add them to it. Eventually I may have a few bullet points about the idea, … Read More
(Book) Your move: The underdog’s guide to building your business – Ramit Sethi
A direct, to-the-point, guide on how to sell. Yes, it covers more than just selling but this is the main point of the book. It has some good tips and examples, not just to do with actual selling techniques but it addresses our beliefs and mindsets first. In brief: Make sure your product/service is great Focus on the customer and ensure you’re giving them exactly what they want Be bold in selling, the more you sell, the more value you can create Your move: The underdog’s guide to building your business – Ramit Sethi (highlights) But when you start your own business, there’s no limit to how much you can earn. But the biggest failures aren’t things you did. They’re things you didn’t do. And I still read books and get advice from people whose businesses are a fraction of … Read More
Turning everything into a win (minimising the downside)
When I travelled to Europe a few years ago I learned French and Spanish using a bunch of Michel Thomas audio CD’s Side note: If you’re wanting to learn French, Spanish and a number of other languages you should definitely look him up at michelthomas.com, if you learn best by listening (like I do) then he’s the way to go. I managed to listen to over 24 hours of lessons in the three months before I left. I did this by simply replacing the music/radio in my car to language lessons instead. 40 minutes commute each way every day adds up to a lot of potentially wasted time! It got me thinking. How can we turn potentially wasted or not ideal situations into something that actually benefits us? Not just by recovering wasted time, but by using situations or experiences … Read More