Small Business Blog

Archive for June, 2009

Maybe you are reading this and have been thinking about owning your own business. Or, you have a small business running either that is doing well or where you wish it could be more. Regardless, to have a successful small business and to have the freedom and abundance you seek, the first step to business success is it must be about you.

You may say, now wait a minute where is this heading? Over 30 years of self-employment and working with hundreds of self-employed individuals I can assure you that most successful small businesses and the ones that experience small business growth have one thing in common. The first step to business success is that they are built around the founder or owner.

At first you may think this is a selfish approach. But, if you look at the original definition of selfishness, it is about self-preservation. I think you would agree that building a business that preserves and enhances you is a huge plus. After all, without you, where is the business?

Now, this doesn’t mean that the business is all about you. It means that you either deliver and exceptional product or service for your customers but with an organization, routine or performance strategy that enhances you. After all, if you are not at your best, where will your business be?

For the entrepreneur successful in his business, the first step is to have something he or she is passionate about. The second step is to be able to build the business around who they are. Let’s take three attributes that all people have to different degrees. They are create, execute and finalize.

Most people are good at one or two of these. Know what you are good at and build your business around your strengths. For example, maybe you are strong at creating and finalizing the process. Yet, the execute part, which is in the middle, is not where you really enjoy spending your time. If you are spending most of your time in this area you and your business will be at peril. In the beginning you will probably have to do all three.

Yet, if you continue to do all three you and your business will not experience the small business growth you desire. Take a look at yourself. If executing is the least enjoyable aspect, either create systems to insure that the execution takes place or have someone help you with it. If it continues to be a challenge you can look at hiring a small business coach or reading a small business book or small business ebook.

To grow small business and to have a successful performance strategy you must be in alignment with who you are. Pursue your passion and build your small business growth plan around your strengths. When you do you will get off the treadmill of deadening uniformity and be moving to the success you desire.

Today, I’ll let you in on a little secret that I use to read AT LEAST FOUR BOOKS EVERY MONTH, without taking any additional time out of my day.

Every single successful person I know focuses on learning daily, and it’s no accident. Top business owners know that ongoing education is an absolute necessity.

I don’t mean the kind of education you got in school, in those dusty old text books that were full of numbers and boring graphs.

I mean a different kind of education that deals more with street smarts, than book smarts.

Did you know that the majority of people will NEVER read a book again after high school? Our education system leaves such a bad taste in people’s mouths. When we are forced to learn, we end up dreading the process, instead of embracing it.

I know that in my own life, it wasn’t until I was out of school that I really started to love learning. I realized one day, that learning wasn’t just for reading, writing, and arithmetic. You could literally learn how to do ANYTHING in life.

Whether you wanted to get in shape, become more creative, build wealth, or start a business…it is a LEARNABLE skill.

And you do it much the same way you learned in school. You start by surrounding yourself with people who know more about the subject than you do. Then you read, listen, and watch everything that they have to teach you. Mimic the best until you reach a level of mastery where you can innovate on your own.

Once I realized the importance of learning I started trying to read more books about business. The problem was that there was never enough time. Sure, I could TRY to read a chapter per day, but the time would be filled each day with something urgent, and the reading would never get done.

I literally had a STACK of books that I wanted to read, and wasn’t making much progress.

That is, until one day I discovered a secret to success, which I learned from a man named Brian Tracy. The secret was to start listening to AUDIO BOOKS in my car while I was driving.

You see, every day I HAD to drive somewhere. There was no way that I could forget to drive, or not have enough time to drive. Every day, I was going to drive somewhere no matter what, so it was BUILT IN to my life.

I eventually came to hear of more and more successful people, who ALL followed this strategy. Pretty soon I was going through a book a week on tape. I would even “read” books while I was at the gym, taking public transit, or flying (so even if you don’t drive, there are still opportunities).

For me, the real beauty of listening to books on tape is that I get to hear someones voice, and this is how I learn best. It was like I was surrounding myself with these great authors. Everyday, their way of thinking and great outlook on life was changing the way I thought. I heard their voices and ideas so much, it was like they were my personal friends who I couldn’t get away from!

Some people are audio learners, and learn best when hearing someone speak (like me). Some people are visual learners, and learn best when they can SEE the words on the page (I have a different secret for you in my online course). A small percentage of the population are even touch learners, and learn best when moving their body or using their hands.

If you learn well by listening or hearing words in any way shape or form, then audio books are the secret you’ve been missing to start learning more every day, without taking any additional time out of your day.

Life is quite simply TOO SHORT to spend listening to Britney Spears and Snoop Dogg on the radio. Instead, start getting more reading done then you ever thought possible today by listening to audio books.

A great first one to listen to is Brian Tracy’s, The Psychology of Achievment, which you can purchase online.

You can get audio books through services such as www.audible.com (the Amazon.com of audio books), which allows you to download MP3′s to burn to CD’s or to use on your MP3 player.

They are often a bit cheaper than the actual book. You can also get audio books for free at your local library, and find some online for free. Finally, I have a handful of friends who also listen to audio books and we always share.

Start listening to audio books today, and you will AUTOMATICALLY start devouring great books at an incredible pace.

Those who want to stay successful in business understand the need to stay updated and constantly push themselves in new directions. Every year there are new books on business and marketing published. Some of these offer great new perspectives, while others are just rehashes of older classics.
Sometimes older books can be just as valuable as new books. Just think of classics such as Dale Carnegie or Napoleon Hill. These books are timeless in that the advice they offer is about human interaction and human nature, which hasn’t changed much for the last 10,000 years when we discount changes in technology. This year there are 5 books which are must reads for any serious business man or women:

1. Good to Great
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make The Leap and Others Don’t by Jim Collins is an impressive book on corporate culture, that is based on rigorous research of over 1400 companies and what made them successful or not. It includes learning from top CEO’s of American businesses and other notable people from the business world. The learning taken from this book, through theory and examples, is that above technology and other external factors, a strong, disciplined corporate culture is the key to success.

2. Positioning:
The Battle for Your Mind: A marketing classic form 1981, which shook the world with its direct approach to sales and marketing. Now available in a new edition, this book describes why it is so important to position your brand in the consumers mind and how to do it.

3. The Tipping Point:
How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell, discusses how events become trends and go onto global phenomena. A very eye opening book for all who want to get the word out. This book is particularly fascinating to read, considering the exponential growth in web 2.0 and social groups online. Gladwell argues that trends are created, not just random. It is about knowing exactly who to tell exactly what to.

4. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:
Another true classic from Stephen Coldwell deals with everything from raising your children to becoming successful in business, by incorporating 7 habits of success into your life. A bestseller for many years, this book is still as relevant now as it was when it was first published.

5. The World Is Flat 3.0:
A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century: Thomas Friedman could be called a futurist, that is he makes predictions of what is to come. In this book though he focuses more on what wonders have already happened and makes us reflect upon their significance. In that respect, he actually teaches understanding of the present to prepare for the future. The title of the book is a reference to globalization and breaking down political, economic and cultural barriers. A truly inspiring read on how we went from leaflet printing to spread the news of the world to online social groups that transcend borders, age and cultures. If we are to understand the future of globalization this is a great starting point.