Book Competition

EMyth Revisited

“The E Myth Revisited: Why most small businesses don’t work and what to do about it”, Michael Gerber, Harper Collins.

Let’s quickly dispel a myth about “The E-Myth Revisited”. The “E” in the title does not refer to electronic and it’s nothing to do with the dot com bubble. In this case the “E” stands for entrepreneur and the myth that the book examines is that small businesses are started by hordes of eager entrepreneurs searching for profits. But don’t let that stop those of you who don’t work in, or own, small businesses and have no intention of ever doing so, stop reading this article! The ideas that Gerber puts forward to help the non-entrepreneurs survive business start-up and achieve growth are just as applicable in larger organisations.

Technicians vs Businessmen
What Gerber starts out with is the point that most new businesses are started by “technicians” who are good at their job (be it hairdressing, programming, marketing or whatever) but have got tired of “The Boss”. They start businesses where they (specifically they) do what they are good at. Unfortunately this is not the same as running a good business and invariably they end up going belly up.

Business Model
What “The E Myth Revisited” is really about is instilling the right commercial mindset and providing some extremely useful processes to ensure business survival and growth. It is fascinating that the first recommendation is to treat the business as if you were going to franchise it. That means accurately defining the business model and then describing in detail the key systems (e.g. management, sales and marketing) in a format that almost anybody could follow. Over time this allows the owner or owners to pass over the technician roles and concentrate on the strategic ones. It is important to note that Gerber stresses the need for vision in articulating the business model. Systems and processes are not just work sheets or rotas but paths towards achieving the vision – this should be something that employees can buy into and believe in.

Of Interest?
The format of the book is interesting. It’s part story and part business manual. The story element will be familiar to anyone who has looked into life coaching. It can be a little mawkish but I guess that the emotional element does at least make it realistic. The business manual part focuses on more detailed information on defining the key systems mentioned earlier and making them fit for your situation. Most of them are very interesting and highly thought provoking.

The combination of strategy and practicality is highly appealing. It might be an eye-opener for anybody thinking of setting up on their own. Definitely recommended reading.

The Idea Generator

"The Idea Generator: 60 Tools for Business Growth", Ken Hudson, Atlantic Books, £7.99

Marketing is a broad topic isn't it? It describe the project management that goes into organising events, the writing skills required to pen decent web copy and the analytical skills needed to understand what's happening in the marketplace. And that's just for starters. What links all of the different aspects of marketing is the need, at various times, to think differently, to think bigger or to think new.

Arrowsmith has chosen The Idea Generator for the latest competition prize because it contains tools and techniques that can stimulate thinking or break those log-jams when the creative juices just aren't flowing. Some of the tools are for use by you alone and some are for team-working environments. All of them are relatively simple in terms of initiating their use: the consequences could be far-reaching though.

So if you want to find out the secrets of idea generation in sales, leader ship, team performance or business growth, amongst others. then send us an This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and tell us who you are and what you do - you'll be entered in a prize draw to win a copy of the book on November 30th.

Gareth Edwards

Arrowsmith Marketing

September 1^st 2008

How to Win Friends and Influence People

"How to Win Friends and Influence People", Dale Carnegie, Vermillion, £7.99

This is a well-known book but probably not so well-known is that it was first published in 1936. Despite its age or perhaps because of it "How to Win Friends and Influence People" continues to provide a valid and helpful set of advice in dealing with a variety of business situations such as networking, presentations and selling.

So influential is this book is that you will recognise many of the points it makes because they have appeared in business and self help books of all varieties ever since. NLP (Neuro Linguistic Processing) fans will see some of its key principles (for instance the importance of goal setting) set out here too.

So why is this book good and why is it worth entering the competition to win a copy?

Well "6 ways to make people like you" and "12 ways to win people to your way of thinking" are a good start. What I like is the fact that Dale Carnegie engaged in a lot of research, so this isn't just a book of ideas. He talked to the successful people of his era to find out what made them tick and then put the work into practice through his own training organisation. He then used feedback from that training to make constant chages to his findings, and this process was carried on by his family.

Still not convinced? Want to tell me that this is all rubbish. Try following this Dale Carnegie principle. "Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never say, 'You're wrong.'". See it's easy.

Beermat Entrepreneur

"Beermat Entrepreneur" by Southon & West

No it's not about making money by selling your beermat collection on eBay. It's a great guide to business success.

"The Beermat Entrepreneur: Turn your great idea into a great business", Southon & West, Prentice-Hall, £12.99

I chose this book for the November competition because it gets across some key points about starting up a business in a succinct and fun way. It takes an irreverent perspective on concepts such as business planning but makes up for it in its enthusiasm for making prospective entrepreneurs think about customers, products and markets realistically.

Having met Mike Southon (one of the authors) at a Beermat Ecademy event in Birmingham I can vouch for the fact that he is a/ a nice guy b/ knows what he is talking about becuase he has started up companies and (very importantly) been successful at it.

I read this book perhaps once every 3-4 months: it isn't very long. To remind myself what I need to keep doing and to help me advise clients.

Freakonomics

"Freakonomics" by Levitt & Dubner

Freaky, fascinating economics.

"Freakonomics", Levitt & Dubner, Penguin, £8.99

No it isn’t strictly a business or a marketing book. What it has got going for it is that it stimulates thinking about business, about markets, about customers, about buyer behaviour and about supplier behaviour.

Steven Levitt is an economist who apparently doesn’t like numbers. Stephen Dubner is a journalist who has helped turn an interesting economic perspective into a book which keeps the reader reading.

One of the key themes of the book is the effect (planned and unintended) of incentives. For instance the wonderful incentive of commission paid to real estate agents. What Levitt does is use the stats to tell the true story. The Estate Agent will do what they can to get a quick sale even at lower price because sticking out for a higher price means only a marginal increment in their income. This contrasts with what happens when realtors sell their own property – the property stays on the market longer in order to get a better price.

And this analysis is continued into a variety of interesting, bizarre and controversial areas. Why did crime levels in New York and other major US cities plunge in the 90’s? Is corruption rife in the ancient and traditional sport of Sumo wrestling? You will find the answers here and you might not like them.

It’s a great read. The only complaint is that it is too short!