How to Run and Grow Your Own Business: 20 Ways to Manage Your Business Brilliantly (In a Week)

You are about to embark on one of the biggest adventures of your life. It's a daunting prospect, isn't it? An empty desk, no customers, no confirmed money coming in, and no one to gossip with. Welcome to running your own business. Every issue is now yours to wrestle with, and yours alone. But then so is all the satisfaction when things go well, whether that is mental or financial. This book expertly guides you through the principles of running and growing a successful business - including what to do when it's not going exactly as you wish. Crammed with practical advice - from assessing pros and cons to motivating yourself and adopting effective practices - it will help you find clear, practical solutions and prove invaluable as you tackle this great adventure. Cover Book title Copyright Contents Part One: Starting and Running Your Business 1 Where do I start? Assume that you have something to offer Be honest with yourself Research your market thoroughly Work out how much money you need Write a simple, realistic plan Invest in a distinctive identity Get connected Appoint a good accountant Work out the materials you need Network constantly without being irritating Now make it happen 2 The right tools for the job Write out your contact list and new business hit list Write down everyone you want to get in touch with Put the phone number by every one of your contacts Do everything when you think of it, otherwise nothing will happen Constantly review the new business hit list to see if you are being realistic Keep the numbers manageable Keep inventing new ideas for contacting someone Every time you get through to someone, move them to your contact list Try to have 20-30 meetings fixed for the next 4-6 weeks Never cancel a new business meeting because you are ‘too busy’ 3 Getting the money right Concentrate on the money, but don’t become obsessed with it Weigh up the Service v Product distinction Work out how to have a near-infinite margin Consider the lucky seven money questions Try to avoid the most time-consuming business issue ever: other people Try to sell what you do, not materials with a mark-up The price–quality equation: if you cost a lot, you must be good Aim for 50 per cent repeat business within three years Don’t be small-minded about money Be canny about requests for free or ‘win only’ work Consider Everyday Flexible Pricing 4 How to communicate effectively Choose the right method of communicating Become adept at describing what you do in less than 30 seconds Be prepared to improvise on the spot Introduce some humanity into your CV Remember that people give business to those with whom they like having meetings Meet lots of people and stay open-minded Take your customers to lunch and insist on paying Rewrite all your marketing materials Design a clever mailing to send to your customers Ask your customers what else you could do for them 5 Taming the telephone Don’t call it ‘cold calling’ Admit that the phone will never ring unless you market yourself If you make 100 calls, you will get 40 meetings, and three jobs Prepare your selling angles Don’t use jargon to disguise what you do Tell them you are available Try selling the opposite of everyone else Tell them it is simple (because you are experienced) Offer to solve their issue quickly Be ready with examples of customers for whom you work Don’t start discounting before you have even met Have a system for noting your calls Be natural and human 6 Understanding time Everyone views time differently Everything you do will involve a six-month time lag Corporate time moves slower than normal time One day of personal time equals two weeks of corporate time Whatever you plan to do, start now 7 How to conduct yourself You are the company culture Only do business with people that you like Subsume your ego Do not distinguish between nice and nasty things to do Talk to yourself Remind yourself of all the positive things you have done Never moan Never drink during the day Never watch daytime TV Never finish a day before deciding what to do the next morning Never do anything unless you know why you are doing it Have reserve plans for every day Remember that Plan B is often more productive than Plan A 8 Meetings can be fun When you secure a meeting, get organized straightaway Get chronological Research everything thoroughly Give the client a list of ways in which you can help Include things that you could do, even if you have never done them Ask what is on the client’s mind at the moment and offer to fix it Listen more than you talk Be more positive than everyone else in every meeting Never be late Be spontaneous and act naturally 9 Staying sane and relentlessly enthusiastic Take the issues seriously, but not yourself Never do one thing for too long Don’t forget to build time off into your year plan When you take time off, be genuinely unavailable Develop new hobbies to alleviate monotony and make yourself more interesting If you have had a good day, reward yourself Only over-deliver to a level that reflects your premium price Get your working environment right 10 You are not alone Just because you work on your own, it doesn’t mean you are alone Establish your own self-employed network Balance the service equation Learn to say no politely Refer your surplus work to others Enjoy the camaraderie of other companies Blur the lines between work and social life View it like an extended family If you stay in touch, they will too One man’s solitary confinement is another man’s freedom Part Two: Developing and Growing Your Business 11 Reviewing your business: some nasty questions What to do when things go wrong You cannot be prescriptive about survival or growth Time for tough love and some tough thinking Can’t get no satisfaction 12 The discipline to develop New company: same as the old company? Ripping up the straitjackets you built yourself Turning native Growing panes: a new look through the business window Efficiency is a sophisticated form of laziness Are you suffering from attitude sickness? 13 Thinking is free Thinking is free, so do it more often Try this: it might just work Why the next big thing might be small A strategy is when you have decided what to do KISS: Keep It Simple and Sensible KITSCH: Keep It Terribly Simple and Cool Headed Didn’t work? Try again 14 Thinking stage 1: The facts Rivers and dams Send it down to the boys in forensic or go completely ballistic? Common sense analysis Always admit if something was a fluke Remind me, what was the original idea? 15 Thinking stage 2: Your own opinion The doctor who died of ill health Heed your own counsel The pragmatist who was sceptical about the cynic Death to compromise 16 Thinking stage 3: The experience of others The survey explained Question 1: What is the hardest thing about running and growing your business? Question 2: Is growth always a good thing? Question 3: Did you ever suffer from post-launch blues or a three-year itch? Question 4: How do you plan the ‘next big thing’? Question 5: If you could have known one thing when you started that you know now, what would it be? Question 6: Is there anything else you would like to pass on about growing or evolving your business? Whole survey diagnosis 17 Setting up tripwires and grenades How to trip yourself up on purpose Write it down and it gets done Idea tripwires Personal planning tripwires Business planning tripwires Dropping grenades in fishponds Idea grenades Personal grenades Business grenades Don’t replace the original, replace the spare Multitasking versus Rapid Sequential Tasking Put the effort in only where it gets you somewhere 18 Writing your Lifesmile Statement Part I: What am I like? Part II: Decide your own style Part III: So what do I really want? Part IV: I pledge... Part V: My Lifesmile Statement Try being angular A board meeting with yourself Nailing a jelly to the wall 19 Don’t confuse movement with progress Action not activity Outcome not output Spotting obfuscation Business does not mean being busy There’s a tidal wave coming. Here’s a paper cup Everything busier than everything else 20 Everything may or may not be related to everything else ‘Butterfly destroys city’: chaos theory revisited Action and chain reaction Everything changes It’s all in your mind Yes, but have you actually done it? Closing remarks Taking it further Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U W