Business Coaching

Entrepreneurs: Business Ideas To Make Your Fortune

In the recent post Entrepreneurs How Much Should You Earn I argued that the true premium for entrepreneurship was on the ability to find new ideas for creating customer value and having the courage to implement those ideas. Everything else can be outsourced or delegated to a team of employees.

Today I will share a way for entrepreneurs to find the business ideas to make their fortune based on "Creating New Market Space", a Harvard Business Review article by W. Chan Kim and Renee Maubourgne which was included in their excellent Blue Ocean Strategy book. This fits very nicely into my current thinking and campaign for customer focused entrepreneurs.

The Scenario For Blue Ocean Thinking

Competing head-to-head in existing markets is tough and the effort to return ratio is poor.

It would be much better if there was a systematic process for exploring opportunities and possibilities for creating new markets in uncontested areas.

The Routes To Find New Markets

1. Looking across substitute industries - how do customers make decisions and trade-offs between products which meet the same basic need but in a different way? Eg Home Depot was based on finding a new market between the professional contractors and the DIY hardware stores.
    
2. Looking across strategic groups within industries - a strategic group is the name for businesses who approach a market in the same way and are often concentrated around a price/value point. For example mid priced 4 door saloon cars could be considered a strategic group with offerings from Ford, Vauxhall (General Motors), BMW and Audi offering similar products around the £20k level. A value innovator would look at the factors which would encourage a customer to trade up or down between groups.
    
3. Looking across the chain of buyers - this recognises that for many purchases the person who chooses is different from the person who pays and the person who uses the product or service. Industry custom often focuses attention on one main buyer. The article gives the example of the Reuters online financial information service which was bought by IT departments and dominated the market until Bloomberg came along and gave the dealers a strong reason to prefer their solution based on ease of use and the ability to make better trading decisions.
    
4. Looking across complementary products - a product or service is rarely bought in isolation so what is bought before, during or after which can help redefine the market and open it up to people who previously felt constrained? For example, the difficulty of finding baby sitters restricts the opportunities for young parents to go out in the evenings.
    
5. Looking across functional or emotional appeal - some markets are dominated by emotional marketing messages while others stress the functional, practical benefits of the product but decisions are often made emotionally and justified logically so shaking up the marketing mix can create new opportunities. This is how Starbucks changed the idea of coffee from a low cost hot convenience drink to a fashionable and social drink. It worked in reverse for the Body Shop which took away the expensive frills from cosmetics and replaced it with an environmentally friendly message.
    
6. Looking across time - This route to new market space is based on anticipating trends and how customer values will change.

The article is excellent but so is the book. It provides a systematic approach to trying to look at new ways to focus on the customer, their experience and their benefits.

How Do You Exploit New Market Space?

Mentioned briefly in the "Creating New Market Space" article and covered more extensively in other W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne articles and the book is the next stage - how you design your new value curve or customer value proposition.

First let me give you a quick resume of customer value.

Any product that is purchased has a number of attributes which have helped convince the customer to buy. Price is always a factor but we know that to get value for money, there are many of factors which create the benefit or reassurance the customer needs.

Generally speaking the higher the price, the more components of value there are and the better the performance.

So if we use a car as an easy example to understand, expensive cars are usually faster, more comfortable, have more clever extras and offer more status. The downside is that they cost more to buy and maintain.

Since the objective is not to design products that just move up the value curve and need to be premium priced to cover their costs, W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne have created a four question framework to help you to reconfigure these factors of customer value:

1. What factors should be reduced to well below the industry standard?
    
2. What factors should be eliminated because they are taken for granted but not wanted?
    
3. What factors should be raised well above current industry standards?
    
4. What new factors should be introduced which have never been offered before?

Your Turn Now - Find Your Business Idea

This is a powerful process which can help you to find new opportunities but it does require inspiration.

I recommend that you get yourself a blank piece of paper and some quiet time and start listing the main reasons why people buy current products and work through the new market space framework.

If you want to know more, you can buy the Blue Ocean Strategy book

Or the article I have discussed (which I first read back in 1999 when it was published)

To Your Success

Paul Simister

Your Profit Coach, business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

© Planning & Control Solutions Ltd 2008 All Rights Reserved

Why People Want But Don't Buy

I have started reading "Why People Buy" written by John O'Shaughnessy back in 1987 and it seems to be a classic case of forgetting much of what we already know. Chapter 2 talks about the fascinating idea of why people want but don't buy.

I haven't read much of the book yet but I already believe that it will be important in shaping my thoughts about custompreneurs (customer focused entrepreneurs).

The book starts with the premise that people have a vision of what "the good life" means to them and that subconsciously translates into a set of spoke or unspoken goals. These goals then drive a want, desire or need for various products and services but because people's visions are hazy, their goals can be shaped by effective marketing.

Why People Don't Buy What They Want

The book gives three reasons why people don't buy what they want:

1. The want may be latent - the potential customer is aware of the product or service but doesn't realise the how the potential benefits link into their own goals for a desired life.
    
2. The want may be passive - the potential customer may be aware of the benefits from the product but feel inhibited from buying. There is something holding back the desire.
    
   It occurs to me that this is particularly true for owners of small businesses and the entire topic of business advice.
    
   Their goal is clear. They know that they want a more prosperous business which often translates into more profits for fewer hours worked but they have a reluctance to pay for business advice, training, consultancy and coaching in all the different varieties and forms.
   
   It may be a concern over the benefits v costs or more often a concern about the extra time it will take out of their already over-stretched working week.
    
   It may even be an issue of pride - "I don't want to admit I don't know how to do things - the business adviser will think I'm stupid." (No they won't, the adviser can't do what you do in your trade or profession) or "This is my business. I'm not paying someone else to tell me what to do." (Again a misunderstanding, any adviser will be focused on helping you to achieve the goals that you set at the beginning, the adviser's role is to make your journey easier and faster.)
    
3. Purchase may be held back for exclusionary reasons which may be temporary or permanent. These include the lack of money and I have blogged before about the "ability to pay" as a key issue in your lead prospecting or it may be an existing commitment to other people.

It shows that sometimes it is so useful to go back to basics in your marketing and ask the most basic of questions:

Why don't people who want buy?

and

Why don't people want what is good for them?

Instead of finding new ways to send out the promotional message, just stop and put yourself in the prospective customer's shoes. Try to "be the customer."

I will be reviewing the full book "Why People Buy" John O'Shaughnessy when I have finished it but don't be surprised if I don't blog about a few other exerts that fire my imagination.

The more the customer focused entrepreneur understands their target customers and all the issues which surround their purchasing decisions, the more effective they will be at designing, communicating and delivering customer value.

To Your Success

Paul Simister

Your Profit Coach, business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

© Planning & Control Solutions Ltd 2008 All Rights Reserved

Preparing for A Recession: Changing Customer Demand

The lead article in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday was "Austerity Britain: Families Cut Out Luxuries" and this has made me think about how the talk of the prospects of a recession is changing customer demand.

I am going to look at the effects of a possible recessions and its impact of customers and their purchasing but first I want to explain my take on what is happening in the UK as this colours my later comments.

What Is Happening In The UK?

Will there be a recession in the UK? The official economic forecasts still say no. Growth is expected to fall to 1.5% from recent 3% levels and a post Second World War average rate of 2.25%.

But the official forecasts are not reflecting what is really happening in the economy.

We have a government and Prime Minister who are not providing the leadership required. Politically the UK looks lost. Several years away from an election, a weak Prime Minister is struggling to control his own party and the main opposition appear little better, gaining popularity in polls only through contempt for the incumbents.

Petrol prices are up, food prices are up, housing costs are up. Taxes on the poorer paid working families is up. The official rate of inflation has little connection with the rising costs families really face.

House prices are falling and the savings ratio has been eroded over the last ten years from about 10% of GDP to 2% while consumer borrowing for personal debt and equity released from the housing market is high.

Consumers Disposable Income

From my high school economics I remember the definition for aggregate demand in an economy as C + (I - S) + (G-T) + (X-M)

where C= Consumption, I = Investment, S = savings, G = Government expenditure, T = Taxes, X = Exports and M = Imports.

It occurs to be that we can use this same logic to identify the money a consumer has to spend:

= Income - Taxes - Savings + Borrowings

Attempts are being made to peg Income to the consumer price index although as mentioned earlier, this doesn't reflect common household costs.

Savings

Savings can be positive where people try to save more out of their income to provide a rainy day fund or negative as people cash in their savings to spend.

Currently the savings rate is very low and has been falling. Across the social-economic classes I suspect that the only people who have saved in recent years are the people who have earned enough to meet their consumption desires and had money left over.

A quick check back on history shows that the savings ratio has been highest when the economy is in recession, peaking in 1980 and 1992 so this indicates that change from spending post savings to saving income could be a significant reduction is disposal income a consumer is prepared to spend.

Borrowings

While savings and borrowings may be considered opposites, I have separated them out to help identify the factors.

Consumer debt is already high and many people have hit their borrowings limits. It is a simple fact, what you borrow one month, you have to pay back in the future.

I can see less money available for new consumer debt so again we will see a swing which reduces the money available to spend.

Changing Spending Habits

The Daily Telegraph reported that spending habits were already changing noticeably as families adjust to the economic squeeze and the prospects of a recession.

1. Move to lower priced stores -  Discounters like Primark and Aldi are reporting increased sales
    
2. Holidays abroad switched to the UK - enquiries for British holidays are up by nearly 50%
    
3. Mintel report that 57% of consumers have cut back on their spending - 20% have delayed a holiday while 11% have put off home improvements
    
4. Discount hotel group Travelodge  report bookings 22% up on last year for the May bank holidays and Premier Travel Inn report sales up 10.5% on last year but overall hotel occupancy fell by 1.3% in the last three months.
    
5. Short term hire is replacing replacing ownership with the Fractional Life website (a comparison site of 300 rental, leasing and collective ownership sites) reporting traffic up 90% in the last six months.

Preparing Your Business For A Recession

Consumers will continue to spend but it appears that they are already spending less.

So the question is, how can you prepare your business for the changes in consumer demand on the basis that change means problems for some but opportunities for others.

The Value Price Line

In general every market is characterised by a value price line where low priced products provide the basic functionality required and as price increases, the various components of value increase.

Let's just look at the car industry as a simple, easy to understand example.

There are many new four door saloons, ranging from a Proton for £9k through to a Maybach for £345k.

As the price increases there has to be a reason (some dimension of value) to justify spending more.

So take a look at your market and draw your own value price line.

Plot where your firm is and your competitors.

Is there a gap which doesn't seem to be covered very well?

Can you take advantage by positioning your product in the gap with enough credibility (e.g. it is no use Proton spotting that there is a gap between £35k and £45k) to attract buyers.

There are only three ways to fill the gap in the value price line:

1. Reduce the price of an item from above - but we know that reducing price has a big impact on reducing profit.
    
2. Increase the price of an item from below and add on extra value to justify the increase
    
3. Designing the product for the price point, taking away an unnecessary and unwanted extras.

I realise that cars are a long term development project but it is this principle I want you to think about.

If customers want to pay less, can you design a special product so that those still wanting the full service option and prepared to pay for it don't get a free ride.

Temporary Fix v Long Term Solution

As explained above, there is a move to short term possession or shared ownership so is this something else that you can offer?

Cannibalisation Of Existing Demand

This is a big problem and rightly a big concern.

If you are too active in offering lower priced alternatives, will you "sell" your buyers on the lower priced option rather than the higher priced item they usually buy?

Yes it can happen but the dangers can be reduced.

First, develop your lower priced solutions. If you don't your competitors will and will try to tempt your customers away. If a customer who previously would have paid £1,000 to own a Gucci handbag, now is looking to hire a bag for two weeks and pay £100, then they will search for this opportunity.

Two, work on your sales questioning techniques for what the customer is after. The more you understand what they want and their budget, the more you will be able to offer the right things. Really try to tap into what is is that the customer wants to achieve. You are the expert in your products so they may mistakenly believe that a lower priced item will give them the solution they want but you may know better.

You are doing the customer a disservice if you keep this knowledge to yourself and they walk away with a low priced item which doesn't give them the benefits they desire.

Three, pricing theory indicates that it's best to start with a high reference price and to work down to lower priced more affordable offerings by emphasising what the customer is losing from buying the lower priced item.

Four, don't forget to offer an upsell after they have agreed the purchase. Any extra profit you make is important so don't forget to offer the batteries, the spare printer cartridges or the three year warranty. The customer can say No but if you don't ask, you will never know.

To Your Success

Paul Simister

Your Profit Coach, business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

© Planning & Control Solutions Ltd 2008 All Rights Reserved

Business Problems Try A Business Health Check

Business failure & the role of management

Business coaching in a recession

  If you like this article please Stumble it or Digg it so that you can find it again easily wherever you are. The AddThis button makes it easy to post it to your preferred social booking site.

Valuing Differentiation With Premium Prices

All the gurus say that for your business to be success you have to follow a differentiation strategy so that you stand out from your competitors. Provided you are different in factors which matter to customers you then have a competitive advantage based on being better, cheaper or different.

For the differentiation advantage to turn into extra profits you have to be able to justify why customers should be prepared to pay premium prices.

Inspired By Footballers Pay

I started to think about why people are prepared to pay premium prices after I read the sports news this morning about two Manchester United footballers who have agreed new deals. One player is 28, the other 29. Both are England internationals and have many years of first team experience. Both are tall and strong and can play in the same position. But it is reported that one player has agreed a deal for £60,000 per week while the other will receive £120,000.

So why is it that Manchester United are prepared to pay one player 100% more than the other?

Small Differences Can Make A Big Impact

Everyone who watches Manchester United accepts that the one player is better than the other. He is a little more aware of what is happening in the game. His positioning is a little bit better. He is a better passer of the ball.

And all the small differences add up to one big difference when the Manchester United management decide how much each player is worth to the team.

Easy Pricing Mistakes

It is very easy to misunderstand the value that your product or service creates.

When you look at the advantages from a supply perspective, the differences are very small and knowing how small, you may not have the confidence to add much of a premium price.

But turn the situation around and look at it from the customer's perspective.

These differences in the two players may mean that once in every five games, a goal may be scored by the opposing team which could have been avoided if the better, more expensive player was in the team.

And over a thirty eight game season, that could be an extra seven or eight goals conceded so eight games may be drawn instead of won, gaining the team eight points instead of twenty four.

Championships are won or lost on much smaller margins than that.

Look At Customer Consequences

To understand the value of your differentation, you need to look at your product or service through the eyes of a customer and in particular look at the different effect of the consequences of purchase and how these consequences relate to their goals.

Remember people buy something for what it does, not what it is.

I think that it was in the excellent book "The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing" that I read about the example of two paint brushes.

The first was a standard paint brush which cost $10 to buy.

The second paint brush was special. The company had invested a fortune and developed innovative bristle technology that meant the paint could be applied twice as quickly and achieve the same quality.

So is this new paint brush twice as good as the standard?

Yes.

So should it be priced at $20?

No.

When you are buying a paint brush, you are buying the ability to put paint on walls, doors and any other object.

Your goal is to make whatever you are painting look nice as quickly as possible.

It is time which matters and this is where the extra value of the paint brush comes in.

If the faster speed of the new paint brush will save you ten hours work, its value is worth much more than $10 to you.

Identifying Your Extra Value

So you are not a professional footballer and you don't sell paint brushes but you can still apply these ideas.

Look at your products and services and compare the consequences of buying from you rather than from your competitors.

Identify where the differences are and calculate what this means to a customer [segment if possible and you can set up price boundaries].

You now have the maximum price premium you can charge but your task is to persuade the customer to pay more so you have to give an incentive to buy so you both share the gain.

You need to educate your customers to appreciate the extra value you are providing and provide proof through testimonials or demonstrations.

Valuing Differentiation With Premium Prices

If you have gone to the trouble of creating sustainable differentiation in your products and services, it is essential that:

• you capture this extra value through premium pricing so that your profits are higher than industry norms or
   
• You knowingly intend to offer better value for money with the intention of gaining share. Your competitors may react but going back to the paint brush example, their room to manoeuvre is very limited. The price of the standard paint brush pay fall from $10 to $5 but that has little effect on the value of the time saving which is worth much more.

This is why knowing, understanding and applying the principles of customer value are so important and why customer focused entrepreneurs do so well.

If you would like a free report please click on "How To Price What You Sell"

To Your Success

Paul Simister

Your Profit Coach, business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

© Planning & Control Solutions Ltd 2007-2008 All Rights Reserved

Marketing To The Emotions Free Report

The day after Mark Joyner re-releases the infamous "Mind Control Marketing" which I bought yesterday, I realised that I have free distribution rights to an ebook on the related topic of emotional marketing.

It is called "22 Secret Hot Buttons That Make Consumers Spend Money Like Crazy" and you can download it below.

I have before that people buy emotionally and then use logic to justify that emotion.

That's why husbands buy the latest electronic gadget to the amazement of their wives and why the wife retaliates by sneaking the seventy third pair of shoes into the house.

Both purchases are crazy to the other person's logical mind but they don't feel the emotional pull the purchase has over us.

When we want, when we have real desire for something we feel compelled to buy and provided the price ticket is small, buying is the easy way out.

Buying stops that longing feeling that nags at the purse strings. We receive a "rush" from the purchase. A satisfaction of getting what we want. A relief from the bitter-sweet pain of desire.

So Do You Want To Be Able To Trigger The Emotional Hot Buttons Of Your Customers?

Do you want to discover the secret of marketing to the emotions so that your customer builds up the rational purchase justification for you?

I should be making you opt-in to my mailing list to receive an ebook/report of this quality.

You get over 40 pages explaining why and how emotional marketing works and you get four extra bonus articles at the end:

• Three killer conversion strategies
   
• How to market with postcards
   
• 104 consumer magnets - unstoppable marketing works
   
• How to create news releases and press releases

Why There Is No Opt-In

Let me explain why there is no opt-in for the "22 Secret Hot Buttons That Make Consumers Spend Money Like Crazy" free ebook.

The report comes with various of my affiliate links embedded in to it so I hope that as you read it, you will want to pass it on to other people (because that's what happens with reports we get for free isn't it) and that some of those people will click through and buy what's on offer.

And when they buy, this report sends back money to me. It may not be a fortune for each purchase but "every little helps."

This is just one of the early reports posted in Butterfly Reports, Mike Filsaime's latest money making idea. This is only in the beta stage at the moment and they are having some customer service issues but it is a fascinating idea based on win-win-win.

Butterfly reports make their money from people upgrading to a paid subscription which gives customers more benefits. the customers win by receiving reports that they can use to bundle up in any way they choose, to sell or to give away free or as bonuses for an offer. The writers have their work spread over the Internet and have a chance to promote their own products.

But it only works if the reports are quality and that describes "22 Secret Hot Buttons That Make Consumers Spend Money Like Crazy."

So if you blog or have a website which offers information, I recommend that you review Butterfly Reports.

Marketing To The Emotions

Did you cheat and shoot straight down to the bottom or have you allowed me to tease you so that hopefully you want the report more now than you did at the top of the page.

Well here it is - "22 Secret Hot Buttons That Make Consumers Spend Money Like Crazy"

Download Emotional_Hot_Buttons.pdf

I have bought but not yet read "Mind Control Marketing" by Mark Joyner which is a longer ebook on the same emotional marketing topic. This was the book that became a best seller and was then suddenly taken off the market. It also has cartoons to help make the key points.

Your Profit Coach

Paul Simister

Business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

© Planning & Control Solutions Ltd 2007-2008 All Rights Reserved

Hierarchy of Customer Needs

Nearly 50 years ago (back in 1960) Theodore Levitt wrote a groundbreaking article in the Harvard Business Review called "Marketing Myopia."

Levitt pleaded with companies to lose their focus on products and move it to customer needs by asking the challenging question "What business are you really in?"

Theodore Levitt used the example of the railroad industry.

Dominant in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century for moving both people and goods, the railroad industry has seen its share of both markets reduce rapidly as it fell victim to the relentless march of the motor industry.

The railroad companies didn't see the Henry Ford and the other vehicle manufacturers as competitors. "We are in the railroad industry. They are totally different."

But they weren't.

What the motor industry offered was a substitute offering a product that had the major benefit of convenience.

Could the railroads have stopped the advancement of private and commercial vehicles if they had seen themselves as fulfilling a wider brief? If they had thought of themselves as in the transportation industry as Theodore Levitt suggests?

Probably not.

The  case for the motor car is compelling but the railroads were immensely wealthy. They controlled how and when people and goods moved and charged premium prices.

The railroad companies could have acquired the fledgling motor vehicle businesses who were probably desperate for cash.

So what industry or market are you in? Do you focus enough on thinking about your customers underlying needs a well as selling a better widget?

And are you flexible enough in the way that you use the definition of your business to help customers move through their buying cycle?

Turn Selling Into Buying

If we look at the situation, not from the seller's perspective but from the buyers it seems to me that our purchasing moves down a funnel from the general to the specific.

I call this funnel the Hierarchy of Customer Needs which moves from the basic need through the generic solution and the preferred solution to the final purchase

The Hierarchy of Customer Needs

Using the example from Theodore Levitt's excellent Marketing Myopia article let us consider my need for transportation.

1. The basic need - I need transportation.
   
   I want to move myself from here to there and I want to take these items with me.
    
2. The generic solution - my basic criteria are convenience, speed, ease of use, flexibility
   
   Trains don't meet my requirements and nor do aeroplanes. I need a car.
    
3. The preferred solution - now my purchase criteria start narrowing down. I am big so I have to fit in comfortably, I want reliability because I want to be pretty sure that I am going to arrive where I want to go at around the expected time and I want the car to say something about me.
   
   I want a roomy, reliable but stylish car.
   
   Notice that the "need" from the first two stages has now moved in my preferred solution to a "want."
    
4. The chosen solution - off to the car dealers now and detailed comparisons between the different products. This car is more comfortable than that but this other car looks nicer. This car has more status.
   
   I desire a Mercedes.
   
   Based on my detailed examination then the Mercedes is the one that I choose to buy.
      
5. The buy - now for the practicalities of the purchase. I want this car in my preferred colour with the particular extras immediately and for as little cost as possible.
   
   But this is where things can start to go wrong.
   
   Where the sheer impracticalities of the deal can cause it to be lost. I don't want to wait nine months for my midnight blue, cream leather upholstery Merc. And what do you mean there is no discount if it is made to order? I don't want the lilac model in the showroom with the smaller engine and go faster stripes. And I don't want the 30,000 miles one year old midnight blue Mercedes on the second hand lot.
   
   I think I'll buy the midnight blue cream leather upholstery Lexus I saw yesterday which I can drive away immediately.

It was all going so well but then they lost me. I was forced to make compromises and these compromises made the buying decision unpredictable.

Can you see how your buying criteria change as you move down the hierarchy of customer needs.

The Twist In The Tail

Theodore Levitt was right.

As a purchaser what I am most interested in is me. Or more accurately to put the emphasis in the right place - me, me, me.

I have a transport need but my wants and desires are constrained by the practical technology available to me.

Before the railroads were developed people were happy with horse drawn carriages and the buggy whip manufacturers thrived. (Sorry that's an in-joke and another reference to the Marketing Myopia article.)

But what I really want is instant, easy, safe transport. The car is the best solution in 2008 but what I really, really want is the Star Trek transporter which shifts me from here to anywhere in the world instantly.

No fuss. No traffic jams.

As Queen sang "Now I'm here, Now I'm there."

Beam me up Scottie.

To Your Success

Your Profit Coach

Paul Simister

Business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

© Planning & Control Solutions Ltd 2008 All Rights Reserved

Michael Gerber E Myth Mastery - 4 Stars

"E Myth Mastery: The Seven Essential Disciplines for Building a World Class Company" by Michael E. Gerber can be seen as the follow up to his classic The E Myth Revisited."

I was going to review his new book "Awakening The Entrepreneur Within" but after reading it, I have realised that Michael Gerber is on a voyage and I can't comment on the new book until I have explained my thoughts about "E Myth Mastery."

The E Myth Story So Far

In "The E Myth Revisited" Michael Gerber explains why most small businesses don't work as they should.

Most businesses start when someone who is working in a business has an entrepreneurial seizure and says "This is crazy. I shouldn't be working for him. I know more about doing the real work than him but he goes home with the profit, lives in the big house and drives the fancy car. I can do that."

Unfortunately the person is a technician and knows exactly how to do the work of a technician but little about the work of a manager controlling the business and managing the team and nothing about the business building skills needed to be an entrepreneur.

The technician finds a few customers but carries on preferring to do the technician's work being is busy, busy, busy with the work of the other roles piled on top but never getting done to the right level.

It's a classic case of being too busy working IN the business to work ON the business.

Meeting Sarah From All About Pies

The book starts with Sarah, the role model from "The E Myth Revisited", ten years after her business had been transformed. Only it hadn't been transformed because Sarah hadn't been changed. She was still a small business owner at heart.

Sickly, Syrupy Writing

Many parts of this book are excellent and I have given copies to clients and recommended that others buy it but I must warn you that the biggest drawback is the sickly writing style which makes the audio version of "E Myth Mastery" completely unlistenable.

Michael Gerber seems to think that he is Barbara Cartland writing bad romantic fiction. To make my point I opened the book at random and found this on the first page I tried (page 71).

"Her face was bright, flush with life, her eyes clear and excited, her smile beaming. We hugged each other like old, old friends do, and spoke each other's names..." Yuck!

There is no place for this type of nonsense in any business book that intends to be taken seriously as much of E Myth Mastery deserves to be.

Unless you want more of this rubbish do not buy the E Myth Mastery audio program because you even miss out on the compensating good stuff.

The Seven Disciplines

The good stuff is that Michael Gerber draws on the Seven Disciplines covered in the full E Myth Mastery business coaching program which costs thousands of dollars for businesses to work through with an E Myth coach. I know because I am one of the thousands of people who have bought it.

The seven disciplines are:

1. Enterprise leader
    
2. Marketing leader
    
3. Financial leader
    
4. Management leader
    
5. Client fulfilment leader
    
6. Lead conversion leader
    
7. Lead generation leader

You get the actual text from a selection of the E Myth Mastery workbooks together with details of a website where you can download the E Myth form templates to work through.

While I may not agree with everything written in E Myth Mastery, what you do get is outstanding provided you are prepared to work through it.

Michael Gerber believes in systemisation and letting the system carry the strain so that the coaching can be done by less experienced employees. This effectively means a system which helps and encourages the business owner to find their own answers across the seven disciplines. There is plenty of general business theory which you will see as I describe each discipline in more detail.

The Enterprise Leader

The real book starts on page 71 although there are one or two nuggets of enlightenment within the opening section which makes it worth quickly scanning. It also sets the scene as the conversation/love-in with Sarah continues throughout the book to introduce each new discipline.

You get introduced to the five essential skills of leadership - concentration, discrimination, organisation, innovation and communication which I can't argue with.

The Business Plan That Always Works

This is basically the heart centred plan based on fulfilling a meaningful vision rather than the head based logic of what you think your financial backers need to see.

There is a lot of sense here which echoes my own views that too many business plans are not worth the paper they are written on, let alone the hours spent preparing and reviewing them.

Pillar 2 of my Eight Pillars of Business Prosperity starts with your vision and moves it down to how you are going to spend your time taking action. 

Business Quantification

No arguments from me here either. Your Key Numbers is pillar 1 of my Eight Pillars. If you want to improve and achieve, you have to know where you are starting from and how you are performing as you try new things.

The Marketing Leader

Pillar 3 of my Eight Pillars is your marketing position in the competitive world and the discipline of the marketing leader looks at the same issues.

Your Most Probable Customer

You get introduced to customer demographics -  who, what, where - all essential to know if you are going to correctly target your most likely customers.

Customer Perceptions and Behaviour

This one section is worth at least five times the price of the book and why I spend all that money on the E Myth Mastery program. I hoped to learn more but it's all here in the E Myth Mastery book.

This section introduces you to the idea of understanding how your customers think and make decisions - the art and science of psychographics.

I have been fascinated by the idea of how customers make buying decisions and weigh up the value they receive from buying and compare it against the price they pay for more than ten years. While I have read much about customer value, this was the first time that the term psychographics entered my brain and stayed there.

As I expand my thoughts about being a customer focused entrepreneur you can expect much more on this blog about this subject but the E Myth Mastery book is a superb introduction.

I have been reading marketing books for over twenty years and achieved a distinction in my MBA because I was a swot and love reading about business. I have never seen the logical/emotional parts of the purchase decision better or more comprehensively explained.

In fact the marketing books tend to emphasise the rational side of the decision, perhaps because it is an academic subject and perhaps because logic can be measured.

It is only in the sales training books and audios that I have found the idea that customers buy emotionally.

The basic explanation of the conversation that goes on in your brain included here is excellent although I do have some reservations with where Michael Gerber takes it.

There are some profound issues here and in trying to systematise, you can lose some of the subtle nuances which make all the difference.

Basically there are various influences on the unconscious mind like people's perceptions of themselves and their situation. It defines their reality which when combined with their motivations and drives goes a long way to explaining their behaviour.

The buying decision itself is a conversation between their gratification preference (emotional desires going straight to the subconscious) and their purchase preference (logical justifications for the purchase) which are bounded by subconscious associations.

This really is great material if you want to spend a few hours trying to put yourself in the shoes of your typical customers and try and work out how they think and look at the world.

If you can't be bothered then it won't appeal to you as much but the more you try to understand, the more you confirm your theories through observation and conversation. The more you actually understand, the more your marketing campaigns cut through the clutter like a laser beam and that means better results for lower cost.

Positioning and Differentiating Your Business

As any business student will tell you, the more you differentiate your business away from your competitors in ways that customers value, the more successful your business will be.

Again the contents of this section are great.

Financial Leader

I found this section interesting from two aspects

1. By qualification I am a chartered accountant so I find money issues easy so it was fascinating to read the insights about how many business owners fear dealing with money issues because it all seems so complicated and intimidating.
    
2. Michael Gerber was in financial trouble. He had told this story before in "The Power Point" but the business that became E Myth Worldwide effectively over-traded. They thought they were doing well. The top line was growing but the cash position was desperate and at one stage it looked like the business may have collapsed.
    
   If you feel intimidated by money and the idea of talking to your accountant and/or bank manager, then I am sure that this chapter will resonate. You will find comfort that even a business great like Michael Gerber has struggled with financial control.

Getting You On the Right Path

An explanation of the financial model of the business is provided including some pricing calculations.

Maximum Cash

Critical cash control ideas.

I wrap all this up in my Pillar 1 on Key Numbers.

Management Leader

Creating A High Performance Environment

This is about building the culture of the business to achieve your vision, starting with self management.

I pick this up in Pillar 7 about leading your team together with the self management issues in Pillar 2 from vision to action.

Operations Manual

One of the ideas that Michael Gerber is most famous for is systematising the business and creating a franchise prototype, even if you have no intention of franchising. In this section he explains how to set up your operations manual.

This comes through in my Pillar 8 systematising your business.

Client Fulfilment Leader

This is effectively your operations and how you meet the promises made to your customer before they decided to buy.

Your Client Fulfilment Baseline

This is back to knowing your key numbers for your business processes connected with client fulfilment.

There are basically three processes:

1. The production process
2. The delivery process
3. The customer service process

If you buy rather than make, your purchasing process would be your production process - how you actually obtain what you sell.

The delivery transfers the value to the customer which is easy to understand for physical goods. For services, production and delivery may be combined eg hairdressing.

The client service process is everything you do above the bare minimum of producing and delivering.

I pick this up in my Pillar 6 turning one time buyers into repeat buyers.

Systems Innovation

Michael Gerber walks you through the E Myth systems improvement process which you may find basic if you have been involved in big process improvement projects but could be a revelation if you haven't seen any systematic process improvement methods.

Pillar 8 again for me, systematising your business also includes improving the underlying processes.

Lead Conversion Leader

Lead Conversion

This is basically the selling process. Marketing has produced a lead from your advertising, your direct mail, your website... but the prospect hasn't bought anything yet. This takes you through a nice simple generic consultative selling system. No complaints there from me.

On my approach, this is all about Pillar 5 sales lead conversion.

Client Re-Conversion

This deals with the persuading one-time customers to buy again by developing great relationships.

My pillar 6 here, increasing the lifetime value of the customer.

Lead Generation

Channels reaching your target market

To buy from you, your customers have to know that you exist so in this chapter Michael Gerber looks at the different ways of reaching your target customers based on where they are and what they do.

Application of Lead Generation Principles

In this section, Michael Gerber explains very concisely how you can get your message across in a ten step process.

This section on lead generation is wrapped up in my Pillar 4 Lead Generation.

Conclusion

As I have worked my way through the E Myth Mastery book I have shown you how the Mastery program fits with my Eight Pillars of Business Prosperity.

You will have seen that while the order and the way the components fit together is different. I have a preference for getting orders flowing in to make more money while Michael Gerber likes to fix the business first.

Because we seem to agree on so much you can understand why I like the core of the book and why I am happy to recommend it to clients.

The E Myth Mastery by Michael Gerber is a great resource for any small business owner looking to improve their business. It is not the whole story and effectively serves as a long lead generation technique for the full E Myth Mastery program.

I would buy "The E Myth Revisited" book first because that helps to set the scene but "E Myth Mastery" is a much more practical book, especially when you download the worksheets from the website.

I can't forgive it for the sugary text that is just too sickly for words and the book is docked one star from the five stars that I would have given it - so that is a four star rating from me. The book is highly recommended.

Just grit your teeth, pour yourself a brandy to settle your stomach, skim read the first section and the introductory sections for each of the seven disciplines and start learning how you can build a world class company.

You can buy the book from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com and I'll earn about 20p.

If you check the dotcom reviews you will see that the E Myth Mastery is certainly polarising opinions with 11 five star ratings and 11 one star ratings

Michael Gerber Is In The UK - 24 June 2008

I've announced this before on my blog but you may have missed it. Michael Gerber is making one of his rare trips to the UK in June at the DreamStart Conference at the Royal Armouries in Leeds on 24 June 2008.

Even better I have been able to negotiate a special price for the readers of my blog and email newsletter. The normal price is £99 per ticket which looks a great deal anyway to feel the special aura around a business guru like Michael Gerber. The special Your Profit Coach price is just £75 per ticket. I don't know how long this special offer will last so take this opportunity to book because I am sure the event will be a sell out.

To take advantage of this special deal, all you have to do is book the Dream Start tickets through this link and enter Your Profit Coach as the booking reference in the space provided. You will then be invoiced at the lower price.

Don't miss this chance to find out why Michael Gerber is a legend in the world of small business advisors.

Awakening the Entrepreneur Within

If you are wondering about my review of Awakening The Entrepreneur Within, I expect to publish in about a months time.

To Your Success

Paul Simister

Your Profit Coach, business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

© Planning & Control Solutions Ltd 2007-2008 All Rights Reserved

Mind Control Marketing - Mark Joyner

Some years ago Mark Joyner wrote an infamous book "MindControlMarketing.com: How Everyday People Are Using Forbidden Mind Control Psychology and Ruthless Military Tactics To Make Millions Online"

I am told that the book shot to the top of the best seller lists but within 36 hours Mark Joyner had a change of mind and withdrew the Mind Control Marketing book.

The world wasn't ready because the psychological tactics can be used and abused.

Mark Joyner background

Before Mark Joyner became a top Internet marketer and top selling author of marketing books, he was a former US Army officer serving in Military Intelligence and a veteran of the cold war. Mark Joyner is a very bright cookie and completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology while working for Military Intelligence.

Using Psychology In Marketing For "Mind Control"

This is an area that I am interested in - see  Marketing Using the Powers Of Psychology and Manipulation In Sales & Marketing.

Mind Control Marketing re-released

Mark Joyner has now decided that he can't hold back the forces any longer and the Mind Control Marketing book is being released on April 8th, 2008.

He has realised that if he does not tell everyone how mind control marketing works and the mind control psychology works, then other people will.

You can register to be placed on the priority registration list for Mind Control Marketing

Either you know these mind control marketing techniques or you don't.

Either you are prepared or you are not.

Either you use these mind control tricks or the tricks are used against you.

My view is that forewarned is forearmed.

Ethical Dilemma about Mind Control Marketing

I do understand where Mark Joyner is coming from on this because I have wrestled with this problem as I try to encourage people to become customer focused entrepreneurs (or custompreneurs as I am calling them.)

The same tactics can be used to help persuade the buyer to make the right decision which is in their best interests or they can be used to trick the buyer into wasting their money on useless scams.

Is Mind Control Marketing Hype?

Well certainly announcing the launch ahead of time and getting everyone really curious about Mind Control Marketing is a mind control technique.

We also have the "unseen missing chapter" trick so we are having mind control marketing tactics applied to us as I write this and you read it.

For an independent opinion take a look at Amazon.com for Mind Control Marketing

Used copies of MindControlMarketing.com are available for sale from $198.58 (funny amount but impressively large) and the Mind Control Marketing video talks about copies selling for between $100 and $500 at different times.

Even more impressive is that there are 114 reviews of which 102 are five stars.

The Mind Control Marketing book looks to be something that we all need to know about.

I haven't read the original book but I am interested in the science and art of persuasion and influence so it looks like I will buy it provided the price is reasonable.

Will I pay a normal book price for it? Yes. Would I pay $200? No.

You do have to be a little wary on books like this.

Just look at the sub-title- "How Everyday People Are Using Forbidden Mind Control Psychology and Ruthless Military Tactics To Make Millions Online".

Update April 9th, 2008

The book went on sale for $27 overnight and I bought it immediately.

After all, if I only pick up one tip that works I'll get my money back many times over.

Here's the link again to buy for Mind Control Marketing.

I will let you know what I think of Mind Control Marketing but that could be a couple of months away.

Update April 10th

I have just realised that I have distribution rights for a free report, "Secret "Hot Buttons" That Make Consumers Spend Money Like Crazy"

Download Emotional_Hot_Buttons.pdf

It is not Mind Control Marketing but it does have over 40 pages of ideas about sales and marketing psychology.

Is it a substitute for Mind Control Marketing?

Not really. If you are interesting in using psychological marketing to power up your sales engine I would recommend that you have both but at least you don't have to pay for both.

To Your Success

Your Profit Coach

Paul Simister

Business coaching for customer focused entrepreneurs

© Planning & Control Solutions Ltd 2007-2008 All Rights Reserved

Mark Joyner The Irresistible Offer - Download your FREE copy of this best selling marketing book by Mark Joyner.