After I Read 40 Books on Business - Here’s What Will Make You Rich

I just finished reading these 40 books about business so I can cut out all the fluff and save you time you see I've got an issue with most business books they have some great Concepts that anyone can learn from but they're buried under so much filler content that it takes ages to get to the gold so as a millionaire businessman myself I wondered if I could use my knowledge to cut through all the waffle that's why over the last 3 months I've made it my mission to read all these books and note down the key points that will actually make make you rich so I've divided them into four categories how to start with no money how to sell anything to anyone how to Market your business and how to manage your money like the 1% now you may think some of these categories may not appeal to you but trust me put them together and they could make you a force to be reckoned with in the business world let's get on to the first [Music] section so how to start with no money has got to be one of the most Googled questions ever so let's dive into it step one is to find your strengths this seems pretty obvious however Society has conditioned us to actually focus on improving our weaknesses rather than doubling down on our strengths but the reality is you can be 10 times more successful as you focus on following the path of least resistance in other words the stuff you're already good at strength finder 2. 0 says your strengths come down to a simple equation Talent times investment equals strength let's use golf as an example I enjoy playing at my local Club although I'm not bad I'm far from great suppose you took both Tiger Woods and me at the age of 13 and gave us the same amount of coaching and practice I'm willing to bet that every hour he practice would equate to about 10 of mine this is because his inherent talent for the sport is significantly higher giving him a larger multi mullier that's why this book is so great as it helps you find your most powerful multiplier so you can make more progress than others in a shorter amount of time once you start thinking of weaknesses as an expense you need to minimize your time will become so much more effective you can always find people who can make up for your weaknesses how do when friends and influence people give some great networking techniques you can try out so before we move on ask yourself this have you been trying to become successful through fixing your weaknesses or through developing and implying your innate strengths step two come up with an idea now that you understand the importance of playing to your strengths it's equally as important to choose a business idea where you have an advantage this is because every company that goes Belly Up has one thing in common they couldn't outrun the competition 0o to one was written by Peter Phil The Man Who Sold PayPal to eBay for $1. 5 billion what's even more more impressive is that his original team who received his personal mentorship went on to establish companies like YouTube and Linkedin given the number of successful businesses he's influenced it's clear that he's mastered the secret of generating billion dooll ideas he says that billion dooll business ideas come from betting on a contrarian truth this is a real truth about how people will act in the future that they aren't aware of or don't want to admit Steve Jobs believes that we didn't want a keypad on our phone very few people agreed with him especially as blackbery was the most popular phone at the time and that thing was literally riddled with buttons I bet you guys don't even remember blackberries but he believed in his vision and was rewarded after a releasing the iPhone and changing the world forever this isn't an isolated example Uber believed that we would feel comfortable getting into a stranger's car and Netflix believed we would want to binge watch TV shows if you're struggling to come with a contrarian truth then give start with why a read as it will get you thinking in the right kind of way perhaps you're not aiming to start a billion dooll business but consider the things you believe can be improved by adopting a slightly different approach people will probably think you're crazy at first but that's okay going against the grain lets you carve out a massive Advantage before anyone else even notices what you're up to this means you won't have to worry about competition for a very long time step three is create a plan now you know what you're good at and you've got your idea you need to get very clear on how your business is going to be structured otherwise you're just going to be running around like a headless chicken not knowing where to focus your attention business model generation is a collective effort from 470 entrepreneurs professors and CEOs across 45 different countries they were able to break down any business model into the essential nine building blocks that make up any business they believe that many business plans are overloaded with text and that using visuals can be much more powerful let's do it together so you can see how it's done rather than boring you with a cliche Lemonade Stand example which let's be real no one's actually going to do that I'm going to outline a business that I reckon could be a real winner right now let's call it Timmy's membership Builders firstly Timmy loves watching educational YouTubers but gets frust rated because lots of the advice is generic and doesn't really apply to him so Timmy decides this is what he wants to change he wants to create a way YouTubers can interact with viewers on a more personal level by building the membership platforms this is Timmy's value proposition next Timmy needs to identify his customers assuming that approximately 0.

1% of YouTube subscribers will want to join a membership he should collaborate with YouTubers who have over 1 million subscribers this strategy will generate enough value to justify his business venture now Timmy needs to figure out what channels he can use to reach his customers he might choose email DMS or even physical letters you're probably thinking if a YouTube has over a million subscribers then they're going to be pretty hard to reach but I can tell you from experience if you have a good value proposition then someone on their team will see your message we aren't as unreachable as you might think building customer relationships is the hardest part that's why Timmy may have to start off working for free to build up some case studies and then offer his first clients discounts for referring him to their friends Focus Less on what you can gain and more on what you can give as this forms stronger relationships if you're struggling then you can always read give and take now consider revenue streams Timmy could choose to charge a percentage of revenue for managing memberships freeing up the YouTuber to concentrate on producing in videos If Timmy took a 10% cut from a membership of 10,000 people each paying $5 a month it would amount to $5,000 of monthly Revenue as the membership grows this figure will increase now Timmy needs to work out what he needs to make this all happen these include his key resources like a website Key activities such as advertising and then key Partnerships which may include working closely with a developer finally Timmy needs to calculate his costs if he can do this business for less than what he expects to earn then he's on the right track if not this evaluation will save him from disappointment in the future that brings us to step four building a minimum viable product the harsh truth is many entrepreneurs put their head down and work for months on a product but don't realize that they're building something that no one actually wants to buy The Lean Startup suggest that instead of working super hard to create the most polished product you should create something called a minimum viable product or MVP what's great about this is that it doesn't actually have to cost you any money the founder of Drpbox made a short video showing how his file storage solution worked and managed to increase his waiting list from 5,000 to 75,000 people in the space of a couple of days the amazing thing about this story is that the video was fake the product didn't even actually exist yet but he was then able to use the waiting list to convin investors that it was a good idea and then he was able to make it into a reality there are so many ways that you can make a free MVP nowadays especially with the help of AI if you want some inspiration and the chat GPT millionaire is a great little read you could use your MVP to appeal to investors launch a Kickstarter campaign find a business partner or bootstrap by reinvesting the profits back into building your business The crucial point to keep in mind is that if you're starting with no money and looking for any kind of funding you must provide undeniable proof of product demand step five execute your vision now having a plan an idea and an MVP isn't that precious lots of people make it to this stage but what really matters is the execution the crazy thing is most people have the capacity to double or triple their income by consistently applying what they already know the issue is people don't put in the work the 12 we year proposes a new way to get more done in 12 weeks than 12 months it suggests that we should break our year into four and think of those quarters as our year this may sound silly as it's still the same amount of time however this way of thinking forces you to confront your results every 3 months I don't know about you but personally when I've got a deadline I work a lot harder my businesses have a different Buzz around the office when we're nearing the end of the year so by using this approach instead of having that buzz of motivation once we can have it four times a year as Parkinson law states work expands to fit the amount of time we allocate to it therefore applying the 12-week year approach we can actually achieve more and make significant progress towards building the business you want however this 12we approach only works if you respect your deadlines if you're the type of person who battles with procrastination then extreme ownership is worth a read it's packed with nav sealed tactics to whip your discipline into shape can you handle the truth you can't handle the truth quick one from me before we get into the next section and forgive my voice I'm filming this a few days after as I've been quite ill one of the best ways to start an online business nowadays is to turn your skills passions and experiences into online courses exclusive membership sites subscription podcasts thriving communities personalized coaching and more these types of businesses are extremely cost-effective to set up and run they also have the upside of being extremely scalable I know multiple people making millions using this business model or from their laptop if any of that sounds interesting the kajabi is the perfect tool for you it's the ultimate all-in-one platform that helps people build successful online businesses by unlocking predictable recurring Revenue they're also sponsoring this portion of the video but before you skip if you're an entrepreneur trust me you want to listen to this recurring revenue is the holy grow in the business world I mean there's a reason why everything's turning into a subscription nowadays if you know how much money's coming in every month then it gives you the confidence you need to expand your business and eventually hire people without worrying too much about your cash flow kajabi is a great choice as they don't take a cut from your Revenue because everything is owned and controlled by you so you keep 100% of what you earn so if this sounds like something you'd be interested in then right now kabby is offering a free 30-day trial to start your business if you go to kajabi. com mark so go to kajabi. com Mark and join the creators and entrepreneurs who have collectively made over $7 billion right let's get back to the [Music] books so how to sell anything to anyone this section isn't just important for business but in all aspects of your life maybe you want to persuade your friend to help you your boss to listen to you or even your parents to give you more pocket money the reality is we're all selling in some way although some of us are much better skilled at it than others step one set the frame believe it or not most people fail before they even ask for what they want because they don't warm up whoever they're talking to before trying to persuade them persuasion shares techniques you can use to make people more receptive towards your requests before even asking in this book there's a story about a consultant who was having a hard time because people kept asking for discounts on his services so he came up with a clever trick before he tell him his price he joked well as you can see I can't exactly charge you a million for this after he started using this joke guess what no one asked for a discount anymore and he could happily charge $755,000 for his expertise this sneaky little trick is called price anchoring it's all about that first piece of information or the anchor that people latch on to they then based their understanding of everything else around that framing however extends far beyond what we say nonverbal communication makes up 55% of all communication and much of that is influenced by how we dress that's why I recommend considering some of the device in this little book style the man remember don't be in a hurry when it comes to setting the frame before asking for what you want trust me using these strategies can flip the whole scenario in your favor step two is build report the art of the deal starts with Trump taking us through a week in his life the thing that struck out to me was the sheer amount of calls he took per day we're talking between 50 and 100 calls this habit of regular check-ins kept Trump at the Forefront of people's minds so when a business deal came up that was advantageous for Trump or he had something to sell it was easier to close the deal due to his multiple nurtured connections today we can achieve this by building a personal brand on social social media Gary ve emphasizes this in his book crushing it having a personal brand increases our touch points with people before we attempt to sell anything to them therefore increasing the likelihood of future sales remember people do business with people they like step three become more persuasive so now you've set the frame and built the Rapport you need to be able to persuade people to give you what you want toell Schuman argues that the most effective way to do this is to ATT tune with your prospect I know that sounds a bit wishy-washy but the experiment the book talks about makes this all start to come together 152 students were instructed to negotiate the sale of a gas station they were divided into two main groups buyers and sellers the buyer group was further split into three subgroups the first subgroup was instructed to focus on being empathetic to the sellers the second on the sellers thoughts and the Third on their own role the the highest number of successful deals came from the subgroup that focus on understanding the sellers thoughts great deals always come when the buyers and sellers are in tune with each other pitch anything makes a solid point that when most people pitch they're too busy thinking about what they want and not what their prospects are thinking they assume that the audience care as much about their business as they do but here's the harsh truth they don't step four collaborate effectively now that you're attuned to each other what if you could transform a sales negotiation into a collaboration instead of a one-sided process well never split the difference suggest you can by asking something called calibrated questions once you both feel like you understand each other you can then start using this technique as it directs the other person's attention towards your problems these types of questions normally start with what or how with the ultimate question being how am I supposed to do that let's say your landlord was going to put up your rent to $1,700 a month and and you didn't want to pay that much you could say it seems like you think your house is undervalued but how am I supposed to pay $1,700 a month when I make enough money to afford $1,500 a month the key is to say it in a genuine way that doesn't seem confrontational they should hear I value your intelligence can you please help me solve my problem asking this type of question will make the other person think creatively or even lower their price it's not a magic trick and it won won't always work but it's definitely worth giving it a shot and here's a quick tip if you're on the receiving end of this tactic never let another person's problems become your problems understand them for sure but remember it's not your job to solve them or you might just find yourself caught in this trap good questions are really a superpower that's why it's worth giving better Small Talk a read step five is closing the deal you must never ever leave a conversation with a potential buyer without a firm commitment otherwise all the hard work will be for nothing objections The Ultimate Guide for Mastering the Art and Science of getting pass no recommends getting the potential buyer to agree to a specific action on a fixed date this is known as micro commitment when trying to secure a commitment be prepared for potential objections for instance if someone says I'm quite busy how about you call me next week to arrange something a possible response could be my week is also looking pretty packed and I want to make sure I can dedicate the appropriate amount of time for our discussion to ensure you don't miss out can we schedule our meeting right now uh would Friday at 3:30 work for you obviously you can adjust the time to whatever works for you but see how that question makes it much easier for the other person to say yes rather than objecting again of course bit of Charisma can always help close a deal as well just think of the most popular closer on the TV show Suits Harvey Spectre in interestingly the actor is completely different from his role in the show so this proves that Charisma can be fake to some degree if you're interested in learning more about this consider reading the Charisma [Music] myth so how to Market your business let's face it you could have the best product or service in the world but what's the use if nobody knows about it step one is developing your unique selling proposition ever found yourself wondering why some businesses explode and others just don't why people Rave about one business and ignore another Well Purple Cow believes that the key is being remarkable every marketer is traditionally aware of the five P product positioning pricing publicity and promotion however this book introduces a sixth P the Purple Cow I know this might sound a bit strange but stick with me imagine you're driving along a country Road and you see a brown cow grazing it's so common that you hardly notice it much like the barrage of everyday marketing and advertising now imagine instead seeing a purple cow you'd stop the car you'd get out youd take a selfie with it it's noteworthy and you can't help but talk about it imagine if your business was like that purple cow compelling people to talk about it so think about what makes your business unique what do you do better than anyone else what unique value do you offer to your customers lots of businesses are using Tik Tok and YouTube to stand out especially restaurants who are coming up with unique dishes that they're using as Purple Cows to draw in customers if you want to dive more into creating videos then YouTube Secrets which is down here just like that gives you a really good insight into making viral content step two gather real world data if you want any hope marketing your product or service then you need to know what people think about it however this is where most people make the mistake of asking the people closest to them for their thoughts this results in them just giving you blind encouragement and generic support which might be good for boosting your ego but it won't help you Market your product the mum test offers a solution to this problem it says that instead of saying here's my business what do you think you should instead ask about their life in the context of your business I know I know this sounds confusing but let me give you an example say you were starting an online course business that teaches people how to play the piano from the comfort of their own home instead of asking your friends and family if they like the idea talk about them if they play the piano you could ask about the initial challenges they faced the solutions they seek out and any frustrations they had with the solutions they found if they don't play the piano you could slightly tweak the questions this is an extremely smart way to get used use ful data on your business as it's almost impossible for anyone even your mom to give you blind support and encouragement you can use this information to help identify blue oceans which are areas of a market with low competition but very high demand step three establish your brand message despite having a USP and the necessary data many new entrepreneurs struggle to capture the attention of potential customers people don't like feeling sold to and because of this it's hard to get someone to listen long enough to actually get them to want to buy from you building a story brand says the solution is used in a specific story structure in your marketing that cuts through the noise and holds people's attention you first need to create a character this character isn't your business it's your Target customer this is because everyone sees themselves as the main character in their story you need to make it very clear what this character wants at this stage it's best to stick to the universal desires like Building Wealth and Status higher quality relationships or increased Health next your character should face a specific problem related to your product that they want to overcome for instance if you're running a piano teaching business the external problem they'd want to overcome is not being good enough at playing the piano their internal struggle might be questioning their own abilities and if they're good enough here you can introduce your business as their gu to overcoming this problem and share past success stories to establish your Authority both these elements build trust in you and your business you need to be able to get this message across in multiple formats but one of the most crucial is with writing that's why it's worth giving copyrighting Secrets a read the main takeaway here is to portray your potential customers as heroes in your marketing this narrative structure commonly known as the hero's journey is frequently used in TV shows and films if you take people into the hero of your story they'll sit up and listen once you've sold to someone once it's so much easier to sell to them again with the right strategy that's why step four is create UPS sales it's actually shocking how many businesses are leaving so much money on the table by not using this technique do com Secrets teaches you exactly how to build a value ladder and sell higher price products and services to your existing customers you've probably already seen this in action at your local dentist and not even even thought about it normally a dental practice starts off by selling you a simple checkup next they might offer you teeth cleaning then teeth whitening after that a retainer and before you know it they've pushed you all the way up the ladder to their most expensive product cosmetic surgery this approach can be applied to any business you're starting if customers have a great experience with your lower pric products they're likely to continue climbing the ladder it's also important to remember if you don't provide options for them to spend more money with you they may end up going to one of your competitors ideally you shouldn't have to upsell people face to face expert Secrets outlines a way you can use the perfect webinar model to upsell many people at once whilst keeping that personal feel but how do you make sure you never run out of customers to climb your value ladder that's where step five comes in driving up demand if you followed all of the steps so far you should have plenty of demand but instead of trying to sell to everyone you could try and limit your product or service and increase the price oversubscribed states that every product that is over subscribed has people that didn't get it even though they were willing to buy it Rolex has mastered this strategy better than most if you want to purchase a new Rolex you have to visit an authorized store join a long waiting list and patiently wait this process can take up to 4 years before you're offered the chance to buy a watch some people never receive the call as Rolex doesn't deem them the right customer for their brand does this sound a bit snobby possibly but does it work absolutely if your product is seen as oversubscribed competition becomes less of a concern and you have the flexibility to set your prices as you see fit it's all about following the don't make me think principle you've got to make it very easy for your customers to understand your website and message [Music] in so how to manage your money like the 1% this section is absolutely crucial you won't believe how many people are amazing at almost everything else but struggle when it comes to handling their cash this is a big reason why one out of every three people earning over a 100 hundred grand a year are still living paycheck to paycheck step one monitor your finances The Total Money Makeover while not specifically focused on business finances it does offer some valuable principles for keeping your money under control which can be applied to business finances as well here's the major takeaway for all you entrepreneurs keep a sharp eye on your finances it's so easy to get caught up in the daily hustle and bustle of running your business that you lose sight of your numbers and before you know it you're in a financial pickle without even realizing it think about it Financial laziness is a lot sneakier Than Physical laziness it's not like you're forced to confront it every time you look in the mirror you can just brush it under the rug and only start panicking when it's too too late so if you feel like you've lost touch with your financial situation here's a little reality check for you ask yourself this if all your Revenue stopped coming in tomorrow could you keep your business afloat for at least 3 months if the answer is no then sorry to break it to you but you're financially out of shape it's time to hit the financial gym that brings us on to step two remain profitable you might think being profitable it's the same as being financially stable but they're actually pretty different most businesses morph into cash hungry beasts this is because when most ambitious entrepreneurs make sales they pump most of that sales revenue back into growing their business and guess what happens their expenses shoot up but I think it's fine as they'll make their profits once their business is bigger however the profits never come because when sales drop expenses stay high which causes the business to bleed money and eventually collapse profit first urges entrepreneurs to think about profit in a different way the traditional way is sales minus expenses equals profit but profit first says you should instead flip the formula around to sales minus profit equals expenses by taking a portion of each sale and allocating it to profit you force your business to become more efficient that's the funny thing about having less money to spend you actually start to discover you can run things for far less than you initially thought step three plan for taxes did you know the average taxpayer in the US will spend an estimated $524,500 over 5,800 pages and only 30 of those address how to pay taxes this means that the IRS dedicated 5,770 Pages or 99.