Interactive Pocket Guide for Entrepreneurs By Michael McCafferty **** Published by: Michael McCafferty at Smashwords Copyright (c) 2012 by Michael McCafferty **** All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. Smashwords Edition Licence Notes This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. **** 51% of the profits are donated to the search for a cure to paralysis caused by spinal cord injury (Rutgers University’s Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience- Spinal Cord Injury Project). Quick Start Guide Using Computers and Tablets Access the full web material on your computer or tablet at IPGFE.com where you can link into the community of other readers of this book, ask the author questions, and leave comments. Help Suggestions, questions and comments are encouraged. Please call (858) 699-0901 or email Help@doubleMsystems.com Ordering Additional Books The list price is currently $12.95 per copy. Orders of 5 books or more are priced at only $10 per copy. Books are now available for purchase on Amazon, eBay, and Google Books. 51% of the profits are donated to the search for a cure to paralysis caused by spinal cord injury (Rutgers University’s Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience- Spinal Cord Injury Project). Preface This book is your passport to a new form of communication, combining the best features of a traditional book with the power of the web, using your smartphone as the link. Imagine: you are reading along this book, and want to know more… just point your smartphone at the page and your screen instantly pops with all you could want: video, photos, text, links… And, unlike any ordinary book, you can instantly link into the community of readers of this book, to ask the author questions, get answers, leave comments, and learn from others. Gutenberg would have approved. Testimonials “Over the decades (yes!) that I’ve known and worked with Michael, I’ve found him to be consistently brilliant, always eager to found his opinions on flawless logic, and absolutely honorable. This is a guy with extraordinary vision, who is also grounded in reality. He’s a big thinker, and I’d bet on him every time. I write books on marketing and communication. Michael practices them daily.” George Walther “There is one word to describe MM: Visionary. He has the ability to see the future, and to inspire people to achieve it.” Jeremy Heyman “Wow, now that I am consciously thinking about what we want to do as a company vs. what we currently do, I see how I got into this mess…Now I understand the value and importance of focus in a whole new way. Thank you for that.” Kirk Ranta “Over a 4 year period of working with Michael McCafferty I found him to be an exceptionally talented business owner. He consistently demonstrated an uncanny insight in what customers find valuable. He was a great motivator of his team members and sales agents and quite frankly one of the best salespeople I have ever met.” KC Truby Acknowledgments It is with sincere appreciation that I acknowledge the following people for their contributions to this book and the associated website. Erika Lal for her tireless and excellent help with the many revisions of this book and website. Grant Freeman and Leanne Chau at Electronic Printing Solutions for their many early revisions to the beta versions of this book. My many protégés over the years from whom I have learned so much. The 100 beta testers who provided their valuable feedback for this book and the website. Table of Contents Quick Start Guide Preface Testimonials Acknowledgments Introduction Defining Entrepreneurship Let There Be Cash Think Straight Travel Light The Customer Is King Write It Down Begin It Now Hire Experience Motivate Conserve Energy Be Not Greedy Test The Superior Man Measure it to manage it Easy Does It Price and Terms Positioning I delegate, therefore I am The Habit of Excellence Add A Zero Leverage Goals Think, Plan, Do, Repeat Passion Serenity Now Your business must serve you first Communicate Your Mentor Your Board of Advisors Everything is Prototype How to Motivate Systems for Success Act As If Always Be Recruiting The Tyranny of the Idea du jour The Management Metronome You Are Right Your Company Library The E Myth The Startup Owner's Manual The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development Business Model Generation The Lean Startup The Art of the Start The Law of Success First Things First Wealth Resources for Startups Help, FAQ, Troubleshooting, etc. About the Author Begin it now, before your competition… Introduction When we first start out as entrepreneurs, it’s easy to make mistakes, waste time and money, and cause ourselves a lot of stress. However, motivated entrepreneurs will read extensively, learn from others and experiment continuously. This little book, and the associated web pages, contain a few of the principles learned from half a century as a serial entrepreneur and mentor, helping selected entrepreneurs apply these principles to build their own successful companies. The highest levels of success came to my business adventures when I focused on The Ten Basic Principles for Managing a Young, Growing Business. These truths spoke to me as being essential to success. I resolved to use them fully and without reservation, and I still keep them at my desk today. I have shared them with you starting on page 4 of the Interactive Pocket Guide for Entrepreneurs book. Additional principles begin on page 16. Each principle has a unique QR (Quick Response) code that your smartphone can scan to link to this web page where the principle is discussed in depth, and where you can ask questions, leave comments, and learn from other readers. Repetition is key. Keep the book handy, review the principles often, and continue to engage with other readers to learn more. This last point is most important: to engage with a community of like-minded and experienced people, to learn and share ideas. See also: Resources for Startups Help Defining Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t. Anonymous See also: Resources for Startups Help Let There Be Cash Project, monitor and conserve cash and credit capability. Cash flow is the life’s blood of a growing business. A company’s ability to continue is determined daily, not at year end, by the contents of the checking account rather than the financial statement. Keeping cash on hand or readily available for both planned and unplanned events is not only prudent but necessary in unsettled times. Cultivation of financial sources is an enduring duty. Video: Show Me the Money See also: Resources for Startups Help [...]... the minimum results to be achieved Then, for performance above the minimum, forms of compensation important to the performer - or in some cases, teams of performers - must be used This video offers some surprising research on what motivates us and how it changes according to certain circumstances: Video: The Surprising Truth About Motivation See also: Resources for Startups Help Conserve Energy Concentrate... Always Be Recruiting Resources for Startups Help Motivate Reward individual performance that exceeds agreed upon standards Performance above the minimum level is a discretionary matter for each team member Most people have alternative off-the-job ways of using excess energy or talent Channeling such excess into activity beneficial to the business requires a tailored approach for each individual A manager... competition, by definition This can be challenging, but it is certainly possible What is your positioning statement? Has it changed? Why? See also: Test The Customer Is King Resources for Startups Help I delegate, therefore I am There comes a time when you need to do more than you can on your own You need help Your vision is greater than you can achieve alone You know this for a long time before you do... first It must support your necessities, pay the rent, food, etc And it must provide for your good health, for without good health certainly your business will suffer Some would say that their business can ill afford to provide them a vacation, or even time for exercise and sleep That is a slippery slope of faulty reasoning, by someone living in fear of imminent disaster You must change your thinking on... company has finite resources and will therefore achieve competitive advantage when playing for limited, explicit gains in a marketplace of its own choosing Specialization breeds an organization sensitive to opportunities and quick to act But any advantage withers if follow through is weak It will be weak if resources are dissipated Resource dilution is a sure formula for mediocrity, a state of being that... Resources for Startups Help Measure it to manage it You’re either in control, or out of control It is of the utmost importance to know the difference, and the only way to know that is to measure what you need to control Take profits, for example; certainly you measure the amount of profit, and as a percentage of sales, but is that percentage consistent with prior periods? Do you measure profit by product, by. .. and then try to improve it by removing even more… To make it easy for a customer to buy, offer a money-back guarantee, and all sort of incentives designed to make the buying decision utterly simple, risk-free and effortless It is a continuing battle to maintain ease of use while dealing with a blizzard of features and improvements as the product matures See also: Resources for Startups Help Price and... Development Team See also: Motivate Resources for Startups Help The Customer Is King Define the business in terms of what is to be bought, precisely by whom, and why Businesses are organs of society that perform tasks associated with providing most goods and services the public decides it wants Under the capitalistic system, a business can prosper to the extent it performs its particular tasks effectively... do what they like; they like what they know Experience adds depth to knowledge The best indicator of how people will perform in the future is how they have done in the past in the same or related activity Criteria for selecting key people are dictated by the plans, the blueprints for the business The plans reflect the operational objectives and the intentions of the primary participants The interest... time after you tell A So B doesn’t get the message Therefore, the CEO must communicate in a way whereby all get the message, regardless of when they are hired, for all time How do you do this? See “Write It Down” The title of this post is a line from George Bernard Shaw, the Irish playwright, who should know a few things about communication Consider for a moment how many times you thought you had been . Interactive Pocket Guide for Entrepreneurs By Michael McCafferty **** Published by: Michael McCafferty at Smashwords Copyright (c) 2012 by Michael McCafferty **** All rights. keep them at my desk today. I have shared them with you starting on page 4 of the Interactive Pocket Guide for Entrepreneurs book. Additional principles begin on page 16. Each principle has a. available for purchase on Amazon, eBay, and Google Books. 51% of the profits are donated to the search for a cure to paralysis caused by spinal cord injury (Rutgers University’s Keck Center for Collaborative