In April of next year I’ll roll right into my 19th year as a small business owner. The statistics say that I should be miserable, broke, and more likely than not, closed.
According to data from the US Bureau of Labor, 20% of small businesses fail within the first year. By the end of year 5, half of them are caput. After 10 years, only 30% are still up and running, and so on, with a similar trajectory.
If you read the scholarly articles, they’ll tell you that the reason they fail is ‘too little money’, ‘lack of business plan’, ‘bad timing’, or ‘lack of marketing’… amongst a slew of other reasons.
Maybe the more important topic to discuss is how those that do outlast the others, survive against the odds. Of every 100 businesses that open their doors, 25 will make it to 20 years. (Yay, IBA is almost there!)
I could talk for hours about the trials and tribulations, the good times and bad, the biggest hurdles and greatest successes, and so on and so forth but when I really dig into what I think helps IBA thrive, it comes down to books. Yup… that’s it. Just books.
I’m am an obsessive reader, and in the last 10 years the majoring of this books have been on the topic of small business success and marketing. In the last year I’ve read over 4,000 pages, equalling about 8 books. Not so impressive but considering I’m a mom of 4 and a small business owner some would be impressed.
There are so many books that I could recommend, but I shaved it down to 5. Here’s a list that I’ve compiled for you, in descending order, of my picks for the top 5 most influential books that have transformed IBA in some way, helping us thrive against the odds.
My Top 5 Book Recommendations
#5 – Built To Sell by John Warrillow – I
don’t intend on selling IBA, so the title of this book is a bit misleading as to it’s relevance to me and my business. That said, I fully intend to be an absentee boss one day, letting my employees take the rein and run the company. This book helps you understand that even if the sale of the business is not in your immediate plan, a business that is sellable is usually stronger and more enjoyable to work at – with efficient systems and strict guidelines. Ultimately, this book explains how to create a business that can thrive without the owner. It also goes into the actual selling process, which I skipped through.
#4 – The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz – We all know that not every client that comes in the door is a good fit for our businesses. But still, we tend to take on all of the work we can get, to make more revenue, even if it’s a client that makes us miserable or worse yet, takes your time away from the clients that ARE a good fit for you. The main message of this book to that you need to cut off the ‘bad pumpkins’ from the vine in order to let the others grow bigger. It’s an important message for all business owners, but especially those in the beginning stages. All of Mike’s books are great but this one stands out as one that I reference often.
#3 – Profit First by Mike Michalowicz – In this book Mike gives you a system to implement that guarantees that your company will make a profit and eradicate financial struggles. It’s so simple, and before finishing the book I immediately put the distribution system into play. That year I paid off over $20k in line of credit and we’ve never held liability since. I could go on and on but this is a must read, you will see immediate and long lasting results if you utilize the profit first methodology!
#2 – They Ask You Answer by Marcus Sheridan – This book had me saying ‘yes, duh!’ over and over and over. It’s the most basic concept. Ask every single question that your customers, leads, etc. ever ask you, and then answer it. These answers become the content that you publish on your website blog, articles, social media, and everywhere else that you post content. If you have a sales team, this book teaches you how to have customers ready to buy before they every encounter a salesman by educating the customers with honest, unbiased answers to their questions. There’s more to it than that, and Marcus goes into great detail about this concept in the book. Many, many ‘ah ha’ moments in this book and suggestions that you can immediately put into play.
#1 – Building a StoryBrand – This is my #1 recommended book for any brand that is struggling to achieve the business growth that they seek. To say this has been transformative to IBA is an understatement. We believe in this process so much that we have invested the time and money into becoming a certified StoryBrand Agency. This book gives you everything that you need to get started clarifying your message on your own, looping your customers into your story, and getting more sales. Donald Miller is a brilliant writer, and knows how to explain processes in a way that makes them easy to understand and implement. We believe every business can experience new growth by using the StoryBrand 7 Part Framework.
Being a small business owner comes with so many challenges. But it also comes with the opportunity every day to improve and steer your business into the direction of your vision. At IBA we don’t make colossal changes overnight but not one day goes by that we are satisfied with the status quo and not seeking to improve. We are grateful to the authors that so eloquently teach us how to improve.
What’s in my reading queue?
I’m glad you asked!
- (Re-read) Built To Last by Jim Collins
- Get Different by Mike Michalowicz
- Covert Cows and Chick-fil-A by Steve Robinson
- Business Made Simple – Donald Miller
- Marketing Made Simple – Donald Miller
- Hero On a Mission – Donald Miller
FINALLY… PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send me YOUR favorite books so that I can put them on my shelf if I haven’t already read them. One of my most favorite things to do is exchange book recommendations with people!
Happy reading!
– Angie
