I have just finished reading The New Entrepreneur by a very savvy marketer called Shirley Anthony and I have to say she hits the nail right on the head. And leading industry lights such as Andy Rice and Reg Lascaris agree with me, so you are not just getting a one-sided view.
The internet today is full of marketing advice. But, it's mostly academic and the majority of case histories involve big and medium sized brands, with very little written for those one-man businesses or little companies that really don't have extra money around to plough into massive advertising campaigns.
Right up front Shirley talks about her own experience. Getting tired of the corporate world and then going out on her own with butterflies in her stomach and all the usual nagging doubts. Then she gets offered a job back in the corperate world and abandons her new little business.
Predictably, she found that her new corporate job wasn't what it was cracked up to be and so she quit and set sail on her single-handed voyage into the sea of her own show.
It is not often that successful people so candidly demonstrate their own vacillation and to put it mildly, cockups. It is this that makes Shirley Anthony worth listening to. A point she makes early on is to emphasise that there is a certain something every human being needs to have before going into business on their own. It is quite simple.
"An entrepreneur needs to be emotionally prepared, single minded and 100 per cent committed before embarking on a new business venture." I can certainly vouch for that having run my own marketing business for almost 20 years now.
And as Shirley says, one has to work hard to withstand the temptation to head back into the safety and security of a job in the corporate world. It's very much a case of the grass is always looking greener on the other side, but anyone who has run their own business even for a few years, will agree that in spite of the battles, doubts, ups and downs, the grass in the corporate sector is, by comparison, not only dry and colourless but often fairly toxic as well.
This book offers solid marketing advice. Nowhere is there any silver bullet solution or magic.
It's all pragmatic such as "there is no substitute for tenacity in winning new clients." And my favourite - the place where all marketing strategy should start... "word of mind is a powerful marketing tool."
Go and have a look at www.marbreak.co.za/thenewentrepreneur for details.
And when you buy the book you can scan the barcode on the back cover to get a free downloadable copy. Clever.
Well done Shirley Anthony - I very rarely use this column to promote books, but in this case it really will be a source of comfort, I am sure, for all those who want to start their own business but are just too sh*t-scared to give it a go.
