Author Archives: Michal

Book Review: The Happy Minimalist

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I really liked this small book. It has the best qualities of a self-published book – personal stories and relatable experiences, plus no beating around the bush or beating the dead horse. I read the whole book in about an hour and can move forward with my life.

However, it wasn’t perfect, so – as usual – I will start with some

CONS

1. Editing.

I found a few typos in the book, and English is not even my first language. Also, I can sense one type of editing (developmental? line-editing? I always confuse them) is done poorly or completely missing – the one, which removes redundancies and excessive language ornamentals. I mean, how many times can you read about how many shirts Marc has and how many he got rid of?

The answer, when it comes to “The Happy Minimalist” is “too many.” :/
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Principle #9 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business

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9. Habits.

It is not enough to just know all the above principles. You need to implement them to reap their benefits.

So what good is it to know you need to take care of your nutrition, sleep schedule, and exercises, if you do nothing about it?

So what, if you intellectually get that you need to pause and stop thinking to generate new ideas, if you are constantly busy?

So what good is it to have your assistant put all your meetings in your Google calendar if you never actually check your calendar?

So what, if you have a great vision, mission and values for your business, if you never tell anybody (including your own team!) what they are?

And you can – and should! – build relevant habits for every universal principle that works. Here are some examples:

-exercise for 15 minutes a day
-meditate for 5 minutes a day
-reach out to at least one person a day to talk about your business (accountability partnership is the best example)
-consult your calendar multiple times a day, make it a central hub of your schedule
-on a daily basis, track your incoming and outgoing money
-prospect for new clients every day
-every time you are doing something for the second time in your business, record it and create a standard operating procedure out of it (if you do it for the 10th time it makes 10 times more sense to create the SOP)
-go over your business’ core values in a weekly team meeting

Of course, there are zillions of other possible habits relevant to your business. The point is that even the most brilliant business principle – which works! – will not work without putting it into action.

And there is no better way to implement something than by making a habit of it. Sooner than later, you will develop neural loops in your brain that will make putting those principles into action a no-brainer.
And I mean it literally; the subconscious routines will take care of the biggest chunks of those tasks, and the investment of your conscious attention will be minimal.

Do you know the dictionary definition of a habit?
a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.

Relevant habits will solidify the universal principles that work in your business. Which means your business will work. In fact, it will thrive.

Nine Universal Business Principles
Principle #1 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principle #2 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principles #3&4 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principles #5&6 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principles #7&8 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principle #9 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business

Originally published in Medium.

Principles #7&8 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business

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7. Systems and Delegation.

Solopreneurs suck at this, big time. And why not?! They are doing all the tasks anyway, so why waste their precious time for something obviously unnecessary?

Well, I can tell you from my own experience that preparing a standard operating procedure and checklist can speed up execution of almost any task – especially, if you do it periodically, but not very often. Instead of recalling it every week, you just take out the checklist and breeze through the subtasks.

That’s one benefit, but there is a myriad of others: going consciously over your processes, you can pinpoint inefficiencies in them (and optimize them),
-you can organize your systems, so you will minimize confusion when switching from one task to another,
-you will have all the resources (credentials, links, etc.) in one place, so you will no longer waste precious minutes on looking for them in your chaotic notes or hard drive.

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk from Pexels.

However, the biggest advantage is that as soon as you document any task, you are able to delegate it out.
It’s especially crucial at the very early stages of business, when you are doing everything. Then, each task taken out of your plate creates a space for you to take care of yourself, spend some time with family, take a moment to strategize, move on to more valuable jobs, and so on.

8. Vision, Mission, Values.

It seems like an afterthought, something big corporations write down only to disguise their greedy nature in order to be perceived positively.

That may be the case for big corpo. In case of small business, those elements have two major functions:

a) To motivate; first to motivate you, a business owner. Entrepreneurship is a wild rollercoaster. It can put you down, discourage you, and make you cry. In the times like that, you need a compelling vision that will pull you forward, despite all the obstacles and struggles.

But it works in the same way for your people. Employees want to feel they are a part of something bigger than themselves. Slogging for the paycheck alone was never attractive. A compelling vision is much better than a hefty salary.

b) To simplify; if you didn’t ever write down the vision mission and values for your business, you have no clue how many headaches it will spare you.

A few months ago, my biggest customer sent me an email full of complaints. Frankly, I got mad at first. But I slept over it, and suddenly the right answer just popped in my mind: This guy doesn’t trust me. Or at least, I didn’t feel like he trusted me. But Trust is the main core value of Resurrecting Books.

Thus, I replied to him that I’m ready to finish our cooperation, if he cannot trust me. Since then, we continued to work much more smoothly.

My mentor, Scott Beebe, told once on his podcast a story of a construction company whose core value was No Debt. They declined a huge job because they couldn’t do it without getting into debt. The man who proposed that deal was so impressed that he made a different deal with them and continued to provide more contracts for them.

Drawing the line in the sand, defining who you are and what you stand for is great for your own sanity, but it is also great marketing. People will quickly get who you are, what you do, and they will bring referrals to you because they will be able to spell out your mission and values. That will not only get you new customers, but the right customers! At no cost, just by being who you are.

Nine Universal Business Principles
Principle #1 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principle #2 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principles #3&4 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principles #5&6 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principles #7&8 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principle #9 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
 

Originally published in Medium.

Book Review: Listen Simply

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I’ll start this review from a story from my coaching training. One fellow was repeatedly frustrated by the simplicity of the whole coaching process. He said multiple times: “If people just kept talking with each other, this whole ‘coaching thing’ would have been unnecessary!”

He was almost right. If people kept talking with each other – and listened simply – coaches would have become unemployed. Just keeping the communication lines open is not enough. True listening must happen as well.

Most people have never truly been heard.”

I would add: in this time and age. I’m old enough to remember the world without the Internet and smartphones. Then, we had the time, and willingness, to just be with each other and talk. Listen, discuss, ponder, reflect.

And what’s the point of talking, if you aren’t heard?! Then, it’s just a useless effort.
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Principles #5&6 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business

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5. Cash Flow.

Cash flow is, by far, the #1 reason small businesses are getting out of business. Yet, so many entrepreneurs, especially those in the early stages of their business, choose to ignore their cash flow, altogether.

Investments, tax deductions, fixed costs, delayed payments, tax liabilities, amortization, and deals in progress – they are all important, but cash flow is a lifeblood of your business.

It doesn’t matter if your business looks solid on the PNL sheet, if your cash flow is suffering. It doesn’t matter if you have strong muscles, a healthy liver and kidneys, if your heart is not pumping blood through your veins.

Stop ignoring your cash flow, start tracking it. That’s a small discipline, which creates success.

6. Sales and Marketing.

In one of the recent interviews on Brian Buffini’s “It’s a Good Life” show, his guest, Kyle Wilson spilled that Brian’s company is around the billion-dollar mark. Yet, Brian is still the central hub when it comes to sales and marketing of his company.

Of course, he doesn’t do even 5% of the work done by sales and marketing departments (I doubt he does 1%), but he holds the ownership of those activities. He has the final say, but also his personal brand still brings a huge chunk of the new business for his company.
Dave Ramsey said the same about his company, Ramsey Solutions, which approaches half a billion in yearly revenue.

You cannot abandon the responsibility for sales and marketing in your business. If such tycoons of business, who employ thousands of people, are still in charge of those activities (because it works, it’s profitable!), what makes you think you could outsource sales and marketing and forget about them?

Nine Universal Business Principles
Principle #1 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principle #2 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principles #3&4 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principles #5&6 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principles #7&8 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principle #9 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
 

Originally published in Medium.

Principles #3&4 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business

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3. Un-isolation.

We are social animals. We need others to excel. That’s the human nature.

Isolation is the enemy of excellence.” – Aaron Walker

However, being a solopreneur is a lonely occupation by definition. It doesn’t get much better when you start hiring people – you need to be the rock for them and keep your struggles to yourself.

Well, you can cooperate in other ways. Get involved in an online community (like SPI Pro), join a mastermind, hire a mentor or coach. Alone, you can never excel.

4. Time Management.

Or priority management. Or managing yourself in time. However you will call it, the efficient usage of one’s time makes the difference between successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs.

Time provides the only real equal opportunity in the world. Everybody has 24 hours a day. However, if you are one of those who “don’t know where my time goes,” you are in great danger as an entrepreneur.
Yet, it is pretty rare to find people who actually do know where their time goes.

Photo by cottonbro studio from Pexels.

One hack in this area: make your calendar a foundational piece. When I was starting my side hustle and was truly the only one who worked in and on my business, I didn’t understand the value of living by your calendar.

But now, when I have to coordinate several recurring weekly calls, get on the podcast interviews, have a team of several people, my calendar became crucial for my effectiveness.

Since I actually started using my calendar on a daily basis, it’s been a game-changer for me.

Nine Universal Business Principles
Principle #1 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principle #2 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principles #3&4 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principles #5&6 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principles #7&8 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principle #9 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
 

Originally published in Medium.

Book Review: Scaling Your Business with MOD Virtual Professionals

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Scaling Your Business with MOD Virtual Professionals is a nice short book. Yes, it is also an infomercial, but it is a valuable book in itself. You don’t need to hire MyOutDesk to get the value of the content. The Sticky Challenge itself is easily worth the price of the book.

However, because it was written with pitching the business for MOD in mind, it has a couple of major …

CONS

1. Appealing to Everybody.

In the effort of gaining as big of a market share as possible, the author committed the main marketing sin and didn’t properly narrow down for whom this book is the best option. Small business owners is really an extremely broad category.

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Principle #2 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business

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2. Slow Down to Speed Up.

Your mind needs as much rest as your body. Or even more.

In the pursuit of productivity, entrepreneurs often fill their days with tasks and their minds have no times off. It kills creativity faster than anything else.

If I got a dollar for each time I heard an entrepreneur saying during an interview that they are getting the best ideas during their off times – on a walk, taking a shower, or working out – I would’ve already paid off my mortgage.

Oh, and if you don’t have a system to capture your ideas when they are coming during those off times, you are doing just marginally better than those who have no ideas at all.

I swear that for my clients the main advantage of my coaching is that they are forced to have one hour a week to pause, think, ponder, and reflect instead of chasing yet another task.

Nine Universal Business Principles
Principle #1 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principle #2 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principles #3&4 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principles #5&6 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principles #7&8 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principle #9 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
 

Originally published in Medium.

Principle #1 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business

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1. You Are Your Business.

So, you need to make self-care your #1 priority. It doesn’t just apply to solopreneurs. For any enterprise, if the owner or the CEO is the driving force, it applies just as well.
In fact, it applies to any business which will be gone if the owner or CEO will disappear for three months. Or forever, we are all mortal.

I see people ignoring this principle all the time, everywhere. People are looking for a silver bullet that will solve their productivity problems, but they are ignoring the basics.

It is as damaging in case of a housewife, an employee, but in case of an entrepreneur it has a frightening compound effect.
If you don’t take good care of yourself, it’s not just you who suffer. It impacts your family, your customers, your employees, your bottom line, your sanity – everyone and everything around.

Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” – Jim Rohn

Your body supports all your efforts to improve your life. Or gets into your way, if you don’t take care of it. We all know what we need to function at the optimal level, but most of us choose to ignore it.

Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels.

Eat clean, sleep enough, hydrate yourself properly, be physically active- those are the basics. If you don’t have a fundament, how can you build a house?

Nine Universal Business Principles
Principle #1 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principle #2 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principles #3&4 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principles #5&6 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principles #7&8 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
Principle #9 Separating Successful Entrepreneurs from Those Who Went out of Business
 

Originally published in Medium.

Book Review: 7 Attitudes of the Helping Heart

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Normally, I wouldn’t even have opened such a book. When it comes to spiritual advice, I go to the books written by saints themselves.

But I ended up on a vacation without any other reading material to practice speed reading, so I read 7 Attitudes of the Helping Heart. And I was impressed.

I hadn’t had big expectations when starting this book, so it was easy to exceed them, and the author did exactly that. I cannot even name a single CON of 7 Attitudes of the Helping Heart because I didn’t read it with a critical mindset at all.

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