Sketchbook summary of “Become Your Own Boss in 12 Days.” Click here for a larger image.
I run my own business, Envizualize, where I am “keynote listener” at conferences and meetings. I listen intently and create large scale visual notes of the ideas bouncing around the room. I love what I do and have had some impressive achievements. But loving what I do is not enough.
Aside from my actual product, I need to manage sales, marketing, finance, and customer service. I need to scope out the competition and build useful relationships. This is a lot to orchestrate.
I wish I had read Melinda Emerson’s book Become Your Own Boss in 12 Month
in that year before I quit my day job.
But better late than never. I met Melinda at an event in Philadelphia and she had the publisher send me a review copy.
Melinda is brutally honest about all the work that goes into starting your own business. Luckily, she is equally thorough about what you can do to maximize your chance of starting a successful business.
There are many books out there to give a small business owner advice.Two things differentiate Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months from the other books. First, Emerson focuses entirely on preparing well *before* you actually formally open for business. Second, Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months explains everything you need to do month by month. Mapping actions to time like this is very helpful. Otherwise it is too easy to put off painful but necessary actions. Mapping actions to time also shows what areas support other areas.
Since this book was not available when I began my business, I will have to play catchup. There is a lot in this book, but I’m just going to move through it 1 month at a time and see how that impacts my business. Tune back in 12 months.
As General Eisenhower said “Plans are nothing; planning is essential.” No matter how much you plan, things are going to go differently than you imagined. But the kind of research you do in creating a plan will serve you well if and when you decide to start your own business. Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months will let you construct a solid plan that you can then improvise off of as reality dictates.
Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months
Melinda Emerson’s Site, SucceedAsYourOwnBoss.com
Melinda Emerson on Twitter @smallbizlady
Large size Visual summary of Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months