Book Attributes
Author
Donald Miller is the CEO of Business Made Simple and the author of a few books, among them the bestsellers “Building a Story Brand” and “Marketing Made simple“. He also runs the Business Made Simple Podcast
Length
Audiobook: 6hrs 55min
Print Version: 240 pages
Reviews
As of 08/03/21 Amazon has 422 reviews of the book 89% of which are 5 stars.
Subject
Business and Marketing
Price Comparison - Correct as of 11.03.21
Physical
Audiobook
e-Book
Book Table of Contents
Opening Credits (00:00:18)
Author’s Note (00:06:12)
Introduction (00:06:08)
Chapter One: Two-Week Quick Start (00:51:51)
Chapter Two: Leadership Made Simple (00:29:32)
Chapter Three: Productivity Made Simple (00:22:51)
Chapter Four: Business Strategy Made Simple (00:32:18)
Chapter Five: Messaging Made Simple (00:21:58)
Chapter Six: Marketing Made Simple (00:21:03)
Chapter Seven: Communication Made Simple (00:21:28)
Chapter Eight: Sales Made Simple (00:22:13)
Chapter Nine: Negotiation Made Simple (00:15:36)
Chapter Ten: Management Made Simple (00:26:43)
Chapter Eleven: Execution Made Simple (00:19:55)
Congratulations (00:01:47)
Bonus Track 1: How to Find the Hidden Staircase (00:31:38)
Bonus Track 2: The Business Coach’s Checklist (01:23:18)
End Credits (00:00:39)
Why Did I Choose to Read it?
Basically I liked the previous book of Donald Miller that I Read and Reviewed “Building a StoryBrand” and also I was on his mailing list, so he also notified me upfront that Business Made Simple would be coming out, since I have a yearly subscription for Audible (24 credits in bulk), I try not to overthink book – choosing and hopped on to try this one.
A Taste from Each of the 11 Chapters
Chapter 1: Two Week Quick-Start - 10 Characteristics of a Value Driven Professional
Chapter 1: Two Week Quick-Start - 10 Characteristics of a Value Driven Professional
In contrary to the song 😀 The foundational Idea of Business Made Simple is that there is a number (a dollar value) floating above our heads, and this number rises or decreases according to our skillset. If we want this number to rise we just need to invest in our skillset and be more useful to our employer (Or customers) and we could do that by applying the contents of the book.
Chapter 2: Leadership Made Simple
All great Leaders became great because they had a great vision that carried away people on their path. To become great leaders – We should define a clear and enticing mission statement that is worth waking up for. For example the mission statement of Business Made Simple is “Everybody deserves a life-changing business education”.
Chapter 3: Productivity Made Simple
Most people are more productive during the morning hours. Defining the tasks that will contribute most to your development or the development of the business, and completing them in the morning may help starting your day feeling the most important task has already been done!
Chapter 4: Business Strategy Made Simple
The business made simple strategy analogy is that a business is like an airplane, it’s made of 5 parts and they all have to be balanced out in order for it to fly well.
The 5 parts are:
1. Left Engine – Marketing
2. Right Engine – Sales
3. Wings – Are the products we sell in demand and profitable?
4. Fuel – The amount of cash in the business
5. Body – This is where your employees and customers are.
Chapter 5: Messaging Made Simple
This chapter simply consists of the “SB7” framework from the book “Building a StoryBrand“. The 7 principles of an enticing story that will captivate the attention of your audience. Here’s a video that I made explaining the framework:
Chapter 6: Marketing Made Simple
Here’s a way to test the quality of your website:
If a caveman could enter your website and within 5 seconds know what you’re offering and what he has to do to engage (Press “Buy Now”?/”Subscribe”?),
then you pass the test. 🙂
Chapter 7: Communication Made Simple
In other words “How to Give Speeches”
One of the tips is: Make the first line of your Speech/Presentation the problem that you’re going to solve, so the audience will know why they should listen.
Chapter 8: Sales Made Simple
Here’s something that may save you lots of time: Before beginning any pitch, make sure that the lead you’re talking to is Qualified – Meaning he has the problem you’re trying to solve/ He has the authority needed to decide if he could buy the product/ He has enough money, etc. Or else you’ll be wasting both your and their time…
Chapter 9: Negotiation Made Simple
There are two types of negotiation states – Colaborative and Competitive, If you play colaborative (Win-win) while your opponent plays Competitive, you will almost certainly lose. Knowing the difference and acting accordingly is key for running a negotiation.
Chapter 10: Management Made Simple
What's Management?
This chapter is about managing people, though Anyone who has the freedom to improve in his job is also a manager, even if he only manages himself.
Management Tactic
The first thing a manager must do is establish a clear understanding of what is the main goal of the department and how does it help the overall business objective, and then define a clear metric to strive for, I.E. answering 100% customer service tickets within 30 minutes.
Chapter 11: Execution Made Simple
Execution vs. Management Difference
Management creates systems and Execution manages those systems.
Execution makes sure that the processes that were set are executed, they ensure every team-member operates on a top level.
Execution Tactic
For example here’s a tip: Help your team-members( or yourself ) create a one pager with personal priorities, department´s top priorities (per every duty you perform) and a development plan.
Such a document could of course also be used by us, people who are currently sole proprietors
My General Experience of Business Made Simple
Not Everything is for The Small Guy
One thing that stands out is that business made simple has advice for businesses with employees already, as of Chapters 10 and 11.
Some Content is Repeated in Building a StoryBrand
Another thing that stands out, for those who already read/listened to Building a StoryBrand is that there are some Ideas which are repeated in both books, for example chapter 5 is completely found in building a StoryBrand as I mentioned, which is okay, because repetition helps memorize things, but on the other hand It would be better if it only contained new contents, because if I directly wanted to repeat them I would go read building a storybrand again.
Had Takeaways, Even When Proofreading
Besides those two things – There were many useful tips which I think can help progress a business and are really deep, each one of those requires concentration and time to apply, though I read the book in a bulk, rather than as was intended – day by day, I still believe the value in those tips is high, I’ll let you know which ones I intend to apply in the short term in the takeaways section right after this one 🙂
3 Takeaways
1 - Prioritize Your Primary Tasks
Everyday at the time when I plan my work/blog time, write down what my top 3 most important tasks for increasing the companies value (Greatest economic return)
2 - Maximize Your Power Hours
After prioritizing the tasks, begin with the first and devote 1 Pomodoro(25 minutes) to it, then proceed to the other 2 important tasks only after it’s done proceed to the rest .
3 - What Steps Does Your Funnel Have?
Create a Sales step by step path your customers could take and measure the results of each step. ( Basically a Funnel* )
This shall be the first task I’ll prioritize for the morning 🙂
Rating
Narration
Clarity Of Speech
Didn’t have any trouble understanding any of the content and the sound was of quality. 7/7
Fluency
Expressing Emotion
He articulates the words very well, with pauses and it feels like he understands the text well and explains it well, but it feels more like reading from a paper than telling a story in many cases. 4/6
Plot
It is a Non-Fictional book and was not written with a plot in mind. The chapters are independent of eachother, though one might say that they should be used consecutively, but I think that they are mostly interchangable. N/A
Heading Distribution
Mostly Represent The Chapter Content Well
Mostly when I read the chapter’s headings I remember the content (I’ve listened to this book more than 3 times ).
But a Bit Too General
Though the headings could have used a small additional description to make it even more clear, like in books when they add a “:” and describe the content for example Business Made Simple: 60 Days to Master Leadership, Sales, Marketing, Execution, Management, Personal Productivity and More …
Because it feels too general in some cases, For example Execution and Management were a bit difficult to differentiate.
Subchapter Headings Could Help
In addition it could have been great if there were subheadings of each day ( maybe there are in the physical book but In the audiobook they don’t exist in the table of contents).
13/20
Drive for Implementation
Pushes to Implementation
Made for Daily Implementation
At the beginning of the book he explains that business made simple is a step by step book, and that it was made to be applied bit by bit every day in order to see results. That is also why the videos he sends are sent daily.
Indirect Inspiring Pushes
Then there are the indirect pushes in the form of explaining how applying the principles stated in the book is going to help – I.E. Chapter 2: “Once you develop the characteristics of a value driven professional you will be asked to lead – Guaranteed”.
Could Use More Pushes
Bottom line: Though there are some pushes, I would like there to be more.
6/10
Visuals
Details for Execution
I haven’t yet watched the videos, and haven’t tried applying the book’s principles day by day, so I’ll leave it blank for now, and perhaps update in the future 🙂 N/A
Examples
Content
There are some great contents which I took to heart while others are a bit too general.
As for the book alone (Without videos) in some cases there are not enough emotional (memorable) stories or going in depth.
13/20
Final Rating
Narration 17/20
Plot N/a
Heading Distribution 13/20
Drive to Implicate 13/20
Examples 15/20
Content 13/20
Final Rating – 71/100
Conclusion
Business Made Simple by Donald Miller is intended for daily application and integration with Daily Videos, though I listened to it whole, I still found it useful and interesting, and had a few takeaways.
Business Made Simple: Acquisition options - Prices updated at 11.03.21
Everybody deserves a life-changing business education.
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