I’ve done a few business book reviews in the past, but since my declaration that reading is sexy – here is my first in-depth book review. The title in question is Michael Masterson’s Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to 00 Million in No Time Flat.
Who is this book for? The book is written based on the information publishing industry, but goes into physical products and retail. This is probably not the best book for you if you are a service provider who plans to stay in the service business model.
I’ll dive deeper into what I learned from Ready, Fire, Aim after this video book review…
Ready, Fire, Aim Book Review
Building a Million Dollar Business
Michael breaks down the 4 stages of an entrepreneurial business into the following:
- Stage 1: From $0 to $1 million in revenue
- Stage 2: From $1 to $10 million in revenue
- Stage 3: From $10 to $50 million in revenue
- Stage 4: From $50 to $100 million in revenue
He also explains that you can see the stages play out based on the number of employees or team members in your business.
Now, if you’ve been hanging out in similar online business circles as I have, you probably wonder at these numbers. I mean, everyone talks about making 6 figures as the sign that you’ve “made it”.
After that, the million dollar mark is the next step, or what most of the people I talk to would consider stage two. Very little is said about going up to $10 million and beyond.
Here’s the thing: it doesn’t matter how much you want to grow your business or what revenue goals you have. Ready, Fire, Aim is the book that will help you recognize what you need to focus on to improve your business.
Ready, Fire, Aim Approach
The big idea behind the book is that we should not spend too much time readying ourselves and aiming, when we can get something out there to see if it works or not.
This is something I often talk about in my launch training webinars.
It applies to every aspect of your business, but most importantly to finding out your optimum selling strategy.
In the first stage of business growth, according to Michael Masterson, your main objective is to figure out how to sell what you have to offer.
Pretty simple right? It helps get cash-flow in your business and fine tunes your sales skills. (Whether that means in person sales, writing copy, filming videos, etc.)
Once you’ve hit the target…
Once you’ve used the Ready, Fire, Aim technique and hit the mark with your selling strategy, it’s time to expand on it. So if you’ve been able to develop a best selling product, it is then time to expand into other products.
The caveat here is that you want to have explored all the opportunities to sell your first product to new markets before you start creating new products. This can be a tricky thing for idea-happy entrepreneurs (myself included).
Why you need to read Ready, Fire, Aim
I believe that we need new perspectives in business. Especially when it comes to online business, where we really feel the echo chamber effect.
So if you’re ready to think bigger about your business, and look at different models then you will get a lot out of reading Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson.
Until next week…
I’m putting together more get techy videos for you, and if you enjoyed this book review there are more coming! Never miss an episode, sign up here for more.
