I noticed over on Birds on the Blog they are doing some sort of book review thing with lots of reviews and interviews with the author. I thought we needed one over here on blokes, I am going to review a Blokes style book called “Get off your Arse” or GOYA for short, by Brad Burton.
Brad Burton is the MD of 4Networking, and I joined this organisation back in March. Networking is nothing new, has been going on for centuries, only then it was called drinking in your local pub, being involved in your community… those oh so ordinary things. Last century it gained a title “networking” and up until recently when the word was mentioned you would think BNI. 4N as we call 4Networking is 50% social and 50% business.
Brad’s book, yes, it’s very interesting. He tells the story of how he got into business and how his wife supported him. She has some cracking lines in the book, my fave is “When HSBC accept irons in the fire for mortgage payments I’ll let you know” to paraphrase her. Often when a man starts a business the wife/girlfriend/loving partner seems to take a new persona, but they are trying to get us to focus and often see things differently to us, and remind us of our priorities. I don’t know if it works that way for women starting a business.
It can seem tough to get business at times and Brad talks his way through how things happened for him. I loved his part about becoming a motivational speaker, and the advice Warren Cass gave him. I cracked up. In fact I laughed a lot when I read the book and although the underlying message is serious (and outlined on the books front cover) it makes a change to read something honest, open and from the heart.
Attitude is important in business, a bad one with a brilliant product gets you nowhere.
GOYA is filled with practical examples, some of which I will try and some of which I will think about. Most of all, I am off my backside getting the work in. Sometimes it needs to be said straight out, that the reason you are not getting work is because you are not making yourself available for it, or you are too busy talking about it to actually do any.
If your business fails, you have only yourself to blame, you got complacent, you stopped chasing the bucks, you stopped getting off your backside and finding the work, you built it and hoped they would come. The real world isn’t like that, which is why Brad’s book is a refreshing read.
In November, 2010, the next book will be out, will you still have a business to benefit from the advice packed in it?
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