Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat

by Michael Masterson

Book Overview

Whether you're thinking about starting a new business or growing an existing one, Ready, Fire, Aim has what you need to succeed in your entrepreneurial endeavors. In it, self-made multimillionaire and bestselling author Masterson shares the knowledge he has gained from creating and expanding numerous businesses and outlines a focused strategy for guiding a small business through the four stages of entrepreneurial growth. Along the way, Masterson teaches...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0470182024
• ISBN13: 9780470182024
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Length: 375 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

A good guide for the entrepreneur

"Nothing matters more than selling," says the author. "Many first-time entrepreneurs have the impression that they are doing things in a logical order when they look for the perfect office space, have logos designed, and order a lot of inventory. The reality is they are wasting valuable resources on secondary and tertiary endeavors. If no one is going to buy what you want to sell, you've just wasted a bunch of money on a business that will never be." I see this when a client comes to me and has spent most of his small budget on Web site design and left the important thing, the sales message, for least --- just to fill in the beautiful design. They've spent their money on the least important and have no money left for the most important. This book addresses just these issues. In this new book Masterson gives a three-step process that entrepreneurs should follow in order to have a successful business. Unfortunately, most do not. I've seen this first hand in my own consulting business. Entrepreneurs tend to put their values and their money on all the wrong things --- and this leads to certain failure. Here are the steps according to Masterson: Step one: Get the product ready enough to sell, but don't worry about perfecting it. Step two: Sell it. Step three: If it sells, make it better. While this all sounds fairly easy, it's not. "Selling can be terrifying," Masterson says. "It can be tough, gritty, unglamorous work. But when you make that first big sale, you realize it's also exhilarating. And like it or not, you probably won't become a successful entrepreneur until you can sell your product or service in your sleep." When your business is new, you should begin to build a base of customers or clients --- that means you have to sell. Online, that would mean you have to have a powerful sales message on your Web site and in all of your online advertising. Successful entrepreneurs should (and generally do) spend most of their time --- especially in the beginning --- on selling. Most are very bad at it. "As the business grows out of its infancy--as it goes beyond the million-dollar revenue mark by selling many more products through many more channels--you can let other people do most of the selling," says the author. "But by establishing your marketing credentials during the first stage, when the selling secrets of your business are still unknown, you will gain a deep understanding of your business that will serve you well for the rest of your career." The author writes in an engaging style. This material should help those starting their own business and even those already in business. I see so many mistakes that entrepreneurs make and they tend to be the same things all the time. If you can avoid those mistakes, you can quickly leap over everyone else and become successful.

Wish I'd read this about 15 years ago

I've read well over a dozen business books in just the past few months (Made to Stick, We are Smarter than Me, etc) and this is right up there with the best. Maybe THE best. It's much less about the latest hot new trends (social media, web 2.0 etc) and much more about getting back to a basic truth about business. It is a truth that seems obvious and even boring but yet you hardly ever hear it. What he's talking about is that success in business is quite simply about selling. Not endless planning, not org charts and flow charts and meetings and stationary, but simply getting a sale made. Do that and everything else takes care of itself. The other key point is the interesting twist to Jack Welch's "Speed" manta which Masterson calls "accelerated failure". (Thus the Ready Fire Aim title). The idea here is that you only learn the secrets of a business through mistakes - and the faster you make them (and of course learn from them and change your strategy) the better off you're going to be. All kinds of very unique and interesting ideas in here. It's got a lot of things I've not heard elsewhere that make a lot of sense. I only wish I'd read this about 15 years ago, I'd probably be retired by now.

Building a business the old fashioned way

This is a book read and follow. This book leads by example. It talks about planning, organization, follow through, selling. Follow the plan and methodology covered in this book It talks about selling yourself, Selling your product, building confidence in your organization,having a product to sell, building a solid customer base and building a solid business foundation. Offering customer service value. It's an easy read and keeps the reader interested through-out. This book is very well written and laid out. The plans discussed are practical and easy to follow. Do the right things build a solid foundation and sell. Don't think to big too quickly. Stay with in your plan. It's not about building huge organizations in record time it about building a solid business plan and selling. Selling yourself and selling your business. Develop a plan and follow it. Make sure that you also have a viable plan B and C. The book also has some personal growth aspects to it that are great. The suthor discusses the ability to have versatility to adapt to different situations and thrive in them. Read this book and re read it. Think about the concepts laid out in this book and tink about what you will need to do to follow them. The book talks about building a business suited to you. How to take advantage of your own personality traits and put them into action in a financially rewarding way. This is the best book about selling that I have read in a very long time. Kudos to Michael Masterson. This is the first book I have read of his but it won't be the last. It's easy to see why so many have followed his advice. This is a five star book for anyone at any financial level. Well worth the 20 or so dollars that this book sells for a million times over. SELL, SELL, SELL. Live eat and breathe selling.

Clever, inspirational, and insightful

If there's anyone who should be writing this book, it's probably Masterson, who, while never taking a business class, is obviously ahead of the curve on making money-as he's done it publishing, marketing, and the Internet. While he admits there's no magic potion to being successful, he sees the main worry people have about starting their own business: fear. This book is the antidote for that: case study after case study shows that it can be done. Why are most millionaires alive today that wealthy? Not because they were given a golden ticket, but because they took the plunge and "started firing" as Masterson says. If you're not ready to go out on your own, I recommend How to Take Advantage of the People Who Are Trying to Take Advantage of You as a great money-maker and The 4-Hour Workweek for more inspiration. Enjoy!