Book Review - The Ultimate Blueprint for an Insanely Successful Business

Businessman, entrepreneur, international speaker, and author Keith J Cunninghmam book, The Ultimate Blueprint for an Insanely Successful Business.

Candid and even blunt at times, Cunningham reveals his core business principles, including why great operators get tired and how great business owners get rich. It is a must read for all business owners or anyone considering owning a business.

Notes from the book

Don’t become an operator, employ them!

 You need time to work on your business...

1. Measuring Time: Measure progress, results, identify, correct and improve.
2. Thinking Time: Stop doing stupid things, which are usually based on faulty assumptions

 Anyone who doesn’t want to measure doesn’t want to be held accountable.

Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is survival of the fittest (not the strongest, biggest, richest, it is those who are most adaptable and flexible)

What gets measured gets done.  Most people don’t know what to do next because they are not measuring their results.  Measure the effect and change the cause – It’s a simple concept which gets a better outcome.

To create the results you desire...

1. Get clear (measure ) on where you are;
2. Decide where you want to go (Goal)
3. Identify the root problem (cause) that is blocking this progress;
4. Tackle the problem (execute) and measure your progress

You have to look at the business numbers, AND know what they mean.  If all we had was a throttle in our business cockpit, we would just double the horsepower ...this may be seductive, but delusional...we need to look and know all the dials and be able to interpret what they mean.

Most business owners become more focused on adding new clients and lousy at keeping existing ones.  Proof:  Have we still got all the customers we ever had?  If we had, how big would your business be today?

We need to learn the language of business and that language is accounting. 

The 3 Financial Report Cards are

1. Balance Sheet. Things and stuff we have on one side and what we owe and what we own on the other side.
2. Income (Profit & Loss) Statement.  Sales less costs = the Bottom Line.
3. Statement of Cash Flow. Beginning Cash ± operating Cash (sales, collecting receivables, paying payables, etc) ± Investing Cash (buying or selling assets) ± Financing Cash (Borrowing or repaying money to the bank or investor = Ending Cash.  You can spend your cash, but not your earnings.  Cash and earnings are not the same.

The Ultimate Blueprint outlines critical skills, tools, and strategies required to drive profits and maximize cash flow for any business, regardless of the size or industry.

You cannot create and sustain business success without business skills and tools.

When you get the tools that work, you get the results that are possible, Cunningham said.“The problem with a great operator is that you don’t get rich; you get tired.”