what do small-business owners care about?
that’s an essential question for any professional-services provider.
but you won’t find the answer on the business-book bestseller list:
1. mad money, by james j. cramer
2. freakonomics, by steven d. levitt and stephen j. dubner.
3. the world is flat, by thomas l. friedman
4. why we want you to be rich, by donald j. trump, robert t. kiyosaki, meredith mciver and sharon lechter
5. the blind side, by michael lewis
6. secrets of the millionaire mind, by t. harv eker
7. jim cramer’s real money, by james j. cramer
8. good to great, by jim collins
9. now discover your strengths, by marcus buckingham and donald o. clifton
10. walt disney, by neal gabler
all worthy reads, i’m sure. i’ve read a few. and i’d even recommend some of them. others are still sitting on the to-do pile. all interesting, strategic, though-provoking.
but none of those books represents the issues that keeps small-business owners up at night.small business owners are another breed. they want specific, actionable information.
go to work.com, a repository of how-to guides for small-business. here’s their list of the top downloads:
1. learning search engine optimization
2. low-cost businesses you can start
3. creating a great business plan
4. business logo design
5. doing business in second life
6. foreign exchange and currency converters
7. creating an employee manual
8. small business blogs
9. making money on cafepress
10. employee evaluation
11. finding venture capital
12. word-of-mouth marketing
13. racks, shelving and display cases
14. u.s. postal service business mailing
15. starting a pool hall
16. finding commercial real estate listings
17. finding home-business opportunities
18. resume search
19. sample business plans
20. hiring temporary executive help
now, what does that list tell you about what keeps your clients awake at night? and what does it tell you about the market opportunities left to tap for cpas?
p.s.: if you don’t know what they mean by “second life,” call me. (they don’t mean retirement.)