I find it a challenge to review any book given my background as an author, marketer and journalist of sorts. It means that my review is based on more factors than say the average reader taking the information at face value.
When I received this book, what initially struck me was the clear and inviting layout. It looked like a book with enough meaningful content to make an impact but not so much that it would deter a person from getting stuck into it. What a business owner needs, especially in the current climate is access to clear, compelling and attractively laid out information, advice and tips that will help to propel their business forwards - without the need for an MBA to decipher the messages.
Emma Wimhurst?s book delivered on three counts:
You cannot dispute her impressive business credentials. She built a business up from nothing to a £1 million turnover and sold it for a handsome profit. She knows her stuff and she writes from this position of knowledge. Her credibility shines through on every page. And you sense that she wants to share as much with you as possible.
Her advice is remarkably straightforward, to the point and incredibly useful. If you find yourself reading this book and nodding your head, commenting that it?s all commonsense, in all likelihood, it?s because Emma makes it seem so straight forward by cutting out the jargon and the waffle. Commonsense is an uncommon commodity. It takes real experience and of course a significant lack of ego to present information in such a format that it looks startlingly simple. It?s like reading a fantastic headline on an advert. You wonder why you didn?t come up with it yourself.
Each chapter is self-contained. So you can dip in and out of the book and use it as a handy reference guide. I particularly liked the chapters on practical finance, customer commitment and business planning but I know from experience that each chapter will be useful for a business owner in need of accessible advice. Emma also delivers precious little memorable nuggets throughout such as ?all customers should feel they are your only customer at the point of delivery.?
This is neither a superficial nor an intense read and I believe, having worked with thousands of small businesses in the last 26 years that Emma has filled a gap in the market place to deliver practical, empowering and straightforward advice to business owners that are either starting out or that have become stuck. I have neither met nor spoken to Emma, but the personality that comes through the book is one of a warm hearted, no-nonsense, practical, creative and very talented woman. This in itself makes the book an enjoyable read.
BOOM! Will definitely be a book that I recommend in blogs and business articles and at public speaking engagements.
Review by Dee Blick, Fellow of the Chartered Inst of Marketing, Chartered Marketer, award winning business author and journalist
May 2010
