Conquer the Chaos – The Six Keys to Success for Entrepreneurs

Foreword xi Preface xv Part 1 The Entrepreneur's Quest for Success 1 1 The Entrepreneurial Revolution 3 The Purpose of This Book 7 A Better Way of Life for Entrepreneurs 9 The Entrepreneurial Revolution Defined 10 The Loss of Security: Corporate Distrust 12 The Power Shift: The Internet Age 12 The Promise of Something Better: The Overnight Success Story 13 The COVID Effect 15 2 The Quest for Success 19 The Entrepreneur's Hierarchy of Success 21 Money 23 Time 24 Mask217380_ftoc.indd 7 24/08/23 11:41 AM viii Contents Control 25 Impact 26 Freedom 27 The Real Definition of Success 28 The Stages of Small Business Growth 30 3 Chaos and the Dark Side of Entrepreneurship 39 What Is Small Business Chaos? 42 The Chaos Continues 47 You're Wearing All the Hats 47 You Don't Know How to Grow 48 You Are Growing--The Wrong Way 49 You're Drowning in Technology 49 You Lack a Clear, Central, Guiding Focus 51 The Dark Side of Entrepreneurship 51 Ego Is the Enemy 53 ADHD 55 Introducing the Six Keys to Conquer the Chaos 56 The Personal Keys: Mindset, Vision, Rhythm 57 The Business Keys: Strategy, Automation, Leadership 57 Part 2 The Personal Keys to Success 61 4 Mindset 63 Cultivating a Mindset of Success 67 Your Emotional Capital Bank Account 72 Disciplined Optimism 74 The Three Components of Disciplined Optimism 75 Entrepreneurial Independence 78 5 Vision 85 Why and How Does the Imbalance Happen? 88 The Evolution of Life Vision 90 The Five Parts of Your Life Vision 92 Guidelines for Lifetime Goals 96 Putting Together the Vision Puzzle Pieces 97 6 Rhythm 101 The Rhythm of Execution Defined 105 The Rhythmic Habits and Schedule 108 Start Small: The Three Transformative Habits 114 Goal Setting the SMART Way 115 Wrapping up the Three Keys to Personal Success 117 Mask217380_ftoc.indd 8 24/08/23 11:41 AM Contents ix Part 3 The Business Keys to Success 121 7 Strategy 123 Company Strategy 127 Customer Strategy 132 The Three Phases of the Customer Lifecycle 134 Follow-up 135 The Fundamentals of Follow-up 137 The Seven Secrets to Double or Triple Your Sales 140 Back to the Basics of Customer Lifecycle 143 8 Automation 149 What to Automate 155 From Manual to Automated 158 The Typical Lead Generation and Conversion Process 160 The Automated Lead Generation and Conversion Process 161 What Else Can You Automate? 166 New Client Follow-up 166 Reviews and Referrals 167 Repeat Business 168 Billing and Collections 168 Workflow 169 Micro Automations 170 Pro Tips on Automation 170 9 Leadership 175 Think Like a CEO 179 The Three Jobs of a CEO 180 Conscious Capitalism 182 The Enlightened Entrepreneur 183 Set the Vision 184 Build the Team 188 Build the Team: Developing the Organization 188 Build the Team: Developing the People 192 Get the Resources 196 Part 4 Putting the Keys into Practice 201 10 Changing for Good 203 The 10 Principles of Practice 206 The Ego TRAPS That Catch Entrepreneurs 212 Mask217380_ftoc.indd 9 24/08/23 11:41 AM x Contents Timidity 212 Resignation 213 Ambition 214 Pride 215 Sabotage 216 Guarding Against Ego TRAPS 217 11 Keep Going 221 The Keep Going Story 223 Keep Serving 226 Keep Growing 227 Final Words of Guidance 228 Appendix: Keap Small Business Resources 233 References 237 Acknowledgments 239 About the Author 241 Index 243