WHEN I PICKED UP A COPY of David J. Greer’s book, Wind In Your Sails: Vital Strategies That Accelerate Your Entrepreneurial Growth, I was immediately impressed. Everyone says to be successful you have to read more. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. Reading will not produce results. David Greer gets that. He says, “Learning and thinking are fabulous, but action is what produces results.” This book is an action book.
“Spend one hour reading Wind in Your Sails and you will have three ideas that will accelerate your business in the next 90 days.”
Judging by the Table of Contents, this book covers every aspect of an entrepreneur’s life from home to the board room. Each chapter is like a storyboard of experiences, guidance through practical solutions with a summary for readers to reflect on lessons learned. In his introduction, David gives his readers a clear view of what to expect from this book: leadership, strategy, marketing, sales, and concrete actions to create sustainable change so your business prospers. After 35 years as a successful entrepreneur, you would expect to learn from a master, and this book lives up to expectations.
Please remember that this is a book review, not the entire book, and as such I share highlights of the parts that resonated with me, but if you are to learn from the master, you’ll want your own full copy of the book, Wind In Your Sails: Vital Strategies That Accelerate Your Entrepreneurial Growth.
David Greer presents his entire book as 10 strategies that comprise the life and absorb the attention of every entrepreneur. The book is a comprehensive presentation told through the analogies of a seasoned sailor and stories of real people and real businesses. Each chapter is replete with interesting personal stories that meld with the strategy, followed by experiential accounts of relevant topics, a case study to illustrate the strategy followed by a summary of lessons learned. Each chapter concludes with a Take Action Now to provide practices you can implement to improve performance. The authenticity of what is contained in this book is unmistakable as you will come to understand through your reading experience.
Entrepreneur Strategy – Did you know leaders set the tone for the organization? In this chapter learn which leadership skills will make you a leader others want to follow. Let me share a few of the takeaways vital to strengthening your entrepreneurial foundation. Listen, not to react, but to understand and respond with respect. Foster an environment where different viewpoints are welcome. Celebrate wins and recognize individuals for contributing. Make every meeting productive by concentrating on Who, What, When to keep everyone focused on the right work. Communication must be clear and must be constant. Culture develops over time, create the culture your employees can believe in. As the leader, how you manage yourself will be a direct reflection on your business. Take Action Now introduces three action steps to create momentum for you, your team, and your business.
Corporate Strategy – Culture is not a buzz word. Culture is to your business what character is to leadership. You need a clear vision of why you do what you do and you need to articulate that to your organization. Where do you want to be three years from now? Be clear on the purpose of your organization, get your management team aligned with the purpose. Unless you, your management team and employees are aligned with your vision, purpose, and culture high performance will not be achieved. Culture cannot be imposed on your organization; it is instead actively defined, communicated and developed. This is why there is no substitute for having vision and purpose in alignment. Plan for it, assure everyone understands your business model, set goals, hold people accountable, establish rewards, instill momentum. Take Action Now has three ideas you can use to get started with corporate strategy..
Innovation Strategy – Learn to innovate, and while you’re learning, be proactive about your brand and intellectual property. From his years of experience as an innovator, David Greer presents several avenues to be aware of as you develop products and redesign those you already have. If your innovative talent seems limited try forming focus groups or peer groups. Don’t be afraid to invite competitors into a group where together you can brainstorm and work together on an industry product. Learn what happens when you copyright material, apply for a patent, or establish a trademark. There are two types of trademarks: word and design. There are also trademarks that appear online only. As you design and develop products, what do you do to protect your design work and your business? This chapter will take you through the process. Take Action Now lists three things you can do to make conscious choices about your innovation strategy.
Marketing Strategy – What is your product? What is its value to your customers? Who will buy your products? Your marketing plan will include laser focus on things like industry, organizational size, geography, etc. Identify 5 to 8 key drivers that are affecting that industry. Through relationships with your customers seek those who will give you a good reference. Marketing success is more than a goal. It’s a plan that encompasses identifying different types of customers and determining pain points so you can market to resolve their pain points. Communication channels have grown in the past 20 years. Businesses can now select marketing collateral from printed materials, email, websites, social media, newsletters and campaigns. Actively pursue marketing. Plan it, schedule it, and implement the plan. You’ll want to read the full chapter and use the Take Action Now steps to get the full benefit of how to design a marketing strategy that gets results.
Sales Strategy – Do you have a sales model? Modern economics proves that it’s the customer that controls the purchases process. You need a sales channel for each of your markets that aligns with how customers want to purchase. It’s a new game for businesses. Know your sales process. This advice is directly from the book. You can only scale your business when you have a repeatable sales process. Your process needs to: 1) Fit with your market’s buying process; 2) Be focused on closing sales for people who are ready to buy; 3) Have measurable activities; 4) Clearly define how a sales person moves a prospect through the sales process. Take Action Now offers three exercises to help you focus on sales activities and conversations that will generate revenue.
Product Strategy – This is my favorite quote from this chapter. “A working prototype is not a product.” In my own experience I have been on the user end of the spectrum after a product was purchased based on the ‘working model’. If you develop products or if you improve products, you will derive indispensable benefit from following the advice in this chapter. There are many products that offer the same functionality. Design engineers focus on features and benefits but if you are a product manager, you are in charge of the whole customer experience. Before releasing a product run it through every customer touch point. A successful product will have gone through the entire value chain of everyone who is touched by the product to ensure the maximum value is achieved. While it’s tempting to skip over all that work, the success of the product depends on it. R&D, Manufacturing, Fulfillment, Sales, Support, and Enhancements, all are included in your repeatable process which results in outstanding products. Take Action Now proposes three suggestions that will dramatically improve your products within the current quarter.
People Strategy – People first. Of course, we all know that’s the politically correct thing to display on your marquee and in your lobby, but is that really your strategy? Your people strategy will encourage people to bloom, you will invest in talent, and your organization will be collaborative and focused. To maximize business performance create a culture with a sense of community where employees connect with shared vision and goals. Implement a communications plan to regularly show progress and where you are according to the strategic plan. Invest in ongoing training for employees and encourage collaboration, creativity, and team building. There are some specific takeaways from this chapter that have broad implications for ways you can assure your organization is attracting top talent and putting people first. Take Action Now assigns three items that will help people be their best if they put them into practice.
Operational Strategy – You must be able to summarize all the key aspects of your business on paper – one sheet of paper. Here’s your list: purpose, markets, business model, key financials, and products. In this chapter David introduces the term KPI – Key Performance Indicators. This is a technique widely used by businesses to measure what is working and what is not. Whether you use KPIs or some other system, you need a business plan, a way to measure against the plan, then make sure you are delivering what your prospects, customers, and employees expect – on time and with quality. Establish a benchmark for best practices so you know how well your business is performing compared to industry standards. Seek customer feedback. No, really. Ask them. This is how you will detect gaps between what your customers expect and what they are receiving. Stay actively engaged with suppliers. They are on the critical path and an integral part of your team. Take Action Now offers three actions you can take to assure your company delivers what your customers expect.
Financial Strategy – Do we really have to talk about this? If you’re in business, you need to know how you will fund it and how you will make a profit. Learn to analyze the numbers and what they mean. You need cash flow and working capital. You also need a plan so you can constantly monitor financial performance against the plan. This chapter highlights cash flow, profit, tax planning, funding, revenue opportunities, and what’s in your business plan. Take Action Now contains the pointers you need to know where you are financially all the time.
Exit Strategy – Believe it or not, businesses are often created with intent to sell. In fact, you might be thinking of selling while you are forming your company. Here’s just one of the key pieces of advice you’ll find in this chapter, “Create a data vault of critical documents buyers need in order to do their due diligence.” When you begin your business, start with the end and work backward. Keep good records, form solid repeatable processes, know your value. Having a clear exit strategy keeps all your other goals in alignment. Find even more advice about planning for exit when you read the whole chapter of the book. Take Action Now gives you three things you can do to be ready for your exit.
Grow Now – Changes in your own thinking lead to doing things in new ways and opening limitless potential for amazing results. David says, “You, the entrepreneur, are the single biggest impediment and advantage to the future of your business and your life.” Take the first step. The future is now. What are you waiting for?
