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November 30, 2005

The Martha Rules discussed, Wed., Nov. 30, 2005, 7:24 PM

Yesterday I spent a few hours reading 195 delightful pages. The book is The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success as you Start, Build, or Manage a Business. By Martha Stewart. Rodale. 2005. US$24.95. Cdn$33.95.

As the title says, the book is crafted from Martha's ideas and experiences in business. Each chapter evolves around a rule or theme.

I found it easy to read, and to relate.

Rule #1: Passion: Build your business around something you love, something inherently and endlessly interesting to you. In my case, it is a passion to help people by sharing with them the experience and skills I cobbled together after a 35 year career in accounting, consulting, and capital markets.

Rule #2: Get a big idea: Passion can be untamed, so focus your attention and creativity on basic products or services that people need and want. Then look for a way to enlarge, improve and enhance that big idea. My big idea was to learn how to blog and manage a website that could be read and appreciated around the world. I know that if I reach 1 pct of the global audience of 100 million serious traders, that's 1 million followers. Can you imagine how different that number would be if I chose to do my thing in a classroom setting?

Rule #3: Get a telescope, a wide-angle lens and a microscope: Create a business plan that allows you to stay true to your big idea but helps you focus on the details. Then remain flexible enough to zoom in or out on the vital aspects of your enterprise as your business grows. What Martha is saying here is that structure (the depth and width) comes first, then the creativity. In my case it's: (i) issues, (ii) education, and (iii) information/discussion.

Rule #4: Teach so you can learn: I teach so that (i) I have to do the research, which brings the learning, and (ii) I allow the readers to teach me. In addition to market stuff, I learned a lot about personal communications. One of my active readers actually first sent me a negative shot across the bow, so I politely inquired as to his meaning, and I was surprised to get a very intelligent reply, which led to more discussions, and somebody who now keeps me honest" with readers.

Rule #5: Grow your business by using smart, cost-effective techniques that will arrest the eye, tug at the heart and convey what is special about your business or service. In my case, I have a simple blog, I put myself out front with my heart on my sleeve, and I try to be as honest as I can get in this type of media. The last thing I would do is to say I have a black box, the market is complex, you need my help, and so on. That's what I accuse Wall Street of doing. What's truly special is that you can come away either learning about capital markets for what they are and how they ought to be used, or at the very least you ought to pick up a nugget of wisdom here and there.

Rule #6: Quality is everyday: Quality should be priority number one... in every decision, every day. As for me, I stick to giving my perspective and ideas " nobody else's. Purity is quality. Too many bloggers have imitated mass media, but mass media is a broadcast tool of the sell-side, which sells fashion and not expertise, and expertise is what people want and what the new (networked) media can offer better than broadcast.

Rule #7: Build an A-team: Seek out employees who are brimming with talent, energy, intellect, optimism and generosity. Search for advisers and partners who complement your skills and understand your ideals. I have acquired, whether they realize it or not, an A-Team who could match up to the best of a Goldman Sachs or Merrill Lynch. Obviously it is up to me to decide if, when and where that team might be applied in a commercial sense. Knowing the A-team exists, from people all round the globe, is a great comfort to me.

Rule #8: Focus on the positive. When faced with a business challenge, evaluate or assess the situation, gather the good things in sight, abandon the bad, clear your mind, and move on. Stay in control; never panic. In my case, early on I learned to learn the skill of getting around hurdles that competitive people will constantly put in your way. I could never learn how to do that in a large corporation, so I chose the easy path; I started a series of small corporations whenever I had the opportunity. When your backside doesn't need to be covered, you can relax and let things come to you.

Rule #9: Take risks, not chances: Analyze, analyze, analyze, and then make decisions. Never decide anything to do with money on the basis of somebody's story. There is always a catch they didn't tell you about. Look for your own opportunities, and if one should pass, as Martha says, never assume it will be your last.

Rule #10: Make it beautiful: Listen intently, learn new things every day, be willing to innovate, and become an authority your customers will trust. As an entrepreneur you must add value to receive something valuable in return. And, as Martha says, you will find great joy and satisfaction in making your customer's lives easier, more meaningful, and more beautiful.

My wife really enjoyed the book, and she wants our children to read it as well. But for some reason, she thinks of it as a woman's book". I can't see that.

Maybe she can relate to effective and transparent communications she sees more in the women she meets in business? Maybe she still sees Martha as a woman first?

In any event, The Martha Rules probably doesn't cut it as a college text, but there is a clarity of organized thought and presentation that makes this a worthy book for any family " particularly ones with Teens and Twenty-somethings. I endorse it without hesitation.

Posted by Posted by Bill Cara on November 30, 2005 07:24:16 PM | Category: Cara re: Cara

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