April 16, 2012
Seven Pillars to Profit:
How You Can Achieve Financial Success as an Entrepreneur
Marvin White
Aviva Publishing (2012)
ISBN: 9781935586593
Seven Pillars to Profit is a reader-friendly book whose title makes it clear exactly what you need to know to succeed in business. Broken into three sections, it teaches you how to analyze your business with:
- A Situation Appraisal—where your business is today.
- An Opportunity Analysis—where the Seven Pillars to Profit comes in.
- A Decision Analysis—how to decide which opportunity to pursue.
The second section, Opportunity Analysis, is the heart of the book. Here the Seven Pillars to Profit are broken down into a chapter for each pillar: Finance, Sales, Marketing, Operations, Human Resources, Leadership, and Change. By looking at each of these Seven Pillars in detail, White shows readers how to move their businesses to the next level; appropriate action is needed in each area, and White guides readers through what is appropriate action and which actions to take first.
Throughout Seven Pillars to Profit, White asks important questions, and he provides illustrative stories and examples, often accompanied with worksheets to help the business owner apply what he learns.
Personally, I found the discussion on determining and enhancing the business’ valuation to be the most eye-opening. While making money for the business is important, the ultimate goal needs to be to create a business that you can sell for a sizeable profit or leave in excellent financial shape for your heirs. Few business owners probably consider the importance of a business’ valuation, but learning to focus on it may well be the best benefit this book offers you.
White is himself a successful entrepreneur and a business coach who guides businesses to success. Throughout Seven Pillars to Profit, White’s enthusiasm and passion shows through, and he repeatedly emphasizes the importance of being passionate about what you do, for example:
If your business seems like work, there is something wrong. Business should be engrossing to the point where you are fully immersed in your vision; then your business does not resemble work but a journey where passing milestones generates satisfaction. You should be involved in activities that generate personal growth and satisfaction. You should feel happy about what you’re doing, and you should be proud of your business’ positive impact upon the people you work with and upon your community. Being in business is really about achieving and serving a bigger purpose than yourself.
While White is idealistic in wanting business to serve a bigger purpose, he also gets down to the nitty-gritty of reality. He is clear that most businesses fail, but that is largely because their owners lack vision and passion. Business owners must be prepared for failure, but they must realize that failure can be an advantage: “All of the greats have failed a lot more than the average person. Business owners aren’t average people, so they should embrace a high failure rate.”
Other practical advice White offers includes the importance of having a board of advisors, asking the right questions of your clients, researching and finding the ideal clients, and setting goals that you then measure or benchmark to track your success.
No matter whether you are starting out in business, you have been in business for a long time, or you want to bring your business to the next level, you will find more than just nuggets of business wisdom sprinkled throughout this book. You will find a clear roadmap that will guide your business from where it is today to where it can be—to being a prosperous company with a passionate owner, happy employees, and an increased business valuation. By applying what you learn in Seven Pillars to Profit, you will have a strong foundation for setting your business up on a pedestal.
For more information about Marvin White and Seven Pillars to Profit, visit www.SevenPillarsToProfit.com.
— Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D. and award-winning author of “Spirit of the North”
