SMALL
BUSINESS RULES
By Mathew Dickerson
Cartoons by Paul Zanetti | Foreword by
Edward de Bono
Do you believe that we learn
from our mistakes? Mathew Dickerson does, and he goes further to say that really
clever people learn from the mistakes of other people, especially in business.
Mathew Dickerson started his first business at age 12 and now runs Australia's
leading IT company AXXIS Technology. In 'Small Business Rules: 52 Essential Rules
to be Successful in Small Business', Dickerson shares the mistakes he learned
from and the ideas that have worked for him over the past 30 years. Each rule
is accompanied with an image by renowned cartoonist Paul Zanetti to further reinforce
the concept thereby making it a fun, approachable and interesting read.
Dickerson
believes a strong small business sector equates to a strong economy and wrote
this book to improve the plight of the average small business owner. Readers are
led through fifty-two rules dealing with business attitudes, relationships with
employers and employees, accepting the inevitable and taking risks. Business management,
image and marketing, client interactions, everything that sits at the core of
a successful company is covered in this book. Dickerson also answers key questions:
Where do you find opportunity? How do you recognise mistakes and remedy them quickly
and effectively? And do you see a mistake as a failure, or a lesson to make you
and your business stronger? His rules are focused into 5 sections:
Big
Picture Rules: These rules apply equally well to business as they do to life,
but then again that is part of the rub. A successful small business has people
who follow these rules in life and in business.
Business Management:
These are rules that you won't necessarily learn in the classroom. These are business
management rules based on real-world experiences.
Image and
Marketing: Image is everything. The way you market your business comes down to
the way you do everything. Marketing is sometimes seen as a thing you do. It is
not. It encompasses absolutely everything you do.
Employees:
When the subject of employees came up, a worn out acquaintance of mine once said,
'Employees - you can't live with them . . . Pass the salt.' In contrast to this
opinion, your group of employees is your business's most important asset.
Client
interactions: Without customers, you don't have a business. Fine turning the customer
interaction process is crucial to improving relationships with existing clients
and attracting new ones.
Mathew's extensive experience and success in small
business means his counsel is frequently sought by current and would-be small
business owners.
ABOUT MATHEW DICKERSON
A
Mensa member, Mathew Dickerson started his first business at the age of 12. He
went on to found AXXIS Technology at the age of 21, and developed it into an internationally
acclaimed company. Mathew is highly respected in the IT industry and in high demand
as a session and keynote speaker for IT conferences worldwide. He is the sole
Australian featured in the U.S. published book Top 15 Successful SMB Consultants
Worldwide and was featured in Dan Gregory and Marty Wilson's book 'What I Wish
I Knew at Eighteen'. Mathew writes articles for a variety of national IT magazines
and is a regular on ABC radio. He is a councillor on Dubbo City Council and lives
in Dubbo with his wife and four children. He enjoys mountain bike riding and playing
golf (badly).
'Small Business Rules' is available now (RRP
$19.95).
