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BOOK REVIEW<br />
Reviewed by Angela Mutiso, cananews@gmail.com<br />
Title: Run your Own Business<br />
Author: Kevin Duncan<br />
Category: Business, Finance and Law<br />
Publisher: Teach Yourself<br />
<strong>The</strong> author, Kevin Duncan, is<br />
a business adviser, marketing<br />
expert, motivational speaker<br />
and author.<br />
After 20 years in advertising,<br />
he spent fifteen as an independent<br />
troubleshooter, advising companies<br />
on how to change their businesses for<br />
the better, via change management<br />
programmes, training, facilitation, and<br />
non-executive work.<br />
In this fascinating book this prolific<br />
author says you should read this book if<br />
you are thinking of running your own<br />
business; if you are already running<br />
your own business but finding it a bit<br />
of a struggle; if you are having trouble<br />
motivating yourself; if you are frustrated<br />
with books that only deal with the<br />
practicalities rather than the emotional<br />
issues; and if you work for a company but<br />
wish to harness some of the qualities of<br />
someone who works on their own.<br />
Run your own business has eleven<br />
chapters packed with invaluable<br />
information and insights. Chapter one<br />
(where do I start?) discusses how to be<br />
honest with yourself, what you need to<br />
prepare in order to be a success, how to<br />
write a simple, realistic plan, how to work<br />
out the materials that you need and how<br />
to get it all underway. Chapter two (<strong>The</strong><br />
right tools for the job) we find out how<br />
to design your contact list, how to design<br />
your new business hit list, about keeping<br />
the numbers manageable, how to work<br />
out what ratio of meeting generates how<br />
much work, and the importance of doing<br />
things when you think of them.<br />
In chapter three (Getting the money<br />
right) he talks about how to concentrate<br />
on the money, but not become obsessed<br />
with it, how to weigh up the service v<br />
product distinction, about the lucky seven<br />
money questions, how to work out the<br />
price-quality equation and about everyday<br />
flexible pricing. Chapter 4 (how to<br />
communicate effectively) looks at how to<br />
choose the right communication method,<br />
to become adept at describing what you<br />
do in 30 seconds, how to introduce some<br />
humanity into your CV, why it is important<br />
to meet lots of people and to stay openminded<br />
and to pay attention to customers<br />
and ask them what they want. Chapter<br />
five (taming the telephone) explains how<br />
to overcome fears and prejudices about<br />
cold-calling, how to understand the<br />
relationship between the number of calls<br />
and the eventual amount of work, how to<br />
prepare your selling angles, a system for<br />
noting your calls and the ten golden rules<br />
of unsolicited calling. In this chapter he<br />
also advises you to be natural and human<br />
and remain true to your character. Keep<br />
your pride, do not apologize for calling,<br />
and don’t talk down what you have to<br />
offer.<br />
Chapter 6 (understanding time)<br />
discusses how everyone views time<br />
differently, the two golden rules of time,<br />
the six-month time lag, how corporate<br />
time moves slower than normal time and<br />
the priority matrix. In chapter 7 (how to<br />
conduct yourself ) you learn how to create<br />
company culture when you run your own<br />
business, how to motivate yourself, what<br />
to do and what not to do, why you should<br />
only do business with people you like and why<br />
talking to yourself is a good thing. In chapter<br />
8 (why meetings can be fun) you get to know<br />
what to do when you secure a meeting, in<br />
meetings, after meetings. You learn how to<br />
ask what is on a client’s mind and offer to fix<br />
it and how to be more positive than everyone<br />
else all the time. (Staying sane and relentlessly<br />
enthusiastic) is the topic in chapter 9 which<br />
goes on to tell you how to take the issues<br />
seriously, but not yourself, why you should not<br />
do the same thing for too long, the importance<br />
of time off and how to build it into your year<br />
plan, why hobbies are a great idea and how to<br />
get your working environment right.<br />
Chapter ten tells you, (you are not alone). It<br />
discusses how to establish your own selfemployed<br />
network, how to say no politely, how<br />
to refer your surplus work to others, how to<br />
enjoy the camaraderie of other companies and<br />
how to blur the lines between work and social<br />
life. Chapter eleven, which is the final one,<br />
tells you (how looking back helps you to look<br />
forward). Here, you will learn how to review<br />
your business historically, how to work out<br />
whether what you do is okay, how to change<br />
your business if you conclude that it isn’t okay,<br />
to develop the knack of working out whether<br />
something is a waste of time and more about<br />
self-motivation. He stresses that most people<br />
who work on their won repeat their mistakes<br />
precisely because they don’t review the past and<br />
learn anything from it.<br />
This book, written by a proven business<br />
expert, covers the bad and good times and is<br />
based on real-life experience.<br />
This book is available at Prestige Bookshop,<br />
Amazon.com and leading bookshops.<br />
Chapter one (where do I start?) discusses how to<br />
be honest with yourself, what you need to prepare<br />
in order to be a success, how to write a simple,<br />
realistic plan, how to work out the materials that<br />
you need and how to get it all underway.<br />
52 september - october <strong>2017</strong>
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