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Overview
MBA programs are expensive and not worth it. The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business (2010) by Josh Kaufman is a guide to self-teaching business fundamentals because they’re no longer taught in schools. It’s important to understand what business is, how it works, and how you can balance your professional life with your personal life. Unfortunately, those principles aren’t relevant anymore because so many people work in offices instead of manufacturing businesses. Most graduates succeed regardless of their school anyway, suggesting that the program itself isn’t important. The advantage that business schools confer is networking opportunities but even that edge wears off after a few years when hiring managers weigh work experience more than educational background. If you want to learn about the fundamental principles of business on your own terms without taking out student loans or going into debt then this book will help you do just that!
Every business needs to have a product or service that is valuable. It also needs to market and sell its products, because without marketing and sales, the business won’t make any money. The fourth process is value delivery, which means keeping customers happy with good customer service. Finally, the fifth process is financial management of short-term and long-term decisions about money matters in the company.
For a business to succeed, it must understand and master five essential processes: value creation, delivery, optimization, financial management and leadership. However, most businesses are lacking in one or more of these areas. Business schools should teach students the basic principles of each process so they can become successful leaders.
Key Point 1: The core function of a business is to provide value to customers.
A successful business improves the lives of its customers by offering some form of value. This can be anything that touches a fundamental human need, like acquiring and collecting things or connecting with other people.
Starting a new business is much more difficult than it seems. In fact, it’s easier to start one that already has existing customers and competitors. If there are problems in the market, you can solve them for your customers by creating a product or service they need. You can learn from other businesses’ mistakes (or successes) so you don’t have to make the same ones yourself.
New businesses should not spend too much time on finalizing a product or service before bringing it to market. It’s better to bring an early version of the product and then improve it over time rather than investing too much in a product that may not satisfy customers.
Key Point 2: Businesses must make the right people aware of their products or services.
Products and services are only valuable if people want them. People can only want products that they know exist. That’s why marketing is so important in today’s society, where there is a lot of competition for attention.
Marketing is the act of getting a product or service in front of people. It’s important to be sensitive to when someone would be receptive to your marketing efforts, so you can capture their attention before other brands do. For example, if you’re selling baby gear, it’s best to market during the period leading up to and shortly after birth because parents are particularly open at that time. If you get them then, they’ll remember your brand later when they have more time for shopping around for baby products.
Marketers have to choose the right focus for their products. Generally, customers are interested in the results of a product rather than its features. For example, lipstick with long-lasting wear is great but people who buy it care more about how attractive they feel while wearing that lipstick.
