A few weeks ago, I met with a prospective client and listened to the problems that he wanted me to help him solve. After listening intently while quickly typing notes on my laptop, I recommended a book, The Partnership Charter: How To Start Out Right With Your New Business Partnership (or Fix The One You’re In) by David Gage to him given his specific problems. I specifically recommended this book because my prospective client was considering giving up large chunks of equity to 2 other prospective business partners who had not been growing the business up to this point. The book had been recommended to me numerous times and had benefited not only me but many other friends and colleagues (they too had read it, benefited from it, and as a result, highly recommended it to me). Fast forward a couple weeks when I met with the same prospect. I asked him what he thought of the book. He hesitated and then admitted that he couldn’t find it at the local library. He said eventually he found a $4 copy of the book I recommended on Amazon and decided to order it a couple days prior but was waiting for it in the mail. But, he promised me he would read it.
As I thought to myself “why not just buy a new copy that will arrive much more quickly and as a result, save you time and tons of money in the long term?,” I realized that sometimes we get stuck in decision patterns that don’t serve our business. Let’s use another book example. Let’s say you see a book and can’t decide whether it’s worth buying or not. In fact, it may be hard to rationalize the purchase, especially as a new or growing business. Take a few seconds and ask yourself what a new book typically costs (less than $20). Then ask yourself, “even if I only gain one idea or nugget from this book, won’t that alone pay for the book?” (The answer is yes, of course.) You at minimum break even. Now, imagine a colleague or hired consultant recommends a specific book to you after listening to the specific problem(s) you’re facing. Think about it. Someone has already faced the same problem you currently have and is telling you where to find potential solutions. Case closed. You know you are at least going to break even. The book has been vetted. You know that purchasing this book (again less than $20 brand new) will more than likely save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars over the life of your business. Buy the book and take the time to read it. Period. Now that’s more than worth the cost of buying and reading that book as quickly as you can. I know I would.