Market Busters, which purports to offer "40 strategic moves that drive exceptional business growth," follows through well on that promise and does exactly that. It's not a book of fluff or platitudes, and every single strategic move in the book is built upon a foundation of time-tested theories and actual, real-world examples. This isn't a motivational book that tells you "you can do it" but rather an extensive study into what has worked (and also what has NOT worked) written for educated people in straight-forward, albeit not "dumbed down" terms.
Here's how the process works for these 40 moves and for this WHOLE book; in my humble opinion, it's a good process, and I learned a lot. It will suggest a business strategy as follows. I'll take one as an example. Move #11: Eliminate Complexity: "...opportunity for what we call radical surgery, a move to dramatically eliminate complexity. Radical surgery is made possible, ironically, by the very efforts of companies to be responsive and to invest in improving their offerings. [...]" Two examples are then provided, one of a stripped-down hotel experience and another of an overly-complicated oven. Finally, prospecting questions are provided for eliminating complexity or executing the strategy move first proposed.
WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR: This book is for serious business people, and people who want to study business as a science and a strategy and not simply as an array of promises and platitudes. I think it is best for someone in a LARGER company or with ABOVE-AVERAGE resources, because a lot of the moves suggest using teams or collections of people, so it is most suitable for corporations and large entities, although for me, it was a pleasure brainstorming experience even as a small business.
Overall, the book is great. It provides a strategic move, talks about it, gives examples, and then asks you prospecting questions or thinking questions to force you to think about the strategy as it applies to your own business. The examples are all real-world and don't always involve success (some show what caused failure). I'd recommend this not only to people already in business but also those planning new ventures. |
MarketBusters: 40 Strategic Moves That Drive Exceptional Business Growth Books In Print, Audio Books.