How to Grow Your Small Business

About the Author

Donald Miller is a renowned author, public speaker, and business consultant known for his expertise in marketing and business growth strategies. He has written several best-selling books, including Building a StoryBrand, which has helped countless businesses clarify their message and connect with customers. With a passion for helping small businesses thrive, Miller's approach combines practical advice with a compelling storytelling framework, making complex concepts accessible and actionable for entrepreneurs and business owners.

Main Idea

In How to Grow Your Small Business: A 6-Step Plan to Help Your Business Take Off, Donald Miller presents a comprehensive guide for small business owners to achieve sustainable growth. The book's central premise is that small businesses, much like airplanes, require precise engineering and careful management of their critical components to function smoothly and succeed. By following a six-step plan, businesses can create predictability, enhance reliability, and foster growth, ultimately leading to a more structured and efficient operation.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Step One: Leadership
3. Step Two: Marketing
4. Step Three: Sales
5. Step Four: Products
6. Step Five: Overhead and Operations
7. Step Six: Cash Flow
8. Conclusion

Step One: Leadership

The leadership step emphasizes the importance of defining a clear destination for the business and creating a detailed plan to reach that destination. Much like pilots with a flight path, business leaders need a vision and a roadmap to guide their decisions and actions.

The foundation of effective leadership in a small business involves creating a Guiding Principles package, which includes:

• A Mission Statement: "We will accomplish X by Y because of Z." This formula ensures the mission is clear, urgent, and meaningful, inviting the team into a compelling narrative.
• Key Characteristics: These are the specific skills and traits necessary for team members to succeed in achieving the mission. Examples might include:
  • Love for serving people
  • Passion for quality
  • Calmness under pressure
• Critical Actions: Daily habits that drive the business toward its financial objectives. These actions should be simple, universal, and impactful.

For instance, a local restaurant might identify their Key Characteristics as:

• We love people and enjoy serving them
• We are obsessed with great-tasting food
• We are calm under pressure

"The primary job of the leader and the leadership team is to clearly define a destination and then reverse engineer a plan to get there." - Donald Miller

Step Two: Marketing

Marketing is likened to the engines of an airplane, providing the necessary thrust to move the business forward. Effective marketing requires a clear and compelling message that resonates with the target audience. Miller introduces the StoryBrand Framework to create a powerful marketing message.

The seven elements of the StoryBrand Framework are: