Is there a way to make more with less? That was the invitation offered by one of my favorite speakers, marketing guru Michael Port (www.michaelport.com).
His premise is that once an individual or business is booked solid, another set of problems surfaces that must be addressed. That, in fact, is the focus of his second book, Beyond Booked Solid. (Available in hardcover for $24.95; you can also find it cheaper on amazon.com.)
Port reminds us that successful business owners "are not bound by their past. They reconfigure what they have, and turn it into what they want."
They apply ideas, models and concepts from other industries and use them in their own businesses.
Step One: Redesign your business model to ensure that it matches your skills, passions, target markets and work preferences. Understand what is successful in your industry, be open to outside influences and emulate or adopt what could potentially work for you.
Step Two: Innovate new ways in which to work and behave. This is not to be confused with pure invention. Examples would be ideas to reduce waste, save precious time or speed delivery of a product or service. However, it takes time to ask exact questions about each area of one's business, service, delivery and processes to understand where there's room for improvement.
Port emphasizes the value of partnerships and alliances, perhaps having another service provider cover for you under an "agreement of integrity" that includes a pledge not to take each other's clients.
Another tactic he recommends would be to develop an apprentice who can back you up — short of having to hire another employee.
Step Three: Understand your business constraints. That helps identify what to "apply or remove" in order to be more productive. Port used his weekly teleconference call as an example, explaining how he made simple changes to reduce the time it takes to prepare and schedule the call from three hours to 15 minutes.
"Going beyond booked solid is committing to a life of mastery, always making changes and striving to improve," he writes. Port is an enthusiastic agent of change who wants to see his clients succeed, and he provides practical insights and ideas to help businesses think bigger and better in the book.
Editor's note: If you've read the book, what do you think are among Port's best points? Go to Tennessean.com and put your comments in "story chat" at
the end of this column for others to see. And e-mail your favorite business book titles to ramcclain@tennessean.com with comments on how you've used the advice you read there.
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