Pia Silva’s latest book narrates how the author and her husband Steve changed fortunes of her graphic design company Worst Fall Design from being in credit card debt of $40,000 to making $500k within 12 months. They achieved this through making their brand unique and standing against the particular aspects of their industry that were damaging. They gave their ideas to clients who were struggling and helped them gain success on their terms.
Pia first had to let go two employees that were increasing their debt monthly trying to pay them. This made her feel crushed as she anticipated her plan to work on creating a traditional agency that grows according to expectations. Money saved from letting the staffs leave reduced the pressure they had and prevented them from going deeper into debt.
By stepping back from traditional agency model, the company formed a smaller product that they enjoyed and became a favorite among their networking clients whose picks had become high-priced. The product was called Brand Up Whereby Pia and her husband were able to sit down with the firm and do all in a day. After a brief discussion with the clients, they would come up with graphic design elements, business cards, and websites.
By the time Pia revamped her business she had stalled deals like most agency owners. She reached out to her clients and offered them the Brand Up process; a focused and unique service for a fraction of the price. She managed to close four out of five deals.
Chapter four lays out a formula including four angles in which an entrepreneur can achieve his plans. This includes;
- Determining your target market who are most paying and profitable
- Developing your brand personality to stand out from the crowd to grow competition
- Offering your lead product which you can sell at flat and affordable rates and should be visibly defined
- A superior version of lead product that you want to upsell
In her book, she claims that you have to be passionate about your small business to accomplish success, and that a company without profit is not a business but a profession without security. Pia claims that building a business is tough and one should put in all the effort even if they don’t like. Also, there is the fast-technological advancement, and it’s important when one learns on ways to take advantage of your knowledge in a new technique to get you stability back.
The author is anti-corporate to a point where she turned down a client since it was an e-commerce website, which wasn’t their firms’ field.
The book fits with the author’s narrative through storytelling as a method of influence and coaching. You get a sense that through the initial stages, they are learning lessons then implementing them in chapter 4 and later chapters to prove the legitimacy of the teachings. She emphasizes that she and Steve are going through a jungle with the reader and the path they discovered kept them and their self-employed friends.
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Where can I get the book?