January 6, 2011 25 Comments

The New Small – Video Book Review

I wrote the foreword to Phil Simon’s The New Small: How a New Breed of Small Businesses Is Harnessing the Power of Emerging Technologies (amazon affiliate link). The book is about how new versions of small businesses will form, and how new technologies will empower different types of companies. In a lot of ways, this is a blueprint for creating a company similar than Human Business Works. I shot a quick review. You should pick it up, if you’re interested in starting a small business.

If you can’t see the video, click here.

Check it out here.

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  • http://rlavigne42.wordpress.com Robert Lavigne

    Proud early supporter of the book

  • http://trafficcoleman.com/blog/official-black-seo-guy/ Black Seo Guy

    I think it worth the price and I’m looking to get my hands on it..thanks Chris

    “Black Seo Guy “Signing Off”

  • http://matthewm.org Matt Medeiros

    Chris – you’re dropping the pounds buddy! Looking good :)

  • http://linkedin.com/in/joesorge Joe Sorge

    Just received my copy today! Yay!

    Also, does your whiteboard say 10 Cent Wings? :)

    • http://www.theageoftheplatform.com/ Phil Simon

      Did you enjoy it?

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  • http://www.giftsspace.com/blog Online Strategies

    Great review. SaaS model works very well for a small organization. It also ensures scalability and reduces the need of expensive hardware or software requirement at the initial stage of the business.

  • DaraBell

    I personally agree in emerging technology. I feel the internet is the new railroad and that T1 connections will mean alot of development. Maybe in parts of the world that were never so. I see it as a Second Industrial Revolution. Books like this tell you were some the gold will be prospected. If the tracks are laid it is inevitable new sources of income will be found.

    Dara

  • DaraBell

    personally agree in emerging technology. I feel the internet is the new railroad and that T1 connections will mean alot of development. Maybe in parts of the world that were never so. I see it as a Second Industrial Revolution. Books like this tell you where some the gold will be prospected. If the tracks are laid it is inevitable new sources of income will be found.

  • DaraBell

    The Afterthought
    Think about Amazon, Zappos or Ryanair. They know there is a revolution on , they know they don’t need to be in NewYork that The Internet connects them in Nevada (in the case of Zappos) to their consumers.

  • http://www.danieldecker.net Daniel Decker

    Looks very interesting. Will pick it up and share a link with others.

    PS… you’re looking thinner.

  • Anonymous

    Correct me if I’m wrong but there have been “emerging technologies” for quite some time, no? The automobile. The telephone. The fax machine. The PC. The cell phone. The email. Etc. I agree, the internet hasbrought on a smorgasbord of options. That said…

    1) A good majority of small biz owners don’t have the time to wade through what comes down to be noise and clutter.

    2) Having a tool and knowing how to use it are two very different things. For example, look at Zappos. People get all wrapped in how they do customer service but many of those same people miss the point – Zappos *is* doing customer service. Not talking about it. Not dreaming about it. Not patronizing it. They’re just doing what so many companies should have been doing but elected not to do. I respect Zappos but not because they are “innovative” per se.

    I’m no Luddite. I wrote my first program on punch cards in the last 70′s, And it is with that perspective that I say that technology can obviously be very enabling. Unfortunately, it’s too often either squandered or worshiped as some sort of panacea because (in either case) so many can’t even get the (non technological) fundamentals correct.

    Guys like Simon can spin it all they want but big fancy orange Web 2.0 buttons are not going to fix what seems to be a tradition for small business. That is, they buy snake oil then what they really need is a reality check. Maybe I’m wrong but the track record seems to be, “Meet the new small. Same as the old small.”

  • Anonymous

    Correct me if I’m wrong but there have been “emerging technologies” for quite some time, no? The automobile. The telephone. The fax machine. The PC. The cell phone. The email. Etc. I agree, the internet hasbrought on a smorgasbord of options. That said…

    1) A good majority of small biz owners don’t have the time to wade through what comes down to be noise and clutter.

    2) Having a tool and knowing how to use it are two very different things. For example, look at Zappos. People get all wrapped in how they do customer service but many of those same people miss the point – Zappos *is* doing customer service. Not talking about it. Not dreaming about it. Not patronizing it. They’re just doing what so many companies should have been doing but elected not to do. I respect Zappos but not because they are “innovative” per se.

    I’m no Luddite. I wrote my first program on punch cards in the last 70′s, And it is with that perspective that I say that technology can obviously be very enabling. Unfortunately, it’s too often either squandered or worshiped as some sort of panacea because (in either case) so many can’t even get the (non technological) fundamentals correct.

    Guys like Simon can spin it all they want but big fancy orange Web 2.0 buttons are not going to fix what seems to be a tradition for small business. That is, they buy snake oil then what they really need is a reality check. Maybe I’m wrong but the track record seems to be, “Meet the new small. Same as the old small.”

    • http://www.whatdoestonydo.com cheftony

      I’m biased, as I was featured in the book, but since I USE technology, I can comment here I believe.

      We get reality checks daily, overdue bills, lost customers, competition with BIG box retailers (of whatever, food, electronics, etc) and to even be able to compete, we HAVE to understand (or for many, yes, begin to understand) how to be efficient, connected, and lean. What I find so important, is continuing to expose and promote effective ways of using these incredible, and usually free, tolls…so that we can still have an America that HAS small shops, restaurant and retailers of all varieties that can exist and compete.

      I’m definitely not the norm when it comes to techie tools and social media stuff, but I hope to be one day.

      • Anonymous

        Hey Chef! Maybe “reality check” was the wrong choice of words? I should also mention that I had my own retails biz for 10 year and then e-comm for 10. As an independent consultant I think I still qualify as a small biz. Tho’ I prefer entrepreneur ;) I’m not trying to be critical of small biz owners. I know it’s tough. Been there, doin’ that. What confuses me is why so many insist on making it harder on themselves? Why do best practices apply to everyone but themselves?

        My point is…these are just tools. A means to an ends. They are not an ends. Even just using them (e.g. Twitter) might not even be the right ends. So while there continues to be “emerging technologies” (as there has always been), it seem that it’s the fundamentals that continue to go under utilized. So many get all sexed up about the latest shinny new object (read: tool/service). But then proceed, for all practical purposes, to use a screwdriver to pound nails. How effective is that?

        For example, last night I went out for drinks with two friends. Nice place. Middle upper type of venue. We sat at the bar. Every seat was filled but 15-20 seats plus what looked to be a so-so busy service bar should have been fine for one bartender and a barback. To make a long story short, getting drinks and food was like pulling teeth. I don’t think the bartender came over once to ask, “Everything OK?”

        Tell me, technology is going to fix that how?

        I also had a friend who had a flower shop. She’d bring her dog to work with her just about every day. While more or less a wuss at heart, the dog’s bark was pretty intimating. As in, “Hello customer, you’re not welcome here.” So while she’s scratching her head trying to figure out how to do more biz I suggested she ditch the dog. She refused. Enough said?

        Excuse the double negative but I’m certainly not anti-technology. What I’m against is treating these tools like a panacea. Especially when quite often there are more important parameters that can be adjusted. Not always, but often.

        Bottom line… 9 times out of 10 the first shiny object most SMBs should invest in is a mirror.

        • http://www.theageoftheplatform.com/ Phil Simon

          1) A good majority of small biz owners don’t have the time to wade through what comes down to be noise and clutter.

          Couldn’t agree more. That’s why I wrote the book.

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  • http://www.solobizcoach.com SoloBizCoach

    Chris,

    Is this book relevant to solopreneurs? I always ask this question because some business books really focus on the much larger types of startup businesses.

    -Fred Leo

    • http://www.theageoftheplatform.com/ Phil Simon

      I like to think so.

  • http://raulcolon.net Raul Colon

    I see it’s not available yet on the Ipad! I will add it to my reading list!

    By the way next time add a vegetarian item on the Daily specials.. I am really not into the 10 cent wings. :)

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    Great Informative  video..

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