I recently decided to make time for one of the BIG loves of my life… books!

And I’ve been reviewing some awesome books lately (check out my first video book review and my second review) primarily so I can fill myself up with new, inspired ideas… and then share them with you 🙂

In today’s episode of my video book review series, I’m talking about Pat Flynn’s book, Will It Fly? How to Test Your Next Business Idea So You Don’t Waste Your Time and Money.

I’m sharing my top 3 takeaways from this awesome book so you can get some really good business lessons and insights right away.

This means you don’t have to read hundreds of pages to get to these top takeaways because I’ve already done that for you!

And if you’re feeling inspired after my review, go ahead and read Pat’s book cover-to-cover — and I just might send you a brand, new signed-by-the-author copy of the book for free… more on that soon 🙂

So, let’s get started with my first takeaway…

Takeaway #1: What’s Your Big Little Idea?

I love Pat’s approach to ideation and niching.

Pat says that it’s not necessarily about going for the biggest, flashiest, blockbuster hit, viral idea which is what most people tell you to do. It’s about coming up with an idea that’s big to someone because your earnings are a measure of how well you serve someone.

So that “someone” he talks about represents a small group of people and often it’s a very small percentage of the population.

This is a proven approach because Pat has built 2 hugely successful businesses targeting a very small percentage of the population.

One of these businesses was about helping people study for and master the LEED Exam for architecture, which is super niche and super profitable. The other business was around helping food truck drivers understand how to build a thriving food truck business.

So, both of these businesses were based on small audiences and small ideas or what I like to call “Big Little Ideas” that helped a small segment of the population do something big for them.  

Most people think they’ve got to come up with this gigantic, world-changing idea that’s going to end global hunger and global warming and all of that. But it can be paralyzing to try and think of something that big and transformative.

Your idea just has to be big to someone and sometimes if you focus on changing the lives of just a handful of people, you can profit beautifully and have a massive impact.

Takeaway #2: Eyes Wide Open

Pat is BIG on market research. He’s all about looking at the people and places that are already serving your audience so you can get to know your market really well.

And I’ve got to admit that I’ve been kind of laid back about market research!

When it comes to launching a business or an idea for a product or service, I’m an artist and I tend to go with my intuition. I follow my creative muse and it usually leads straight to success.

But if you really want something that’s a guarantee for success — of course there’s no such thing as a guarantee but if you want to get closer to a guarantee — then it’s about taking action based on meticulous market research.

Now, this isn’t always the sexiest way to launch a business or an idea but it’s way better to go in with your eyes wide open.

When you do your market research, you’ll understand your industry, who you want to serve, who else is serving your market and all those other important details you need to know to create a solid foundation for your business.

As I said, I’m an artist at heart and I’m all about doing what I love and following my passion when it comes to launching an idea.

But Pat uses a methodical, engineer’s approach that’s based on looking for what’s going to make you money and then moving forward step-by-step.

I like to talk about the combination of both of these approaches — what I call the Ikinomics approach to launching a business based on the Japanese concept of Ikigai.

Ikigai can be loosely translated to “a reason for being.” 

When you approach building your business in different ways — using the step-by-step engineer’s method and following your passion — you’ll make money and you’ll get to do what you love  🙂

And you’re also much more likely to make smart, strategic choices and not just take action on a whim.

The truth is “a whim” can lead you to a dead end and I can tell you from experience… that’s not fun!

In the book, Pat’s shares a step-by-step plan to business success based on methodical market research — the engineer’s approach — and I highly recommend you read the book if you want that.

Takeaway #3: The (True) Secret to Your Success

Ready for my third and final takeaway?

Okay, so Pat answers the question, “How can I know with 100% certainty whether my business idea will be successful?”

And he gives a very realistic and very grounded answer that I don’t hear often enough — you can’t ever really know for certain.

Ideas are a dime a dozen… it’s the way that you implement that idea that either brings you to success… or not.

The true secret to your success is YOU. It’s about being willing to do the work.

And if you want it enough, if you’ve got the desire and you’re willing to do the work then you can have any kind of success, any kind of business and any kind of lifestyle you want!

I’ve had so many people tell me, “Marisa, I wish I had your business!” And I say to them, “That’s great but are you willing to do what I do, every single day, to make your business a success?”

And that’s where courage comes in — the courage to do what it takes to create the results you want.

Success comes down to having a great idea plus great execution, being willing to do the hard work and a big dose of courage.  

So, if you’ve got a business idea that you’ve been dreaming of putting out into the world, then Will it Fly? is definitely for you 🙂

Pat doesn’t get into helping you come up with an idea but he does help you analyze the ideas that you already have and the markets that you might be thinking of getting into, so you’re much more likely to make that idea fly!

And you can use the book as a guide so you don’t waste time and money on an idea that could crash and burn because time and money are things that you can’t get back.

So, here’s to your great idea taking off and taking the world by storm!

Now go out there and Live Your Message 🙂