As we enter 2024, I continue to advance company projects and have been reading books on business strategy to share some thoughts.
These two books complement each other perfectly. The first, "Is It Really That Hard for Companies to Make Money?" by John Warrillow, essentially advocates transforming services into products and productizing processes. The key idea is delegating product "sales" to others—a product shouldn't rely solely on you to sell it. Instead, you must build a "product" that others can also sell. Ultimately, a true enterprise should be able to continue operating "even without the founder." That's the essence of business.
The book uses storytelling methods similar to "The Courage to Be Disliked" and "Mr. Toad Goes to See a Psychotherapist," employing dialogues between a sage and the protagonist to guide readers into scenarios and reflection. At the end, the author shares personal experience and insights.
The second book, "Precision Profit," is by Professor Chen Zongxian from Liansheng Group. Over the years, Chen has accumulated professional experience as CEO and executive in 71 domestic enterprises. Two years ago, I also attended his annual CEO class, and many of his business philosophies remain invaluable today. As the saying goes, "the master opens the door, but cultivation depends on the individual." The teacher addresses pain points and solutions in the business world, but translating this knowledge into your own enterprise strategy relies entirely on the decision-maker's understanding and execution.
I've read many of Chen's books, and "Precision Profit" once again opens new perspectives for me. I'd like to discuss both books together in this article.
The core of "Is It Really That Hard for Companies to Make Money?" is "delegating product sales to others" and "building a company with market appeal." "Precision Profit" revolves around what Chen has repeatedly emphasized: "products don't necessarily need to be manufactured by you," "entering international markets," "market differentiation," and other sales fundamentals. It also addresses shortening delivery times and MOQ (minimum order quantity). By ensuring operational foundations and profit margins, mastering the speed and quality of these two elements will accelerate business growth.
For digital products, expanding teams, training, and specialized roles allow for mass production—think of content pipelines. A single person creating short-form videos takes a full day, but a large media company with 20 people can produce massive amounts daily. Mass production expands reach, but then quality control becomes critical.
Regarding quality management, I believe pre-project communication with clients is crucial. Understanding their needs, pain points, preferences, and nuances before execution reduces miscommunication. If the sales team simply hands the project to the planning and editing teams without ongoing follow-up after initial contact, you lose the emotional foundation built early on. When problems arise, it becomes purely transactional. (In the Chinese-speaking world, face and relationships still matter greatly.)
As we enter the new year, I'm optimizing and reconsidering the company's future direction. After running a solo operation model for a year, I want to challenge myself further and test these business concepts, while bringing fresh stimulation and growth to my life—then continue growing. Though growing pains are expected, being able to ground these concepts and run with them should be an amazing journey!
