Clockwork summary

Book: Clockwork by Mike Michalowicz

Automate your small business to make it work around the clock without you, refine your ideal customer avatar, and hire passionate people fitting your culture.

It’s not the best book on the subjects it covers, but it’s a compilation of what worked best for another lifestyle business owner, with a couple of good ideas here and there.

Main ideas:

Refine your ideal customer avatar

  • Write a document describing each customer segment your serve.
  • Psychographic – their lifestyle, personality, aspirations, values, interest, influencers
  • Congregations points – where do to find them, online or offline. ex: winemaker’s tradeshow, vineyard owner’s association
  • Focus on the customer segment you enjoy the most

Hire people that will fit that context

  • Find what they are good at
    • What are the 3 favorite things you have ever done at work?
    • If you were able to have any job on the planet, doing anything you want, what would you do?
    • Ten years from now, what is the perfect job you see yourself doing?
    • If you had all the money in the world, and simply wanted to work for the joy of working, what would you do?
    • What are your interests and hobbies?
    • What gives you joy with these interests and hobbies?
  • Not everyone seeks a full-time job or top dollar
    • Bad employees focus on money and vacations.
    • Good employees focus on meaning, impact, culture, learning, fun.
    • They might prefer part-time / flexibility over full-time / top dollar (ex: moms).
    • Engineer your company around these values.
  • Hire assistants on attitude & traits, not skills
    • Don’t look for a “receptionist”, but for a “great communicator”
    • Look for traits that can’t be taught:
      • “Get it done” attitude
      • High energy
      • High intelligence
      • Strong cultural fit
      • People who desire to do the work you need to be done
    • Hire people from different backgrounds than you.
    • Don’t hire people you like, hire people you respect.
  • Write ads to attract candidates
    • Start with a very, very long description of your culture in detail, to repel anyone who doesn’t fit perfectly.
    • At the end of your ad, ask them to reply with a specific title in their answer, like “I’m pumped for this job” in the title, to discard those who didn’t read or don’t follow instructions.

Recommended books

  • How to hire the best – Dr.Sabrina Starling
  • Scaling Up – Verne Harnish
  • Traction – Gino Wickman
  • E-Myth – Michael E.Gerber