Jim Blasingame's books speak to entrepreneurs

Two books of note in the ever-rising tide of self-help business guides are “Small Business Is Like a Bunch of Bananas” and “Three Minutes to Success.”

Both are by small-business advocate Jim Blasingame, whose credits we’ll cite later. For now, let’s get to whether these books are actually helpful and worth the money.

“Bananas,” in print since 2002, is a real departure from the how-to mainstream. Rather than the hard-nosed, pithy advice many readers look for in such books, this one is more a balm for the troubled business mind. Readers who can set aside the sense of urgency that so often drives the quest for new business knowledge will find it pleasant to read and a transcendent view of business life.

Blasingame’s prescription is a mix of anecdotes, aphorisms, observations and insights: some his own, some quoted, and nearly all of considerable spiritual dimension. For example, he quotes an “ancient saying”: “If on the day you die you can name one good friend for each of the fingers on just one hand, you will die a rich man.”

He quotes Confucius: “To know what you know, and know what you don’t know, is the characteristic of one who knows.”

He even quotes Zen philosopher Alan Watts: “Thinking that the self must remain constant for life to have meaning is like falling helplessly in love with an inch.”

Profundities of this nature become business advice when voiced by a man to whom business isn’t a part of life, but informed by all of life. So it is with Blasingame, who spells out the practical relevance of each to the business world.

The book isn’t all deathless wisdom, but the gems therein make it well worth the read. Beginning entrepreneurs will certainly find it helpful, and it should be of even greater value to the reader who needs to pull back from the day-to-day for a calmer, broader view of his or her own life and business. That bigger picture can be enlightening, heartening, inspiring and productive of greater success in every arena.

“Three Minutes to Success,” published this year, is Blasingame’s latest book. A fine example of the harder-hitting, pithier business books most readers favor, it’s tight, to the point and can be taken into the field and put to use.

Blasingame early on dispels the key myths of small-business ownership, clearing the stage for readers to proceed to key specifics on business planning, management, projections, branding, customer relations, financial fundamentals, gauging markets, leveraging technology and many other topics.

The author’s detailed advice on seeking investors, speaking the language of bankers, and getting a bank loan is especially cogent.

His maxim on customer relations is terse and true: “A customer’s relationship with your business is as simple as it is rude – it’s all about them.”

He also provides five superb disaster-avoiding “reality checks” on expanding a business:

1. “The marketplace is pretty full already. Is there a real opportunity to grow?”

2. “Growth takes cash. How will you fund yours?”

3. “The results of growth are typically delayed. Can your organization wait for the payoff?”

4. “Growth will take your organization into unfamiliar territory. Do you have the staff and systems to blaze that trail AND take care of your customers?”

5. “Owning a business should be a source of happiness. Are you sure you’ll be happy with a larger business?”

This is the stuff of which agony is spared and money made.

“Bananas” and “Three Minutes” are small books, each with 52 “thoughts” or “lessons,” most of them two pages long. Self-published by Blasingame’s SBN Books, both can be ordered on his Web site at www.smallbusinessadvocate.com. “Three Minutes” is also available at Books-a-Million stores and at www.bamm.com, and “Bananas” can be found in some retail bookstores.

About Blasingame

Talk-show host, speaker, and writer Blasingame is heard on “The Small Business Advocate Show” in 40 U.S. radio markets, on his Web site, and in his daily “Small Business Minute” on XM Satellite Radio. His numerous awards include being named the U.S. Small Business Administration 2002 “Small Business Journalist of the Year” and selection to Forbes Small Business magazine’s Power 30 list of the most influential people in America representing small business. He also serves on SBA’s National Advisory Council.

Blasingame’s self-promotion – e.g., prefacing his books with 23-24 personal endorsements, some rather florid – can seem frenetic and a bit off-putting at first. Those endorsements, however, along with his awards and his tireless and obviously heartfelt business advocacy, may well make him the foremost spokesman in the ongoing struggle of small businesses to survive.

This is an era in which mega-corporations are increasingly taking control in the marketplace, and Jim Blasingame is not confused. He will be heard. And he’s worth hearing.

Frank Shipe is a free-lance writer and editor.