Cadence is an award winning book for businesses and entrepreneurs.
It is packed with actionable insights and a framework that you can immediately relate and apply to your own business.
Packed in a parable form. It is easy to read and digest.
Must read for any business owners and entrepreneurs.

Cadence by Pete Williams is a parable. Narrative storytelling either works for you or it doesn’t when it comes to absorbing frameworks and information. In theory, it helps the reader remember the new strategies because they remember the narrative that goes with it. In this case, the story is of an entrepreneur who owns a struggling cycling business and one of his clients, a successful business man, training for Ironman. In creating a parallel between the training required to complete an Ironman and the 7 levers for growth, the story highlights the best way to increase profits in a business.

The most striking element for me in the book was the goal of incremental growth, a cycling through focus points continually to achieve a big goal through small steps as the author describes below.

“And that is what the 7 Levers philosophy is also built on. Achievable incremental growth, continued 10% Wins, each and every time, that add up to incremental and sustainable bottom-line profit growth.”

Often, when we try to tackle change, we try and make giant leaps in multiple directions and are overwhelmed when we don’t achieve as much as we hope. Pete Williams approach sounds far more manageable and full of encouragement as small wins keeps the process going.

The seven levers are

Suspects
Prospects
Conversions
Items per Sale
Average Item Price
Transactions per Customer
Margins

The process seems simple enough but having spent time mentally putting my business through it, I found the book a little light on application. I appreciate the theory in each of the seven levers as we use these as focus areas in our marketing strategies but it felt skewed towards retailers and in each example the “solution” had a revolutionary effect which felt a bit overstated and simplified. Without time to apply the methodology consistently, I can’t review the effectiveness of this approach but the author’s track record indicts his success with it.

I found the narrative a bit slow but the information is thought-provoking and worth reading. It’s four out of five on the en-JOY-ment scale!

This book is a delightful, easy read. The combination of clear principles and a story make the ideas easier to take in. By pairing up a highly successful businessman/coach who wants help to complete the IRONMAN with the sport-based entrepreneur/coach who needs business advice for his struggling business, the reader soon understands that you can be an expert in your own area while still needing a framework, a process, tools and practical help in another. They mentor each other. There is a strong emphasis on identifying then making small changes in key areas and executing them consistently.

Some quotable quotes:

“Sometimes in life, effort does not equate to outcome.”

“ If I started doing them randomly - a swim session here, a long ride there - would that get me across the IRONMAN finish line?”

“... if you want long-term growth, you need a real plan, something more purposeful and trackable.”

“... it was repeatable and sustainable.”

In the end, both are winners and learn a great deal along the way.

Great examples are woven into the story, making it a more memorable read.I’ve read it twice and I’m sure I will read it again.

With many thanks to the author, the publishers Morgan James Publishing, and NetGalley for my free copy to review.

An unusual book though I liked it for this reason as it’s written as a fictional book, however, it’s based on business principles so very different from a run of the mile business book.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I marked my rating as such as I think that the business itself could have been more interesting, but it was very easy to read being relatively short and a book that the reader could learn from.

Review posted on: Blog https://bit.ly/2vpOV12; Goodreads. Will post on Amazon when permitted

4 Stars


My Opinion: As one who loves to devour business books, I must say that I was more impressed by this book than I expected to be. My main criticism of this book is the “story/fable” aspect to this book was a bit drawn out to me. On that note, that was well made up for in the way Williams laid out the levers beautifully with easy to understand applications and repetition in the story. I loved the graphics he partnered the story with. Again, very simple for easy comprehension and memorization. Furthermore, he used the illustrations as more of a key points approach versus as a “take away” section, which are often overlooked.

This book will definitely go on my Recommend List for those seeking recommendations in business books. This book would also be perfect for your new entrepreneur.

What happens when “doing what you love” doesn’t pay the bills? You read this book and you start pushing levers.

This is a business parable, and it’s an engaging, friendly and clear story. JJ is a great triathlon coach who had one of those light bulb moments and decided to open a high-end cycling shop. Perfect fit, right?

Not really until JJ meets Charlie, a confident and engaging entrepreneur who signs up for JJ’s triathlon training. They come to an agreement to coach each other and so they set goals- in five months, Charlie will achieve Ironman status and JJ’s bike shop profits will double.

Cadence is the pattern of rising and falling sounds in a person’s speech. In business, cadence is a regularly scheduled strategy or plan.

Many times, business success books lose me, because they are either filled with slogans or catchy language- fluff that can be hard to internalize. But Cadence presents solid actionable information in an easy to understand and easy to remember format. The humor and camaraderie between JJ and Charlie helped keep my interest. The summary at the end of the book is useful, too.

I can use this framework in my business, and actually in my personal life, too. I’d like to be 10% better in all areas!

This a great book for all small business owners! It tells an easy to read, entertaining story of how to grow a small business by providing a way to identify the key areas for small, incremental growth. A must-read for anyone running a business or thinking about starting one!

I don't like business fables and this is a business fable.

However I do like this book. It gives practical, commonsense advice that is actionable and doable. There are a couple of the seven levers that I had to go back and read again to get the concept. That may have just been my lack of understanding though. Overall there are some good curated ideas that can help you in your business if you are just starting out or if you need some reinforcement.

I don't like fables. I will recommend this book however.

As an owner of several successful businesses I am delighted to see these critical business ideas packaged up in such an accessible business narrative form.

Highly recommended to anyone who runs a business, or is thinking about starting one.

Bit things come out of tiny improvements!

This title is a quick read while giving you great advise in a parable. The only negative is the images were hard to see at times within the preview digital copy.

A fable that delivers an analogy to a business area is very powerful as it sets the topic in a more interpretable context. We always see other people’s problems much clearer and actionable than our own! Cadence provides an analogy around a Triathlete coach (JJ), who also owns his own sports equipment store but is making some core mistakes in running his business. He doesn’t make those mistakes in coaching but the similarities are considerable.

Many entrepreneurs and young companies can struggle with the basic implementation of generating customers, driving revenue and increasing profit. I say implementation because it’s not that they are unaware of the theory or the process. What happens is that the daily business of survival and commercial noise distracts the core important activities on how to grow a business. They start working deeper and deeper reactively IN the business rather than proactively ON the business.

Pete Williams has outlined 7 levers that must be addressed for continuous growth and profit maximisation.

This is a very informative, pragmatic and well delivered framework for increasing profits by targeting 10% wins. One area I appreciated is that not every marketing strategy has to concentrate on social media and there is very useful discussions as to when it is appropriate and when not. Know what you are trying to achieve, who your customers are and their buying habits – regardless of channel.

While some of the dialogue in the non-business situational discussions are not my cup of tea, I believe this is a great book to read. At 176 pages, Cadence, it’s a concise, sharp and high impact read, that I would highly recommend. Loved the title as it was extremely apt!

Many thanks to Morgan James Publishing and NetGalley, for an ARC version of the book in return for an honest review.

Cadence is well-suited to any budding or first-time entrepreneur who has started up a business and is struggling to maintain growth or healthy profits. It contains solid advice on the core principles of creating and managing a successful business including the importance of measuring and monitoring performance over time. The key messages are delivered in a parable format which makes this an easy but effective read. What you won't get from this book is how to achieve the successful metrics and performance of a profitable business. But if it was that simple, we would all be millionaires.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

https://www.aminext.com/blog/2018/1/20/is-that-business-book-worth-a-read
Most books, tapes, and seminars are sold with the implied promise that if you get only one profitable idea it will more than pay for that book, tape, or seminar. And that your purchase or attendance is the first affirmative step on the path to success.

So let us look at an example that comes from an advance reader’s copy of a business book about to be published …

The book is titled “Cadence: A Tale of Fast Business Growth” and was written by entrepreneur /triathlete Pete Williams

The book is a story told from the perspective of a bicycle shop owner, who doubles as an Ironman triathlete (running, swimming, bicycling) coach, whose business is failing. Not so coincidentally, this struggling shop owner is asked to coach a prominent businessman/triathlete who offers to help him double his shop’s profits over the same time it takes to train the businessman for an upcoming competition.

Is there a secret or unique process to business profitability revealed in Cadence?

The short answer is No! The prescriptive advice is based on sound business techniques and achieving a ten-percent improvement in each of seven areas: Suspects, Prospects, Conversions, Items per Sale, Average Item Price, Transactions per Customer, and Margins. With the first six items increasing revenue and the seventh increasing profitability.

Yes, there is value.

This book can serve as a source of motivation and a blueprint of time-tested business principles that may help you increase, both gross revenue and overall profitability.

For long-time readers who have decided to develop multiple income streams to help isolate them from a chaotic and capricious world with an uncertain employment environment, this book can serve as a checklist for evaluating your business processes to target key business areas to maximize your returns

Yes, there are negatives?

One, like most business advice, it is easier said than done.

Two, many people are information junkies, collecting “how to” advice and “motivational” stories; but never seeming to implement and execute these “sure-fire” plans. Perhaps why the author also offers a personal coaching service to help you over the personal barriers to success.

Three, I have a hard time believing that any athlete, self-motivated and trained to push through pain, would not have had the initiative to seek out a solution on their own.

And four, much of the information is freely available on the internet by Googling "incremental gains in seven areas double your profits" without the quotes. Or similar advice is being offered elsewhere by other people.

From the publisher ...

"Cadence is a parable of a business owner and triathlon coach named JJ who left his stable job as a teacher to fulfill his dream of becoming an entrepreneur.

Unfortunately, two years after opening his bike shop, JJ finds himself in a place that is all too familiar to most business owners—struggling to stay afloat. That all changes, fast, when an athlete he coaches teaches him how to turn the store’s profitability around with seven key “10% Wins.”

"Cadence uniquely communicates entrepreneur and advisor Pete Williams’s '7 Levers' approach to business growth through the vehicle of a story. Instead of offering a list of do’s and don’ts for business success, Cadence imparts wisdom by inviting readers on a journey into the lives of two characters who each have something valuable to teach the other.

Through the use of down-to-earth dialogue and realistic business challenges, readers will immediately be pulled into the story of JJ and Charlie, and how they each learn to hit their stride and turn profitability around."

"PETE WILLIAMS is an entrepreneur, advisor, and marketer from Melbourne, Australia. A Southern Region Finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Program, A Small Business ICON Recipient and Australian Business Award Winner for Marketing Excellence; he is the co-founder of numerous businesses across varying industries, telecommunications services to e-commerce."

Like most business books, the advice is a mixture of common sense and time-tested practices. And like most things in life, your results will vary and will be proportional to the amount of time and effort you bring to the table.

Cadence is an award winning book for businesses and entrepreneurs.
It is packed with actionable insights and a framework that you can immediately relate and apply to your own business.
Packed in a parable form. It is easy to read and digest.
Must read for any business owners and entrepreneurs.