What is the one thing you must have in order to have a business: Paying Customers.  Without customers who've paid you money to buy your goods or services, all you have is a business experiment.

The problem with customers is finding them.  With most business owners the process of finding customers is hit or miss.  In fact, although government agencies list inadequate capital as the most prevalent reason for business failure, my experience suggests it is the inability to get customers.

The book I review this week is the road map for marketing for closely held businesses.  Written by two good friends of mine, Jimmy Vee and Travis Miller, Gravitational Marketing is essential reading for any entrepreneur - new or experienced.

In the book, Jimmy and Travis show how you can create gravity for your business to attract customers and why differentiation on anything other than price is essential to keeping your business alive and prospering.

Have a look at the video for more details.

Fun Stuff.

On the personal side, Faith and I just got back from a short trip to New York.  Faith attended a High School reunion (I'm not allowed to say which one) and I spent the time with some friends doing outdoor stuff - kayaking (of course), fishing and hiking.  We also enjoyed Shelter Island and the wineries on the east end of Long Island.

I still love parts of Long Island.  But, its getting too crowded.

For those of you from Long Island, I got to eat at All American twice!  For everyone else, All American is the best hamburger place I've ever eaten at.  Until Five Guys came to Orlando, there was nothing close.  I've decided that All American has a better burger, but it's a toss up when it comes to the fries.

(By the way, Five Guys is a great entrepreneurial success story.  Started in 1986, they're up to 570 locations.  Have a look at the article here on the Inc. Magazine website:

As always, thanks for reading.  And thank you for your referrals.

Ed