John Warrillow – Built To Sell
FASCINATING AUTHORS: What excites you most about your book’s topic? Why did you choose it?
Author: My first attempt at selling a business was a failure. I learned more from my mistakes than anything I did right.
FASCINATING AUTHORS: How long did the book take you from start to finish?
Author: 6 weeks to write. 6 months to edit
FASCINATING AUTHORS: What aspect of writing the book did you find particularly challenging?
Author: Concentrating for long period of time. I think I’m mildly dyslexic and definitely ADD. 90 minutes on one thing is a lifetime for me
FASCINATING AUTHORS: What surprised you the most about the book writing process?
Author: How much I enjoyed creative writing a story (Built To Sell is a business book but written as a parable).
FASCINATING AUTHORS: Did you have any favorite experiences when writing your book?
Author: I was able to meet Bo Burlingham. Bo is the editor-at-large of Inc. Magazine and the bestselling author of The Great Game of Business, Small Giants among others. Bo agreed to write the foreword for my book so we collaborated.
FASCINATING AUTHORS: What do you hope your readers will gain from reading your book?
Author: Become one of the 1% who create a sellable business. It’s an elite club.
FASCINATING AUTHORS: What projects are you currently working on?
Author: Promoting the book, advising a couple of businesses making the transition into a sellable company. I am also speaking at a lot of events and planning a book tour with The Wall Street Journal.
FASCINATING AUTHORS: Is writing your sole career? If not, what else do you do?
Author: I write, I speak and I sit on the advisory board of a couple of companies
FASCINATING AUTHORS: Did you do any research for your books, or did you write from experience?
Author: My former company was a research business. We interviewed 10,000 small business owners each year. I ran it for 10 years so I guess you could say I have indirectly learned from 100,000 business owners.
FASCINATING AUTHORS: How did you come up with your title?
Author: Brainstorming with my friend and mentor Ted Matthews. There was an old fast Company article called Built To Flip and it always sat with me as a good title. I guess I was inspired by that.
FASCINATING AUTHORS: What books have influenced you the most?
Author:
• Small Giants by Bo Burlingham (key lesson: you don’t have to be big to have a great business)
• The E-Myth: Michael Gerber (key lesson: work on not in the business)
• The Four Hour Work Week (key lesson: get a life!)
FASCINATING AUTHORS: Who was your publisher and why did you choose them?
Author: I started my own company called Flip Jet Media. As an entrepreneur, I like the business stuff and was able to self-finance the marketing.
FASCINATING AUTHORS: Tell us a little bit about your book.
Author: My book is about how to create a sellable business (not how to sell a business). There’s a big difference between wanting to sell a business and wanting to know that you could sell the business if you ever wanted to. The book helps both business owners who want to sell and those who want to have a sellable business do the things they need to do to ensure they have a sellable business whenever they choose to sell.
FASCINATING AUTHORS: What inspired you to create a work of nonfiction?
Author: When I tried to sell my business in 2004, I was told it was Unsellable. It was a tough message. I guess I’d like to help others avoid all of my mistakes.
FASCINATING AUTHORS: What did you do to prepare for writing your book?
Author: 15 years interviewing, studying and learning from business owners.
FASCINATING AUTHORS: How did you develop your idea for this book?
Author: Inspired by my own experience turning something from an Unsellable to a sellable business.
FASCINATING AUTHORS: What can we look forward to in your next book?
Author: In 2011 – I might write one on starting a business
FASCINATING AUTHORS: Thank you for taking the time to be part of this interview!
To learn more about the book and Author, please visit – http://builttosell.com/
