00:00:09hi I’m Evan Carmichael and welcome to a
00:00:11special video edition of ask Evan
00:00:13today’s post is brought to you by
00:00:15Express Canada they’ve just launched a
00:00:17new exciting contest under address or
00:00:19business Canada Facebook page where you
00:00:21can win ten thousand dollars and
00:00:22consultation with facebook but I’ll talk
00:00:25a little more about that at the end of
00:00:26the video today I’m going to answer
00:00:28questions from one of my readers Ahmed
00:00:29was asked me what my favorite book is
00:00:32for strategic vision
00:00:35so I made specific question was Evan can
00:00:39you help by recommending books to me
00:00:41which talk about competitive
00:00:42intelligence or strategic vision Thanks
00:00:44your concern Ahmed so thanks for the
00:00:46question Ahmed if you haven’t already
00:00:48seen my page of my favorite books you
00:00:51should go check it out my favorite book
00:00:53for strategic vision would be radicals
00:00:55and visionaries by thadius Varro the
00:00:57book highlights the stories and advice
00:00:59from over 70 famous entrepreneurs I’m a
00:01:02strong believer in modeling success so
00:01:04whatever challenges you’re facing right
00:01:05now with your business there’s a good
00:01:07chance that at least one of these
00:01:08entrepreneurs had to overcome it as well
00:01:10here are three of my favorite profiles
00:01:12that I hope you can learn from number
00:01:15one Jeff Bezos from amazon com our
00:01:18vision is to be the world’s most
00:01:20consumer centric company where customers
00:01:22can come to find anything they want to
00:01:24buy online if you’re looking for a
00:01:26visionary and someone who disrupted his
00:01:28competition Jeff Bezos is a great person
00:01:31to model at age 30 Bezos was already
00:01:33senior vice president at a Wall Street
00:01:35investment bank he was making a
00:01:37six-figure salary and was on the fast
00:01:38track to corporate success in 1994 he
00:01:42saw that the internet was growing at two
00:01:43thousand three hundred percent per month
00:01:45and wanted to capitalize on it by
00:01:48launching his own business he made a
00:01:50list of 20 potential products to sell
00:01:52and settled on books he realized that
00:01:54physical books source could only carry a
00:01:56limited amount of titles given him a
00:01:58huge advantage online he launched
00:02:01amazoncom in 1995 with over 1 million
00:02:03titles and call it earth’s biggest
00:02:05bookstore today the company has over
00:02:08thirty four billion dollars in sales
00:02:10thanks in large part to bezos’s
00:02:11unrelenting vision to focus on customer
00:02:13satisfaction he’s constantly monitoring
00:02:16trends and following his customers into
00:02:17new markets which have fuelled the
00:02:19company’s growth
00:02:21number two ray kroc from mcdonalds the
00:02:25definition of salesmanship is the gentle
00:02:27art of letting the customer have it your
00:02:29way Ray Kroc was a milkshake machine
00:02:32salesman and as he approached his 50th
00:02:34birthday had a successful career in
00:02:36sales by paying personal attention to
00:02:38his clients when he met with the
00:02:40McDonald brothers who seldom has
00:02:41milkshake makers he was impressed with
00:02:43how they ran the restaurant he crafted a
00:02:46vision where they could go from a single
00:02:47location into a national chain when they
00:02:50told him that they weren’t interested in
00:02:52doing it themselves they sold their
00:02:54business to crock and let him run with
00:02:56it today McDonald’s is the world’s
00:02:58largest fast food company with sales of
00:03:00over twenty four billion dollars to
00:03:02think that it all began with a single
00:03:04restaurant location that wasn’t even his
00:03:06to start with is a testament to the
00:03:08visionary qualities that crock possessed
00:03:11number three william hewlett and david
00:03:14packard what i’m most proud of is the
00:03:17fact that we really create a way to work
00:03:19with employees let them share in the
00:03:21profits and still keep control of it
00:03:23bill and Dave started their business
00:03:25with five hundred and thirty-eight
00:03:27dollars in a small garage behind
00:03:29Packard’s house they flipped the coin
00:03:31whether the call to company
00:03:32hewlett-packard or pocket hewlett as the
00:03:35business grew they became known for the
00:03:37sensitivity they showed towards the
00:03:39people working for them HP became the
00:03:41first company to offer flexible hours
00:03:43and profit sharing they gave their staff
00:03:46more autonomy and created open offices
00:03:48to break down barriers between
00:03:49management and employees their
00:03:51philosophies became known as the HP way
00:03:54and have been used as a model for
00:03:55generations of company since today
00:03:58hewlett-packard has revenues of over a
00:03:59hundred and twenty six billion dollars
00:04:01and Hewlett and Packard are considered
00:04:03two of the most respected businessman in
00:04:05the country it all started with five
00:04:07hundred thirty-eight dollars a garage a
00:04:10passion for tinkering with electronics
00:04:12and a desire to build a company where
00:04:14everyone could take pride in what they
00:04:16were doing
00:04:18so I hope that helps amen here’s what
00:04:20the book looks like if you want to go
00:04:22check it out and find it in the book
00:04:23store my thumb’s a little bit dinged up
00:04:25because I’ve read it so many times but
00:04:27you’ll find that those are just three of
00:04:28the stories out of over 70 profiles of
00:04:30famous entrepreneur they have in there
00:04:32and you’re bound to find a store in
00:04:34there that will motivate you give you
00:04:36ideas to grow your business and help you
00:04:38get to that next step so I definitely
00:04:39recommend going to pick it up now just a
00:04:42minor this post is brought to you by
00:04:43America’s best canada i mention you as a
00:04:44contest at the beginning of this video
00:04:46they’ve launched new contents on their
00:04:48amex for business canada facebook page
00:04:50and i’ll include the link below it’s
00:04:51called take off with american express
00:04:53and they’re looking for canadian company
00:04:55to give ten thousand dollars in cash to
00:04:57and a one-on-one personal consultation
00:05:00with facebook so all you do is visit
00:05:02their facebook page and let them know
00:05:03where you’d like to take your business
00:05:04and that enters you into the contest so
00:05:07good luck if you guys liked the video
00:05:09please give it a thumbs up below I’d
00:05:11also love to hear your thoughts and
00:05:12feedback if you want to leave a comment
00:05:14under the video and stay tuned for the
00:05:16next episode
00:05:27you