Zero to One Million: How I Built A Company to $1 Million in Sales . . . and How You Can, Too (Paperback)

by Ryan Allis (Author)
Key Phrases: raise funding, corporate values statement, personal mission statement, North Carolina, Action Item, Write Your Plan (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Do You Want to Become a Multi-Millionaire Entrepreneur? Here’s How.

By the time Ryan Allis had reached the age of twenty-one, he had achieved the financial goal most people just dream about: He built his company to one million in sales. Allis has since grown his company iContact Corp., a provider of Web-based email marketing and online communication software, to $10 million per year in sales, and has helped numerous clients increase their sales dramatically.

Now Allis shares the secrets of his lightning-fast success with you. In Zero to One Million, he details his simple yet innovative evaluation system of “Market-Advantages-Return” to help you determine if your business idea is viable. Once you have a solid foundation, you can apply his advice for successfully running your business-from initial planning to managing high-speed growth.

• Evaluate your business idea using the innovative MAR system
• Write a business plan sure to excite your investors
• Launch your company with minimal expenditure
• Boost online sales using cutting-edge marketing strategies
• Watch all your hard work transform into millions

Did you know that eighty-one percent of millionaires are entrepreneurs? Join the pantheon of successful businessmen and women with Zero to One Million.

About the Author

Ryan P. Allis is CEO of iContact Corp., a venture-backed email marketing and online communications firm that has grown from nothing to over $10 million in annual sales and 80 employees. Ryan is also the Chairman of the web marketing firm Virante, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (January 18, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071496661
• ISBN-13: 978-0071496667
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #223,204 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So much wisdom in this book... If you take the time to read it, March 14, 2008

By	Wildman Keith - See all my reviews

This book offers sound advice about starting a business, but not waiting till everything is all perfectly lined up before you do so.
** In some ways it reminds me of Ready, Fire, Aim Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat (Agora Series) but I like this one a little bit better. **

The author talks about how if you were going somewhere but waited till all the lights were green before you left the house, you would never leave. He also talked about how you could cross the country at night with just your headlights providing illumination. You would never know what was way up ahead but just as in business if you know where you want to go you can get there if you keep working at it, even if you don't see the whole path ahead of you yet.

** Some of the other good stuff is how you plan what you want to achieve in life, break it down to a strategy of what you want in 20 years, then break that down to what you want in the next year and use a 6 month or year as a tactic for gradually moving towards your long term goal. But he also shows how to use a daily goal or weekly plan to achieve your 6 month or yearly goal. In other words you break down your plans into daily, achievable bites that add up over time. **

Things like Passive Income are discussed and how to implement them into your life and business.

It takes a lot for me to be really impressed but this young man has produced a lot of wisdom in this book. I just hate how some people put it down without even reading it. They should be ashamed of themselves.

There's more in the book but as someone who takes their reviews seriously let me just say that this will be one of the best business books you can read if you are thinking about starting your own company and want some encouragement and tips for how to proceed.
I might come back and add to this review later on but for now this should tell you what it is about.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Different than what I expected... *much* better!, March 19, 2008

By	Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I was offered a copy of the book Zero to One Million: How I Built A Company to $1 Million in Sales . . . and How You Can, Too by Ryan P. Allis, and thought I would give it a look. What I expected was some "secret program" on how to quickly become a business success (like those ever work!) What it turned out to be instead was a solid read on what it takes to start and run a business, the trade-offs you need to consider, and just how much work it really is. There's no "secret" that he's trying to push or sell... it's just a sharing of reality.

Contents:
Part 1 - My Story - Going from Zero to One Million: Getting Off the Ground; Becoming an Entrepreneur
Part 2 - The 10-Step Process For Building A Company To $1 Million In Sales: Step 1 - Understand the System; Step 2 - Find Your Core Motivation; Step 3 - Evaluate Your Idea; Step 4 - Write Your Plan; Step 5 - Raise Funding or Bootstrap; Step 6 - Develop Your Product; Step 7 - Develop Your Marketing and Sales Strategy; Step 8 - Build Your Online Marketing Strategy; Step 9 - Build Your Team; Step 10 - Build Strong Systems and Scale
Part 3 - Steps for Success
Appendixes: Financial Vocabulary; Recommended Books; Resources for Entrepreneurs; The Mission of the Humanity Campaign; Join the Community at Zeromillion.com
Index

As I mentioned, this sounded like one of those "try my method and you'll always succeed" titles. These are generally the people who are making most of their money from selling their "methods" and not actually doing what they talk about. :) Anyway, Allis starts out by talking about the path he took from repairing PCs as a 12 year old in 1998 to running a software company tallying nearly $7 million in sales in 2007. Along the way, he dealt with partnerships, hiring, venture capital, marketing, you name it. Not too many 23 year olds can boast that level of education and experience (not to mention net worth) that early in life. This leads into Part 2 of the book, which covers the steps he took and the things you need to consider when starting and growing a business.

The information is valuable from Step 1 forward. He starts out by defining the difference between a lifestyle company and a high potential venture. There's nothing wrong with either, and it's entirely up to you as to what you want to do. But there are considerable differences in the amount of work, the potential payout, and the eventual exit strategy between the two. He's obviously gone the venture route, as that's the path that leads to the highest payout with the possibility of becoming independently wealthy. It also means you can fail big and lose it all. But that's how it works... high risk, high reward. Probably the closest he comes to a "system" is the MAR model for evaluating potential opportunities. That stands for Market, Advantages, Return. If you walk your business idea through those questions, you'll be forced to look at it in a way that strips out the emotion and determines the possibilities for success. Very good questions to ask BEFORE you sink your money into a business. Everything beyond step 3 is solid, time-tested advice and wisdom on starting and running a business from someone who's "been there, done that".

Reading this book and applying his principles and ideas does not guarantee that your business *will* top a million dollars in sales. But I can pretty much guarantee that starting a business *without* having this level of information thought out beforehand will dramatically decrease your long-term chances of success. You could try and make all the mistakes on your own, but why touch the stove when someone already told you it was hot? A really good read...

4.0 out of 5 stars Packed full of content!, October 22, 2008

By	Kirsty Dunphey "www.kirstydunphey.com - Autho... (Tasmania, Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ryan's book is a nice combination of his story and his "how to". More slanted towards those who want to take a business from start up to a medium sized exit strategy (as opposed to small / micro business) it's easy to read and has some great exercises. My only criticism was that I wanted to hear more about Ryan's business icontact and less about the company he was working in as teen. When you read it, grab a pen and paper though as the ideas come fast and you'll get the most by writing a to do list as you go.
Kirsty Dunphey, Author - Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can