Jeremy Rudd uses a compelling story, without any accounting jargon, of Jo, a young girl starting a business to get across important lessons in running businesses profitably. Jo encounters all the most common pitfalls along the journey and is helped by a mentor turning her first loss into huge and sustainable profits. This novel approach uses a memorable supporting cast, for instance the mentor is Squawk a battle-weary seagull, helpers being dormice and her inspirational (and some say accident prone) partner is her teddy bear.

Key messages for success are given and enforced:

Have a Target (must have clear vision of what you want!) Make a Plan to deliver the target (otherwise how do you know what to do) Maximise profit by focusing on Pricing mechanisms (and we learn that increasing your sales price by 5% could double your profit) Market research - always know what your competitors are doing MaximiseSales (5% increase in items sold could increase your profit by 30%),
Costs will devour profit if not controlled (a profitable business introduces a new product and slumps into losses) Who ate the chocolate? Fixed costs are such a risk in any fast-moving business. Management Information (in the book they use lots of different tins to put the cash in)

Jeremy ensures that the book answers many questions that Entrepreneurs and Leaders are always asking themselves:

Why and how do you start a business?
How do you make and sustain a profit?
Is my business profitable enough?
How do I know what techniques to use to increase profit and customer satisfaction?
What must I do next, what are my competitors doing
What is market research?
Where has my cash gone….

It is a true gift to be able to explain complex ideas simply and clearly and in this book Jeremy does just that. I would recommend ‘4 Magic Steps…’ to all management teams and would encourage a re-read on an annual basis. Too often the intricacies of any business conceal the prime objective and distract management. This book reminds us exactly what our priorities should be.

Ted Smith, Chairman Tracscare and Keys Care and former CEO of Craegmoor and Embrace

Jeremy Rudd delivers the goods in this very accessible and easy to read business book for everyone. Start-ups to Fortune 500 companies will appreciate the easy to remember approach and the ease with which it can be explained to their teams. His 4 Magic Steps are extremely compelling, and the math examples show us just how powerful, how magical they are Everyone running a business or growing a business should read this book. Cash is king, and Rudd shows us why it is powerful and how to grow profit in 4 easy to understand steps. Buy it, you can’t afford not to!

Trevor Hill, Chairman & CEO, FATHOM. Phoenix, Arizona.