The Business Brickyard

The basics. That’s what you lost when you went from feeling like, “I’m going to make my mark,” to “It’s too hard to keep up so let’s just try to survive.”

It is time to admit you’re not having fun anymore and it is ok to say it. Only then can you find your way back to the beginning when your business was all promise and no misery. Only then can you build (and keep building on) the basics that will never let you down.

This small book contains the secret basics to unlock the true power and potential of your business. Strategist, speaker and consultant Howard Mann has collected twelve “bricks” essential to any business foundation. Mann shows you how to get back to basics, reconnect with your purpose, and grow your business, instead of getting stuck following the latest trend or innovation. Most important of all, The Business Brickyard provides a game plan for how to make your business fun to run again.

As the former President of an international logistics company, Mann now works as an adviser and confidant to a select group of entrepreneurs and business owners the world over. He practices what he preaches – these 12 bricks have helped him grow his award-winning digital creative agency, Sideshow Digital. You’ll learn how to “Reconnect to Your Purpose” and keep your goals uppermost in your mind. You’ll say goodbye to worries over competition when you “Lose Your Nemesis.” You’ll appreciate the powerful simplicity of “Pay Fast, Get Paid Even Faster.” You’ll learn how to “Goaljump” and work backwards from your most ambitious goals to actionable tasks you can do today.

The Business Brickyard shows you how to eliminate whatever it is that hinders your ability as a business owner to enjoy your position properly. With practical, hands-on exercises and a fresh, concise format, The Brickyard will help you establish a brick solid foundation so your business can grow without limit while you enjoy the journey.

Download Chapter 1 as a free PDF - Simply click here

About the author:
Howard Mann is the president of The Business Brickyard, a leading strategy, marketing and communication consultancy based in New York, and a founder of Sideshow Digital, an award-winning interactive agency.

Prior to founding The Business Brickyard in 2001, Mann was the President of a premier customs broker and international freight forwarder with six U.S. offices and a network of over 35 agents worldwide.

Mann currently works as an adviser to a select group of entrepreneurs and business owners. His highly focused workshops, dubbed "a day in the brickyard," help executive teams dig down to unlock the power of the perfect execution of the basics of business. His clients learn how to build brick-solid foundations that sustain growth and make their businesses more fun to run. In addition to consulting, Mann speaks and writes frequently about the importance of the basics and reconnecting to the passion that too often gets lost as businesses mature.

“The purpose of The Business Brickyard is to re-energize business owners with the strength generated by a better foundation built on a strong purpose and the perfect execution of the basics. This seemingly simple formula has been forgotten in an era of "me too" strategies and frequent and disconnected jumps to the business fad of the day. The end result? Businesses have become the source of way too much lonely stress for their owners, employees, stakeholders and clients. The power and control over the destinies of our businesses we all want comes from simplicity and clarity. What makes that happen is a return to the basics that have always worked. They are classic. And, as they say, classic is classic for a reason.”

Your Business Should Be Fun To Run

The Business Brickyard exists to make that happen. Rigorous discovery, fresh ideas, real world business strategies, innovative marketing, engaging design and ongoing support that move you closer to your clients and put cash in your pocket. As we’re fond of saying, Truth Equals Cash. Harsh but true.

Our work increases the energy, growth and cash from your business. Less stressing out. Less futzing around. It isn’t rocket science. It’s about being relentlessly effective. We help determined business owners realize the greatest potential of their businesses. We will make your business more fun to run.

Our philosophy is simple: we aim to utterly eliminate WHATEVER it is that hinders your right as a business owner to enjoy your position properly. Life is short. That is always our starting position. This is where our power comes from.

Does the work solve a real problem? Does it get beneath the surface of a problem? Does it actually understand the business, not just fill the space with marketing froth? What about adjusting it, evolving it, improving it? Does it leverage the power and the purpose of what you do? Serious question.

It’s about reality, creativity, getting the basics perfect and the truth that allows you take the right actions every time. It’s simple, sure, but sadly it’s rare.

We figure out what the best and most real truths are about your company, what your unique capabilities and possibilities actually are. And you need to be willing to hear it.

That truth generates rare creativity, powerful new ideas and a focused plan of action. They will empower you, your staff, your clients and your prospects.

This doesn’t take weeks and months. It doesn’t take fancy reports and analysis.

It’s very straightforward. You believe in us, and we keep fighting with you long after the invoice is paid. It is relentless. We are relentless.

Uncovering your core purpose, articulating it with raw simplicity and using exceptional design to communicate it inside and outside your company is the mountain we will peak together.  Along the way we'll unlock what you do better than anyone else and then we'll make you famous for it.

If you feel your business could/should be and do more and are deeply committed to getting there we would like to meet you.

About This Site

This site is a sampling of how and what we think. Inside you'll find our philosophy on business, the importance of getting the basics of business perfect, ideas that inspire us and a few that drive us crazy.

We're a small agency by design that chooses our clients as much as they choose us. We do great work and our clients recommend us. That is our only sales process.