As a business owner, what must you know about sales and marketing and what can you leave for search?

The inspiration for this question is none other than Sherlock Holmes in The Five Orange Pips by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He is talking to Dr. Watson when he says, “…a man should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber room of his library, where he can get it if he wants it.”

We are experiencing an explosion of information and an explosion of information delivery vehicles. Somewhere lies the answers to the most pressing problems, but where? Are those answers in our minds, or must we search for them?

What is it that the business owner must absolutely know about sales and marketing – be master of – in his or her position?

What are your thoughts?