Thinking Like An Entrepreneur is a yes-you-too-can-achieve-your-dream-power-of-positive-thinking
self-help motivational book
coupled with some very
serious business
analysis While some people dream of coming up with a hot idea and taking the next great
Internet company public, this book
focuses on building a real business with real profits. Such businesses can make the founder worth millions of dollars in only a few short years without the company ever becoming public. This book is written for entrepreneurs who want to make their company profitable ASAP.
But to build such a business demands an understanding of simple financial and business decision making. Thinking Like An Entrepreneur teaches you to understand the fundamentals that underlie intelligent decision making for your small company.
The book covers many important topics (cash flow, profit margins, and the time value of money, etc.) and will help get a new entrepreneur started. Whether or not you wish to grow your company to a substantial size, this book will help you succeed in business by teaching you to think more like successful entrepreneurs--to make fundamentally sound decisions. Some of the book's highlights:
If you choose not to grow your business, but just to do "your own thing," Chapter 23 covers becoming a consultant in some depth. This is a viable avenue for computer programmers, graphic artists, videographers, and, of course, web page designers today. The chapter is a short primer for deciding if you want to become a consultant and is an introduction to some of the basic issues consultants face. The new area of online consulting is briefly discussed.
If you choose not to start from scratch, but rather, buy an existing business, Chapter 26 goes into detail into buying a business. You will learn how to value a smaller company, including valuing intellectual capital. A rather lengthy chapter you might choose to skip unless you really are going to seek a business to buy.
Chapter 17 shows you why it is important to incorporate your company and discusses the option of creating an S-corporation. Issues of taxation and liability are discussed. The chapter helps you understand how to minimize your overall tax bite and get the best liability protection possible.
Chapter 9 discusses the role of personality type in building a company. It is important that you start a business that is suited to who you are as a person. A great market opportunity is not a great personal opportunity if you won't enjoy the business. This chapter is written to help you find a business suited to you.
Chapter 4 and 5 go into detail explaining how thriving businesses bootstrap themselves to financial success. You are introduced to the concept of compounding intervals and rates of return (which are further developed on Chapter 16 which is dedicated to the nature of compounding money within a business). Proprietary products are discussed. This tread of thought is continued in Chapter 12 which deals with cash flow and how cash flow issues can affect your company's growth rate. A hypothetical game company making "Lifers" is considered. These chapters alone probably make the book worth reading.
Chapter 7 discusses the author's personal views on how the Internet is changing business today and what the Internet means for Microsoft and other established companies. An easy-to-read chapter, but with no hands-on advice on how to create your site.
Chapter 13 is a comparison of the fields of computer programming and computer-based training (CBT). The goal is to get the reader to see where value is created within the type of business he or she will start.
Chapter 15 discusses the role of luck in business and explains why Bill Gates is the richest man alive today. You will learn how to play the "game" of business appropriately allowing for the role of luck.
The book is written in an irreverent fashion, and might be subtitled, "Entrepreneurship Lessons From The Movies" as the author refers to several films to make his points. Although light-hearted in fashion, the book gets a bit mathematical in a few chapters. But those chapters are well worth the read to anyone serious about building a company..
Price: $14.75
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