The Everyday Entrepreneur E-Book

Rob Basso

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 242

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

A primer for pursuing entrepreneurial ambitions and achieving success

Filled with strategies and powerful anecdotes about defining and setting goals and pushing for entrepreneurial success, The Everyday Entrepreneur reveals how readers can apply the ambitions of a go-getter in their own lives, position themselves ahead of the pack, examine how to calculate risk, and understand the mindset necessary to venture forward on their own.

Unlike other books on the market, The Everyday Entrepreneur looks at tangible strategies for business owners to build wealth and financial freedom at any age and inspires those who think they may not have what it takes to get out and put plans into action.

• Filled with valuable lessons about driving business growth and honing your entrepreneurial instincts to the fullest
• Includes thoughtful interviews of successful individuals from diverse backgrounds

The Everyday Entrepreneur imparts meaningful stories and offers a guide to find your own success.

Leseprobe

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Foreword Jeff Hoffman

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: Lemonade Stands Are Just Too Static

Early Lessons

Summary

Chapter 2: Take the Blinders Off

Naïveté Can Actually Help You Get Started

No Room for Weak Links

Watch Those Toes

Assessing, Reassessing, and Constantly Learning

Timing Can Be Everything

Summary

Chapter 3: Image and Reputation Matter

The Need-to-Know Basis

It's Okay to Embellish—But Just a Little

Waking Up Any Sleeping Dogs

Results, Results, Results

When Honesty and Integrity Rule

Trust Is Everything

Getting to Know You

Not Just for Newbies

Summary

Chapter 4: Is That a Leprechaun in Your Pocket, or Are You Just Happy to See Me?

Running with the Winners

At the Center of the Action

Boosting Those Odds

Perseverance and the Lessons Gained

But Sometimes You Gotta Believe

Visibility

Front and Center

A Higher Calling

Summary

Chapter 5: Foster Bold Dreams, Bolder Actions

Have a Résumé with that Sandwich

Surround Yourself with Believers

Pace Yourself!

Second Generation: Making the Business Your Own

Are You Off Your Rocker?

Nurturing Creativity

Revise When Necessary

Summary

Chapter 6: Humble Beginnings

Mom, You're Hired

Embed Yourself

It's the Client, Stupid

A Couple of Dollars, Well Spent

The People in Your Corner

Listening Is Free

Third-Party Endorsements

Think Big, Act Small

Why Visionaries Need Partners

Summary

Chapter 7: Diving without a Shark Cage

Beware the Knee-Jerk Reaction

Learning from the Big Boys

Use Your Smarts

Find the Other Guys' Weak Spots

Innovators Rule

Don't Be Afraid to Be Small

A Double Isn't Bad, but a Home Run Is Better

Slow, Steady, and Without Temptation

Giants? What Giants?

Even the Best Ideas Need Help

Summary

Chapter 8: Fun with Risks

Vegas, Here We Come

Analyze Your Bets Before You Gamble

Risks from the Very First Step

Convincing Others to Come Along for the Ride

The Smaller the Better, Sometimes

You Don't Have to Go Whitewater Rafting to Take Risks

Protect Your Risk from the Get-Go

Facing Changes

Other People's Money

About That Adrenaline Rush

Summary

Chapter 9: The Corporate Game

Throw That Dough in the Air

Not Every Big Company Is Evil

Still Twelve Notes on the Scale

“My Boss Was Chief Lemming”

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers

Mind the Waste

Everything You Need to Know About Risk

Get Your Framework

Learn from the Little Guys, Too

What Is Your Yacht?

Summary

Entrepreneurial Insights

Introduction

Chapter 1 Lemonade Stands Are Just Too Static

Chapter 2 Take the Blinders Off

Chapter 3 Image and Reputation Matter

Chapter 4 Is That a Leprechaun in Your Pocket, or Are You Just Happy to See Me?

Chapter 5 Foster Bold Dreams, Bolder Actions

Chapter 6 Humble Beginnings

Chapter 7 Diving without a Shark Cage

Chapter 8 Fun with Risks

Chapter 9 The Corporate Game

Afterword

About the Author

Index

Copyright © 2011 by Rob Basso. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Basso, Rob.

The everyday entrepreneur/Rob Basso. – 1st ed.

p.cm.

Includes index.

ISBN: 978-1-118-10644-0 (hardback)

ISBN: 978-1-118-14996-6 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-118-14997-3 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-118-14995-9 (ebk)

1. Entrepreneurship. 2. New business enterprises–Management. I. Title.

HB615.B386 2011

658.1′1–dc23

2011022709

10987654321

To my wife, Mary Beth, son Nicholas, and daughter Skylar

Foreword

ENTREPRENEURSHIP: IT'S NOT just an idea; it's a lifestyle. It's a decision, a mission that can only be accomplished by someone who displays a tremendous amount of focus, dedication, thoughtful planning, and above all, passion. Funny—I think I just described Rob Basso.

The first time I met Rob, we immediately started chatting about business. I thought it would just be a polite talk, high level at best, but boy was I wrong! Rob loves business and everything about it—the idea of it, the strategy, the people, and the intellectual challenges it presents. He has worked with countless business owners and entrepreneurs, and in this book he uses his vast knowledge base and experience to guide all of us through the turbulent waters of an ever-changing business landscape and into the safe harbors of success and realized dreams.

So what does it take to make it as an entrepreneur? How do we get to that promised land? Well, frankly, it starts with something simple—a dream. Entrepreneurs don't do what they do because it's merely a job or a living. They do it because they've found a wrong in the world that they truly believe they can right, or have discovered a gaping hole in the space between what exists today and what could exist tomorrow, and will never sleep again until they plug that hole. It starts with an idea that burns a hot flame deep inside you. And nothing can douse that flame except success.

An idea, however, is like a balloon drifting on the breeze. It's cool to look at, and it captures our attention, but without focus, a roadmap, and a plan, it slowly drifts away to an unknown destination. The difference between an idea's mere existence and its actual realization comes from a need to turn that flame burning inside of us into a product. That's where it all starts. The world's most successful entrepreneurs are the ones who can bridge that treacherous gap between a good idea and an actual business. And make no mistake—that process is hard. It's just plain difficult. Look around you. Almost everyone you know has a great idea that they're going to quit their worthless job someday. Aren't they all going to turn their amorphous flame of an idea into an actual profit-making company? Yeah, right. The reality is that if it were easy, everyone would do it. Because it's a challenge, very few do.

Yet somehow, some people actually do manage to transform their mere ideas into professional success. How? What are they doing differently from everyone else? Over the course of reading this book—and by way of examining everything else that Rob does—you're about to find out. Entrepreneurship is a journey, and it's one worth sharing. The reason that Rob and I found so much to talk about was because we had both been to the promised land of entrepreneurial success. We'd both started with a simple idea, turned it into a product, wrapped a company around that product, and then grew that company into a thriving, profitable business that created jobs for many people and value for its stakeholders. (Wow—don't forget to take pictures along the way!)

So now it's your turn. You have an idea, right? Maybe you've already started your business. But you want more. You want to turn something small into something big—something that costs money into something that makes money. Well—you can do it. Hey, even I did it, and I'm just a regular guy. However, I did a few things that helped me along the way. I paid attention. I studied what the winners did, and I learned from mistakes the losers made. I also discovered some things along the way that I'd like to share. In fact, I couldn't wait to communicate my own insights for this book when Rob told me that he was writing it. Rob let me know that he wanted to collect all the lessons that so many of us lived through and share them in a way that would help all of you potential entrepreneurs avoid the mistakes we made and benefit from the things we did right.

Entrepreneurs take risks. They try things that might not work, things they've never tried before, or the things they've tried before but in totally different ways the second (or third or fourth) time around. Over the years, I've observed that the best entrepreneurs have overcome their fear of failure and are far more afraid of not trying than of failing. As they see it, trying and failing is not the worst thing that can happen to you. Spending your whole life wondering what you might have achieved had you only tried is a far worse fate.

Smart entrepreneurs increase their odds of success with each try by collecting data and assimilating it into their overall plan and process. One of the most important pieces of data to collect is validation. Sure, you think your idea is the greatest idea ever. You're so sure of that fact that you've already picked out a yacht in Boating World magazine. And everyone around you thinks you're the smartest person they know and that your idea just can't fail. But therein lies the rub. Who are those people, anyway? Have they ever started with nothing more than a burning flame, a great idea, a driving passion, and then turned it into in an operating company with products, sales, service, and more? Maybe—in fact, probably—not.

So how do you validate your idea and make sure you're on the right path? The answer is to surround yourself with people who've been on this very path before, and who found a way to do it right. And then listen to them. Among other things that Rob and I have in common is the sheer delight we take in meeting successful people and learning about how they became successful. But Rob went a step further: He wrote this book. Thanks to him, you can use these pages to surround yourself with validation, with people who have been there before and have done it right.

My own entrepreneurial journey was one of trial and error. But I always got better. I started my first software company from scratch, and I later sold it to a Fortune 500 company for a very successful exit. I kept on creating ideas and launching companies, and I was even lucky enough to be part of the great Internet tidal wave when we launched Priceline.com, using the same principles I learned along the way, and that Rob has collected to share with you in this book. If I can do it, anyone can.

However, with that being said, I should emphasize that entrepreneurship isn't for everyone. It can be a life without security, a day without structure, a month without pay. But it can—and always will—be a life full of challenges. I, for one, wouldn't have it any other way. And neither would Rob. So we want you to jump in feet first and join us. Soak in the wisdom that Rob has gathered to share with you. I can't think of a better guy to write this book.

Oh, and don't forget to invite me to that yacht party! Something about the mystery of the sea fascinates me.

—Jeff HoffmanCofounder and CEO in thePriceline.comfamily of companies

Acknowledgments

IT TAKES A village to build something worthwhile; this book is certainly no exception.

Every entrepreneur I interviewed for this book has made it their mission to exceed expectations and take risks in order to find their calling. Then they took time out of their busy days to help you, my future reader, find success on your own terms, imparting their stories of joy and failures in the hope that you will live your own American dream.

I tend to throw myself into my projects and to need support from everyone around me in order to live my passion. Without the unwavering encouragement from my wife Mary Beth, son Nicholas, and daughter Skylar, this book and many other ventures would never have been possible. I hope I can return the favor as we build our lives together. Thanks and I love you.

My team at Advantage Payroll Services and Basso On Business, including Marty Lanz, Yvette Hector, Melissa Di Diego, Christine Cesarino, and Christina Federici, played a crucial role in providing the available time to complete this project. Longtime employees like Tina Singelton, Leadette Smith, Tony Hector, and the rest of the staff helped along the way. I could not ask for a better support team. They work hard every day to keep the ship sailing in the right direction. Thank you to each team member.

A special thank you is necessary for my friend Adam Schwam. His friendship and unwavering support for the projects I work on led me to meet Susan Spilka, a member of the John Wiley & Sons, Inc., team. Susan introduced me to the dedicated and hard working staff at Wiley who helped make this book possible.

Bill Corbett and Pete Cracovaner are my dream-team consultants that help guide my public relations, private coaching, and media career. They play an integral part in keeping me focused and on track for new and unforgettable journeys I have yet to take. Thanks for all your help.

My clients may not realize they played a role, but they did. I have spent the last 15 years building my businesses and I have met, and certainly will meet, many of the finest professionals that anyone could have the pleasure to work with. Their loyalty, patronage, and our relationships helped shape my outlook on life and business. Together we can help each other prosper and assist our fellow entrepreneurs and our communities. Thanks to each and every one of you.