Entrepreneurship for the Rest of Us
How to Create Innovation and Opportunity Everywhere
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- $34.99
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- $34.99
Publisher Description
Today when the competition, technology, and the economy are evolving faster than ever before, organizations and the people like us who work in them need a proven approach to help us adapt--and succeed. The key, according to Paul B. Brown, is to think like an entrepreneur, no matter what your position or industry. What works for the most successful entrepreneurs will work for us, Brown argues, whether we want to stay employed working for someone else or are thinking of going off on our own. Based on extensive research, Entrepreneurship for the Rest of Us reveals the best practices of the most successful entrepreneurs, those who are adept at continually innovating and seeing opportunity where others do not. They do that by following a rigid approach. For example: They never start with a new idea, but by trying to solve a market need. Financing is an afterthought. They get started with the resources at hand (not only does that allow them to move quickly, if things don't work out, they are not out much). Perfect is the enemy of good, it is much more important to get out into the marketplace with a prototype than to keep fiddling with what you have. In short, the entrepreneurial mindset is a protection against economic uncertainty, and Brown's goal is to spread that thinking to individuals and large organizations alike. Though of course we won't all start or run our own companies, we need to learn to think like entrepreneurs so that when uncertainty hits, as it will again and again, individuals and companies will be better prepared to not only survive but win.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
New York Times columnist Brown (Creating a Winner) examines what makes entrepreneurs successful in this excellent business guide aimed at helping readers improve their own companies. A 30-year student of entrepreneurship, he distills the knowledge he has amassed into a series of lessons for employees and management at any company, with a particular focus on larger organizations. Instead of emphasizing what entrepreneurs do, Brown studies how they think and the similarities in how they go about creating their companies. He reduces their actions into a simple formula "Act, Learn, Build, and Repeat" deliberately omitting a planning stage. Instead, he states, businesspeople should start with a small step and see how the world reacts. This allows them to get started quickly with a minimal amount of resources and to respond quickly to market needs. Aiming to debunk common myths, Brown explores typical questions entrepreneurs ask themselves. He also stresses the importance of beginning from a market need instead of a great idea, staying ahead of the competition, creating lifelong customers, and building a team. Brown's writing style is focused and succinct, much like the process he describes, and his advice is truly insightful. Anyone looking to start a business or expand a current one should take a page from this outstanding book.
