Paul Tulenko, Syndicated Small Business Columnist
I have not read a better book for entrepreneurs.
Midwest Book Review
Peter Hupalo's Thinking Like An Entrepreneur is a superb guide to making intelligent business decisions.
Carmen Slaybaugh, FindYourDream
"I can't say enough good stuff about this book. ... It's twenty-seven chapters of jammed packed, good reading."
Rose Rosetree, Winter Issue of Pathways
...you'll be glad you let Peter teach you to think like an entrepreneur.
Book Description
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 Less Rating 4.0
Smart Choices for Entrepreneurs -- Great Stallbusting Ideas!The title of this book is a little misleading. It is not helping you learn how to think like an entrepreneur. In fact, the book teaches you how to more accurately make assessments that entrepreneurs have to make. If you do that, your entrepreneurial success should be higher.
I like books about avoiding thought patterns that delay or derail progress, and thoroughly enjoyed this one. In many ways, the book parallels the outstanding book about personal decision-making, Smart Choices, that I strongly recommend you read as well.
Why, then, did I rate the book at four stars rather than five? Basically, the book didn't quite get the editing it deserved. There are some minor misspellings of the sort that should have been caught. More seriously, the book indulges in unnecessary vulgar language in a few places. If those things don't bother you, see this as a five star book. It certainly is in every other way.
Some of the subjects include how to overcome risk aversion, how to lay off risk, picking the type of business to go into, establishing a business model that has the best chance of success, and how to have the business match your personality and preferences. These are subjects I feel are important for any entrepreneur, and are often not covered by business books. I was especially impressed by the focus on ethics and high moral tone of the advice.
This book will have value both for people who are thinking about becoming entrepreneurs and those who are already running small businesses. Since the book often focuses on computer consulting and computer-based training, those who are in those fields will find the book to be especially valuable.
As a test of the value of the book's content, I applied the concepts to my own management consulting firm and found that the analyses were accurate and useful. So you can add management consulting as another business type for which this book is good.
One of the things I liked about the book is that it realistically encourages people to think about entrepreneurship. Even if you decide that having your own business is not for you, this book will give you a better basis for feeling confident about that decision.
If you do decide you want to buy or start a business, I suggest you share this book with your spouse and a person who already has a business in the same area. Then discuss your ideas with each of them in terms of the concepts in the book. Their feedback will help you form a more realistic view of your ideas. |
