BOOK 5 - $100 Start Up – Chris Guillebeau
BOOK 5 - $100 Start Up – Chris Guillebeau
The fifth book I listened to was on another Business Insider reading list. I was in need of a good read after the last book I read and $100 Start Up did not disappoint. It was genuinely heart-warming and I have since recommended it to many of my friends. Guillebeau illustrates the lessons in each chapter through inspiring vignettes and thought provoking examples of how to create different types of businesses.
I took away some valuable lessons from this book:
1. Follow a passion - but, it doesn’t have to be your primary topic of interest to be a good business idea. Your venture doesn’t have to aligned with your greatest passion but it does help if the work matters to you. I love playing hockey but I have no intention of making a career out of it. I do, however, also enjoy inventing and new solutions and making people’s lives better and this would be a better direction for me to focus a new enterprise.
2. Lifestyle choices. The book focuses on how to cultivate a life you enjoy rather than how to become an overnight millionaire. Whether it be writing a blog whilst travelling or developing a business which gives you control over your lifestyle, it’s about spending your precious time doing the things that make you feel happy and fulfilled.
3. Invest in your customers, not marketing. Keep the idea small and focus on using the successes of your customers’ experiences and their feedback to grow your business; this means that you don’t waste money on marketing and gives you the ability to create an even better product.
4. Most Start-ups fail. This statement is what puts most people off of branching out on their own, but if you don’t invest too much at the being and if you re-enforce success when you come across it, you are guaranteed to at least come away with a wealth of new knowledge and experience and that is a success in and of itself. You don’t have to quit your job today, so just wait until you have proven your business is a success before letting go of the safety net.
This book embodies the reasons why I am writing up my 52 books of 2018 – I want to better understand potential business opportunities and scope potential opportunities to top up my income (I might look into VLOGs and Podcasts next).
I highly recommend this book and for anyone who wants to create an extra income it is a must.