Books : The One Minute Entrepreneur: The Secret to Creating and Sustaining a Successful Business

- Inspirational
Overall this book was filled with inspirational wisdom and while somewhat common sense approaches to life I still felt it was a good experience to read them.

Rating:

- Dont hope for too much
A pleasant book to read as it conveys ideas and teachings in the form of a story. 3 stars for the content though...as it could have conveyed more useful information as suggested by the lucrative front cover.

Rating:

- Fast, Easy Read
This book is a fast, easy read to remind those in business to keep what is important in the forefront of their minds. For most business professionals the key points are common sense, however, sometimes we all need to be reminded.

Rating:

- Flat, traditional, and sickeningly 'wholesome'
I understand that this is supposed to be a "parable," but I find the characters one-dimensional and difficult to identify with. There is a traditional, conservative thread running throughout the book -- Jud is very, very much a down-home, clean-cut type. He marries (of course), has two children (of course), and ends up creating a corporate culture that includes the typical terminology we're all so sick of -- "contact with the customer" is relabeled as "moments of truth," the company's philosophy is centered around some acrostic of the words "I CARE," and so on.

I couldn't quite finish this book, short though it was. There were some pieces of wisdom that may or may not be obvious ("play to your passion," "listen to others," "don't be afraid to ask for help"), but overall, I found the characters and story to be too flat and smarmy to endure. The book seems to be a poor approximation of life. I like the fact that the authors made an attempt to put their advice into context by forming a story around it, but the entire book is unrealistic.

Jud and Terri are not like real people. I couldn't identify with them. The whole adventure reads like a "family-values" sitcom written by conservative businessmen.

Rating:

- Disappointing...
I've read and learned from other books in the "One Minute" series, but this book was pure drivel. The entire book revolves around simple, common-sense concepts any entrepreneur better already know - make more money than you spend, treat your customers well, don't abuse your employees...

In the world this book was created in, everybody wants to help, be on your advisory board, donate money, mentor you, etc, and totally for free (including the time to talk with you, be on your board, fly to your office at their own expense...). It's pretty rare for any of that to come in the real world without a steep price tag.

I remember their advice on open-book finances being a quickly passing fad 15 years ago or so. If you're having financial problems, don't count on your employees to care as much about the business as you do. For the most part, employees care about their paycheques, not about your bottom line. Yes, you can be careful with your screening process and get some good employees, but people are more worried about their own problems, not yours. Nothing is as simple as this book would lead you to believe.

There is nothing practical about the advice in this book. Nothing in the book will help you start a business from scratch. Go read The One Minute Salesperson instead.

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