Reluctant Entrepreneur

MICHAEL MASTERSON is not your typical businessman. An ex–Peace Corps volunteer, he never took a class in business, doesn't read the business press, and hates to talk business. He spends his spare time writing poetry, collecting fine art, and practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. His neighbors call him a bohemian. But he's also an entrepreneur. He started his first business when he was eleven years old, and in the forty-five years that have elapsed since then, he has started or co-started dozens of successful businesses. The author of numerous business books, several of them New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers, Masterson consults for private clients and writes the Palm Beach Letter, a newsletter for individual investors.

• Foreword xiiiAcknowledgments xixINTRODUCTION Entrepreneurship: What It Is . . . and Isn’t 1The Reality of Calculated Risk 2The Reluctant Entrepreneur 3Launching a Successful Business Takes More Than Motivation 4It’s Okay to Be Cautious 5Success Is Not a Roll of the Dice 6And One More Thing . . . 6CHAPTER 1 What, Exactly, Is a Reluctant Entrepreneur? 9Philip Knight’s Story 10What We Can Learn From This . . . 11Hatching a Business While You Keep Your Day Job 12The Myth of the “Entrepreneurial Type” 16CHAPTER 2 The First Question You Must Be Able to Answer 21Rule Number One of Reluctant Entrepreneurship 23Your Initial Challenge: Generating Positive Cash Flow 24Educating Yourself About Business 25CHAPTER 3 What It Takes to Be a Successful Reluctant Entrepreneur 27The Reluctant Entrepreneur Is a Smart Entrepreneur 29The Foundation of Your Business: Six StrategicChoices You Have to Make at the Very Beginning 31It’s Not Rocket Science 38CHAPTER 4 Hatching the New Business: Overcoming Fear and Taking Action 41Your First Three Action Steps 43How Do You Find a Mentor? 48Putting Fear on Your Side 49CHAPTER 5 The Magic Happens When You Hire Superstars 51Recognizing Superstar Potential 52Knowing What You’re Looking For 53How Do You Find These People? 54The Care and Feeding of a Superstar 56How to Structure a Superstar Organization 59The Best Investment You Will Ever Make 61CHAPTER 6 Mastering the Art of Business Relationships 65The Reluctant Entrepreneur’s Guide to Making Friends in High Places 6712 Ways to Get People to Want to Do Business With You 69A Simple Trick That Will Make Important People Want to Talk to You 72How to Get Others to Tell You Their Most Valuable Success Secrets—A Technique I Learned From a Self-Made Multimillionaire 73Never Pass Up the Opportunity to Make a Connection That Can Do You Some Good 75Seek Out Mutually-Beneficial Partnerships 76It Doesn’t Take Much to Maintain Relationships With All Your Important Contacts—Even Hundreds of Them 78CHAPTER 7 How to Become a Marketing Genius 81Every Business Is About the Selling 82The Beauty of Direct Marketing 83Mastering the Art of Persuasion 85The Difference Between Wants and Needs 87The Difference Between Features and Benefits 88The Difference Between Benefits and Deeper Benefits 89The USP: Making Your Product Stand Out From the Competition 90How to Use Your USP to Create a Successful Advertising Campaign 91Resist the Urge to Try Something Completely Different 92Short-Term Results Versus Long-Term Profits 93CHAPTER 8 Maintaining Control of Your Growing Business 97Pushing Hard for Profi ts 98You Can Never, Ever Stop Pushing on Every Single Front 100How Much of Your Profi ts Should Go Into Your Pocket—And How Much Should Go Back Into Your Business? 101Why You Should Ignore the “Experts” and Determine Your Own Compensation 102Create a Culture That Respects Money 103Keep Your Eye on the Numbers 104Never Lose Your Competitive Edge 105How Tiffany & Co. Lost Their Edge—And Found It Again 106Set High Standards for Customer Service—And Make Sure They Stay High 107A Success Trap You Don’t Have to Fall Into 110CHAPTER 9 Leadership: Keeping Your Vision Alive 113Effective Leaders Motivate Others to Do Great Work 114Effective Leaders Focus on Work, Not Politics 114Effective Leaders Understand That Competition Has Its Place in Business, But It Is Not Nearly as Important as Cooperation and Sharing 115Effective Leaders Care About Their Customers 115Effective Leaders Make Fast Decisions 116Effective Leaders Know How to Get Support for Their Ideas 116Effective Leaders Know How to Delegate 117Effective Leaders Do Not Micromanage 118Effective Leaders Create a Culture of Accountability 119Effective Leaders Understand That Teamwork Doesn’t Always Work 119Effective Leaders Are Good Communicators 120Effective Leaders Make Every Meeting Work for Them 121Effective Leaders Know How to Negotiate 122Effective Leaders Are Considerate 124Effective Leaders Don’t Become Buddies With Their Employees 125Effective Leaders Sometimes Zig When Others Zag 125CHAPTER 10 Build Your Business Like a Go-Cart 127Building the Go-Cart, Step by Step 129Conclusion 133APPENDIX Do You Need the Mindset of a Champion to Succeed in Business? 135How to Use Humor in Business 139Must You Be Cutthroat to Succeed in Business? 144The Unexpected Side Effects of Making Money (and How to Avoid Them) 149The Time-Management System That Works for Me 155About the Author 159Index 161