I have always dream of being an entrepreneur,
owning one of the largest corporation. I have role models like Bill Gates,
Warren Buffet, Mark Zukerberg and Robert Kiyosaki. One day I saw this book Rich
Dad's Before you quit your job. As I was hungry to learn to become an
entrepreneur one day, I bought the book.
If
you have been contemplating long and hard to become an entrepreneur and have
taken some steps in preparation for the journey (like attending a course) this
book is a must read for you. Both Robert and co-writer Sharon are both
experienced entrepreneurs who have experienced both failures and success and
shares with us 10 valuable lessons an entrepreneur should know in setting up a
successful business. Robert credited Sharon as the 'A' student CPA and her
businesses are more successful than his.
After reading this book, the
main lessons you can learn from are:
1)
Employee Vs Entrepreneur: The differences in the thought process and behaviour
of each are illustrated.
2) The B-I Triangle:
Rich Dad taught Robert the importance of building a business using the B-I
Triangle. The five main factors that need to be considered are Product, Legal,
Systems, Communications, and Cashflow. If one or more of the factors are weak,
the company will be weak, the management needs to be aware of this weakness and
strengthen them. Encompassing the five factors are Leadership, Team and
Mission
3) Mission: The Company with the
stronger mission and everybody in that company working towards the same mission
will succeed. Robert gave a compelling narration of his stint in Vietnam during
the Vietnam War where the North Vietnamese who had a stronger sense of mission
had more hunger to fulfill their mission. The Americans fought alongside the
South Vietnamese against the North Vietnamese (Vietcong) which we all know
suffered heavy losses and had to pull out.
4)
Building a team: A good entrepreneur knows it is impossible to be good in all
aspects of operating a business. They need to surround themselves with people
who are smarter than them to fulfill the other roles of creating a profitable
business. These people can come in the form of employees or
partners.
5) Making mistakes: Entrepreneurs are
supposed to make mistakes and learn from them. Employees dislike making mistakes
as it affects their morale and performance appraisal.
6) Know your customers: It is wise to retain your good customers
and fire your bad customers. You have to let go those customers who always look
for cheap bargains and do not know the true value of your goods. In order to
find good customers, you need to match the product and the price to suit the
customer's needs, wants and ego. In numerous cases, it's the customer's ego that
takes precedence over their wants and needs.
So before you quit your job, this book is a must read for all you
would-be entrepreneurs. The lessons in this book are invaluable and will help
you to avoid the costly mistakes which 95% of all new entrepreneurs will make.
