The Entrepreneur Equation

Evaluating the Realities, Risks, and Rewards of Having Your Own Business

BenBella, 2011

15 min read

10 take-aways

Audio & text

What's inside?

If you want to run your own company, learn whether entrepreneurship is right for you.

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Recommendation

Consultant and author Carol Roth takes a straight-up, no-nonsense tone in this easy-to-read guide containing useful, if somewhat obvious, advice. For example, individuals who can’t manage their personal finances shouldn’t try to manage a business. Or future entrepreneurs think that if they run their own companies, they’ll have more free time, though, in reality, they will have less. While Roth writes in an engaging style and provides useful self-analysis questions in each chapter, her book needs more examples of real-world successful and failed entrepreneurs. Future entrepreneurs could be deterred by Roth’s fairly negative tone, although she might be doing them a big favor in that sense. getAbstract recommends this helpful if limited overview to potential future entrepreneurs who must evaluate whether they’re cut out for such a path.

Summary

Defining Entrepreneurship

Many businesspeople pursue entrepreneurship without understanding what it means. Writer James Truslow Adams coined the term “entrepreneurship” in 1931. It evokes a prosperous life won through hard work. But commerce has changed drastically since the 1930s, as societies have moved from practicing agriculture and manufacturing to providing goods and services.

An entrepreneur is “someone who starts or runs a business, putting his or her resources at risk.” A potential entrepreneur must calculate this equation: Do the potential benefits and payoffs of having your own company balance the risks and the work? This is the internal balance you must strike when you decide whether you want to be an entrepreneur.

Becoming an entrepreneur is risky because of all the time, effort and money you invest before you know if your enterprise will succeed. Being an entrepreneur may entail starting a new firm, purchasing an existing company or buying into a franchise. You run the operation, which provides goods or services in exchange for payment without relying on another person or group. For example, if the CEO of Walmart leaves, Walmart still functions. ...

About the Author

Carol Roth, a business consultant and blogger, has appeared on Fox News, MSNBC and the Fox Business Network.

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F. F. 1 decade ago

Well written and clearly summerizes the book contents and ideas.

I've read the book (Audio version) and this abstract fails to clarify that this is for newbies who dream of becoming entrepreneurs. At the end, it strikes me as a slap back to reality for those newbies.

Of course Hard realities are every where, even in a game of Monopoly. If you are a serious entrepreneur who understand what risks are you taking and ready to take on unusual challenges, this book is not for you.
C. S. 1 decade ago

I like the summary, but don't like the book. Yet another book written by an "expert" who's never started or run a business and sounds like she is too fearful to do so herself.

Better books for serious entrepreneurs are "The art of the start", written by a successful serial entrepreneur, and "how to get rich" written by a British billionaire entrepreneur...and many others.

She bangs on about needing money, yet most successful businesses were boot-strapped not VC funded. She approaches the whole thing from an "employee mindset".
- 1 decade ago
  
  Agree!
  However, to the authors' defence, this is a trend that has to be addressed. I talk everyday to people who whine on their desk jobs and dream of becoming their own bosses. I would recommend this book to them.
  Others with high potentials, I'll go with your recommendations
O. S. 1 decade ago

very good audio book

Carol Roth