Book Review: Secrets of Self-Employment

Secrets of Self-Employment by Paul Edwards

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


So I was asked recently to recommend a good book for someone just starting out in business.  Those are my favorite kinds of questions, and certainly I wanted to help.  It only took a second to suggest The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber.  (See my July 27, 2014 blog for a review and a link to a two-page summary.)  If I had read that one book before striking out on my own in business, those early years would have been a lot easier. 

But there is another one on my shelf as well - just as old but not quite the classic. Though much of it is outdated now, Secrets of Self-Employment was helpful to me in that it provided a laundry list of things to think about, from motivating myself to surviving the emotional roller coaster to the right timing for hiring help.  Most significant to me was the emphasis the Edwards' put on making the mental paradigm shift from worker in someone else's shop to business owner.  To really make it on our own, we have to quit thinking in terms of paychecks and begin thinking in terms of profit.  What we do in our own brain space has as much to do with success or failure as any other factor.

The authors' list of "Twelve Mental Shifts" is contained in the two-page summary of the book you can download for free by clicking here.  

I also highly recommend anything by Richard Branson for any budding entrepreneur.  His stuff is always golden - substantive, easy to read, and entertaining all at once.  For reviews of four of his books, with links to summaries, check out my July 20, 2014 blogpost.  I've got more by Sir Richard on my reading list for this summer.  Stay tuned.

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