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The Complete Entrepreneur: The Only Book You'll Ever Need to Manage Risk and Build Your Business Wealth

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Homer Simpson, the obese, slow-witted, and reproachable patriarch of Fox TV's notorious cartoon sitcom, The Simpsons, once said the following when looking at a colleagues farcical misfortune: 'It's funny because it is happening to somebody else.' That one comment aptly summarizes Mark A. Peterson's guide for, or shall I say warning to aspiring entrepreneurs. Taken one way, the complete entrepreneur is a riot, a side-splitting, witty, and very cynical account of the often wild and crazy world of the entrepreneur. Taken another way, the book is a sobering look at the challenges, pitfalls, and (often) titanic struggle the entrepreneur must immerse oneself in to build wealth in his or her enterprise. Make no mistake, this book is deadly serious about its chosen topic, building wealth in a fledgling enterprise. Peterson asserts boldly that the entrepreneur is in business to build wealth, and that wealth building can only be achieved via patience, successful time management, and most importantly, taking prudent risks. You will not find the usual how to start a home business verbiage here, nor will you be inundated with a lot of marketing hype and promotional spin. What you will find in this book is a lot of skillfully crafted, highly readable lessons about those little, but often fatal things that run an infant enterprise aground. These things are, by the way, the very things that all the high brow business books avoid. In the book, you will learn, among other things, about the various kinds of risks the entrepreneur faces in being in and doing business and how to ameliorate (lessen) them. You will also learn about how banks and lease providers really think and view your operation (whether well-run or mismanaged), and most crucially, you will learn a more realistic way of viewing your customers and employees. Unlike the other entrepreneurial books which present you with a formulaic outline for a successful business, this book adds a hefty, sobering dose of reality to the pot, and gives the reader the much needed jaded, experienced outlook of a seasoned entrepreneurial pro without the years of pain, frustration, lost wealth, and failure. All the other business books out there make it sound so simple, so easy to start, build and maintain a profitable, successful business, and I just keep saying to myself as I read them, it just can't be this easy. As someone looking for the real deal on start-ups, Peterson's wry sarcasm is infectious. I laughed out loud more than a few times while reading this book. Every business rule he states is followed by an often comical example of how it was broken. Though I often shook my head and swore that I would never do this or that, I am personally aware of individuals and corporations, from aspiring entrepreneurs to seasoned professionals, who have gone out and done many of the not-so-smart things he lectures against. Peterson dispenses with the follow-the-ten-easy-steps, paint-by-the-numbers approach and points out to the reader those things that almost always end up killing a promising enterprise. Peterson's book really is funny because it is happening to somebody else. Buy it and read it thoroughly (those who are serious about wealth building should keep it by the bedside) so that the funny things- entrepreneurial misfortune, doesn't happen to you!

The Complete Entrepreneur is a must have for any aspiring business owner. Personally I have fallen prey to many of the unrealistic schemes, or often scams, that are advertised on television and promoted as "easy" ways to get rich quick. If only I would have read this book several years ago it would have saved me a lot of time and money. It is a REALISTIC version of what it takes to become successful in the real world.

It is very well organized, and written down to earth for anyone to understand and enjoy. It clearly dictates things I did not understand years ago, namely the patience one must go throgh in dealing with the struggles and challenges of being successful, and frequent mistakes you should avoid.

Unlike many others, this book is not about FLUFF, and should be taken as a priceless and required handbook for becoming a successful entrepreneur. It paints a picture of so many lessons that are better learned sooner than later, and uses comical examples to nail the point down.

I attended the UW-Madison for four years, and college does not teach you the lessons you can get from Mark's book. I'd highly recommend it to anyone serious about being a successful entrepreneur. Read it, read it again, follow the lessons in here, and then succeed.

We've all heard the phrase, Most learn from their own mistakes, but "smart people learn from other peoples mistakes." These are the individuals that often become successful sooner. This book will help you to do just that.

This book is written in a format that is very easy to learn. It couples practical advice written by the author with some real-world examples of the ideas applications (or lack thereof). Highly recommended!

Enjoyed reading this book. My partner and I are using it to guide us through our first start-up business. Hopefully, we've learned the lessons. It was great to find all the answers about business in one place. The reading was easy and you could literally start from any page in the book and not feel like you missed the first 10 chapters. Strongly recommend this to anyone starting a business, whether you think you know what you're doing or not

This book could have saved me two or three businesses if it had been written a few years back. It's practical, understandable, and well written. Humorous, too

Have you ever thought your manager (or yourself) was missing some fundamentals in doing their job? The context of the book is primarily about running your own business. But truth be told, if you have any type of management or team leading role in your company, you are formally or informally charged with the responsibility of running some part of the business.

What I like most about this book, is that its easy to read and the personal experiences really nail the situation and topics presented. Forget about all those "Business Management" bestsellers, focus on getting your grass-roots first. Where better than to learn from the experiences of people who really run their business!

That's what we have here in Peterson's book. And it's so brilliantly written that the dot com word isn't even buzzed once.

At some point in their nacent lives, even dot com companies are going to have to make a profit. That means selling goods or services for more than they cost to produce. It also means the company- wide adoption of sound business practices that control much of the free-floating risk in their businesses. It probably wouldn't hurt a few thousand of these start-up

companies to read Peterson's book and live by the lessons. Sure would change the horizon of the dot com industry, though. Companies would have more revenue, better cash flow, and actually make a profit (GASP!) And what would the market think? Shareholders would be happier, have more money to spend, employees would be more realistic and grateful for a job. Oh, and managers would make better business decisions.

This book had page after page of epiphanies. You know, the sudden

realization where you get to "Ah-hah!" that the dot commers' as an industry group have obviously overlooked in all of their technical innovation.. It's one thing to call yourself an entrepreneur and make a profit. It's entirely another to manage a business with a torrid cash burn rate that goes ripping out of the shareholders pockets, dragging the stock price down with it. Well, should you expect anything less if you can't recognize or manage business risk?

The real benefit to me from this book is the realization that although e-commerce companies these days must spend to develop all the sustainable competitive advantages possible, they must also instill throughout the employee base a strong sense of fiscal discipline and the impact of risk on every business decision.. Fundamentals my friend. It isn't about cold fusion or landing a crew on the nearest star. It's about people, external partners, internal partners, and the right way to deal with them and their

little and not-so-little bundles of risk..

Belt tightening? Well, it's in there. It is always a daunting task for well-managed companies, but it's frequently a fatal one for free spending ones. And boy, did the March 2000 meltdown in the NASDAQ ever bring the matter to the attention of every stunned investor.

Picking the right partners? Working with banks? How to avoid shooting yourself in the foot? Trust me, it's all in there and it's all relevant today if you run a business. And there's one heck of a lot more.

What's most important, and Peterson spells it out in The Complete Entrepreneur, is a clear path to avoiding fatal business risks. He identifies them for you! The lessons are put on the table in a light-hearted fashion but don't be mislead. They have a heavy-handed impact on your business and it's success. Every lesson that makes you smarter ultimately saves you money. That's one path to profitability that builds shareholder value. You can either learn from the lessons in the book or for pay for them. Or have your shareholders pay for them which is a fairly ungainly expectation after the market has applied a 95% haircut to the price of your stock because you didn't know the first thing about recognizing business risk..

One day soon, the next generation of dot commerce entrepreneurs are going to step to the front with innovations we just haven't imagined. Brilliant individuals, all of them. The ones that stay there will have started with the fundamental lessons about business risk in Mark Peterson's The Complete Entrepreneur.

Easy reading, but solid, practical recommendations. I received this as a birthday present from a friend who knew my intentions of starting my own business after I was asked to take "early retirement" from a company where I had worked for the last 15 years. My bosses should have read this book. I'm glad I did. Great value at a great price. Thanks Amazon

Delightful in its view of business. Remarkable in its organization. You can turn anywhere, start reading, and not feel like you missed the first 165 pages. The lessons are memorable. My favorite: "Every customer has a sword in one hand and a bag of gold in the other. When you have properly assessed customer risk, you will get the bag of gold without falling on the sword." This book should also be listed under motivational tools, cross referenced under philosophy, and indexed under religion. It is a business bible

Any football team that wants to win a state championship needs a coach. But there is more to coaching than wearing a whistle, sweat pants, and shoes with cleats. You also need a playbook that will knock the opposing team back on its heels. The Complete Entrepreneur is that playbook. Entrepreneurs at all experience levels can carry the lessons from this book directly to their business without missing a beat or a bet. The expected good results? You can take those to the bank