You Call the Shots: Succeed Your Way-- And Live the Life You Want-- With the 19 Essential Secrets of Entrepreneurship [Hardcover]

Cameron Johnson (Author), John David Mann (Author), David Bach (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 9, 2007

Why work for someone else when you can call your own shots, pursue your dreams, and find success on your terms by starting your own business? So many people end up bored with their jobs, stuck in the corporate grind, never following their true passions. As wildly successful young entrepreneur Cameron Johnson shows, you don't have to live that way. We've entered a new age of entrepreneurship, with the Web making it easier than ever to start and run your own company. As Johnson's remarkable story reveals, the entrepreneurial way of life is a great way to make sure you love what you do -- and it offers the potential to achieve extraordinary success by following your gut instincts and going for what you really want.

What about the risks? Don't you need lots of money? Don't most start-ups fail? Johnson shares his essential secrets to entrepreneurial success that show you how he got into the life at very low risk, and, with very little money, took an idea that excited him and ran with it, achieving great success and satisfaction with businesses he loved. He didn't have an MBA; he didn't even have a college degree. But he had learned the simple yet vital secrets he reveals.

Cameron Johnson is a seriously happy entrepreneur who started his first business when he was nine with $50 and a home computer. Before he'd turned twenty-one he'd started twelve successful businesses and was offered $10 million in venture capital to grow his hot Web company CertificateSwap.com -- praised by Entrepreneur magazine as one of the Web businesses helping the tech industry get its groove back -- even bigger. He has never taken out a loan or racked up any debt, and every one of his businesses has been highly profitable -- so profitable that he made his first million before graduating from high school, and he's put away enough cash so that he could retire today. But that's the last thing on earth he'd want to do; he's much too happy starting up new companies.

Through the story of his own impressive career so far, in You Call the Shots, Johnson takes you behind the scenes of entrepreneurial success and empowers you to hit the ground running with your own great business idea, no matter how young you are or how little money you have to invest.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"You Call the Shots is for everyone committed to following their dreams. Cameron Johnson thoroughly outlines the strategies it takes to remove obstacles to entrepreneurial success. This book is essential reading for anyone with a passion for life." -- T. Harv Eker, founder and president of Peak Potentials Training, Inc., and author of the New York Times #1 bestseller Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

About the Author

Cameron Johnson had started, run, and sold twelve successful companies by the time he was twenty-one. His business successes have been featured in Time, Newsweek, BusinessWeek, USA Today, and many more publications, as well as on the Today show and Good Morning America. When he was fifteen he became an advisory board member of a Tokyo-based company, and his autobiography, 15-Year-Old CEO, published in Japanese, became an instant bestseller. He has consulted to Fortune 500 companies and spoken at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Every one of his businesses has been a success, even in the worst days of the Internet bust. As a college freshman, he started CertificateSwap.com, an online marketplace for gift cards, which was a runaway success and for which he was offered $10 million in venture capital. He lives in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; First Edition edition (January 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 141653606X
• ISBN-13: 978-1416536062
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 1 x 8.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #565,071 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Young serial entrepreneur's great list of 19 secrets of entrepreneurship that wanta-be entrepreneurs should rotely memorize! December 25, 2007

By Jeff Lippincott VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

I found this to be a very good book. I highly recommend it! Just as the title promises, this book provides 19 chapters, or 19 "secrets," of entrepreneurship. The chapters include:

0. Introduction
1. Put yourself out there
2. Start small
3. Make money work for you
4. Look close to home for great ideas
5. Balance work with life
6. Surround yourself with great people
7. Make yourself your brand
8. Don't be afraid to negotiate
9. Make your own tough decisions
10. Adapt or die
11. Find great mentors
12. Seek out new knowledge every day
13. Use the power of the press
14. Stick to your guns
15. Get experience on the ground
16. Never underestimate the value of your customers
17. Creatively build on your experience
18. Remember what it's really all about
19. Be the entrepreneur you want to be

This book is very well written. And it is organized very well, too. I appreciated the inclusion of the appendix at the end of the book that provides tips for getting started that most wanta-be entrepreneurs will devour. Each chapter makes a point that the author presents to us using examples from his life experiences. He is a son in a long line of entrepreneurs or self-employed. And he seems to take to that lifestyle and mindset very well.

I noticed this book in B&N on Christmas Eve and picked it up. I thought the chapter headings were wonderful. And I suspected I could recommend this book to many of my SCORE clients who are overwhelmed with trying to put together a business plan for a small business they want to start. When I got home I logged onto Amazon to see if many people there had reviewed this book.... Usually I don't review a book if it has more than 10 reviews because I wonder what's my review going to add. Turns out there were 22 reviews posted. Wow.

I'm posting this review anyway because I find it easier to recommend a book to my SCORE clients if I post a review for it. And I definitely want to recommend this book to my clients from time to time. I believe it to be an important book. Also, the Table of Contents is not posted for this book. So my review which includes a listing of the book's 19 chapters should help anyone purusing the reviews learn a little more about it. 5 stars! Read more ›

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Customer Service: It's About Removing Obstacles January 15, 2007

By Anita Ashland

Format:Hardcover

Because every business is, ultimately, a Customer Service business, regardless of the product or service that is sold, I enjoy reading books written by entrepreneurs because there's a chance I'll learn something new about Customer Service. You Call the Shots by 22-year-old Cameron Johnson fits the bill.

Johnson started 12 online businesses - each one lasting a year or so - before age 21. That alone is interesting and any teen who is remotely interested in business or frustrated with traditional schooling should read his story. It's a painless way to learn about venture capital, public speaking, public relations, surrounding yourself with mentors and finding business ideas that don't require start up money. The appendix is loaded with helpful resources as well as a link to his website where there are yet more resources.

For me, the most interesting part of the book was the chapter about his work experience at his father's Ford dealership, Magic City Ford, in Virginia . The dealership has been in his family for four generations. His favorite part of high school was his part-time job as the internet sales person at the dealership, even though he was making a ton of money from his online businesses. When he was 19-years-old the General Manager promoted him to General Sales Manager, leap frogging him over adults who had worked there longer than he was alive. Yes, he was that good. In 2004 their sales were double what they were the year before even though most other dealers in the nation had reduced sales that year.

How did he do it? He was innovative. He stopped advertising in the newspaper and used that $200K per year to create bonuses and incentives for the sales force. Most of all, he was successful because of superior customer service.... "One of the most important things I've learned about selling -- no matter what you're selling, whether it's a Ford Explorer, a start-up to a VC firm, or tomatoes to your neighbor -- is something my father taught me: what you're really doing is helping people remove all their obstacles." So, if a customer said he couldn't make a decision until he talked to his wife, Johnson would offer to drive the car to her right then so she could decide. If a customer said he really wanted the car but wished it had a six-disc CD changer, Johnson would offer to install one for free. If a customer didn't want to put $500 down Johnson offered to make the down payment for him.

In a few years I'll have to purchase a new mini van and will now have high expectations from the sales person. If I am unsatisfied locally, who knows, maybe I'll find myself buying online from Magic City Ford. Read more ›

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Instant Classic!!! January 22, 2007

By Pete Kaczynski

Format:Hardcover

As an entrepreneur who has read more than a hundred books on the subjects of "Business", "Marketing", "Sales" and "Advertising"... I rate this "You Call The Shots" masterpiece in my top 5. This Kid's practical, "common sense" approach to starting, running and growing a business is a refreshing change from the books that pack the shelves of "Business" sections in libraries and bookstores everywhere. The innovative approach to customer service, employee motivation & management, customer follow-up, mentor resources, as well as the "ingenious" advertising & marketing strategies that are detailed in this book make it a "must read" for anyone who is already in business or who is considering starting a business. I cannot recommend it enough.

The appendix of this book alone is worth the purchase... as it is loaded with numerous "priceless" resources that most entrepreneurs would kill for.

So incredibly brilliant, educational & insightful is this book, that it wouldn't surprise me if in the near future it becomes "required reading" at all the top business schools in the country.

It is truly... that essential!

Pete Kaczynski (Springfield, MA)

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Refreshing New Look At Time-Tested Values January 26, 2007

By Judith A. Ransom

Format:Hardcover

I laughed...I cried...I thought...and I thought some more. I was inspired with great ideas! If you own a business, manage one, or are thinking about starting one, this book will keep you turning the pages. Cameron's engaging story-telling style brings you through every stage of his business life, candidly sharing with you valuable secrets to success he's learned on the way. You Call The Shots is the most enjoyable and thought-provoking business book I've read in a long time. Buy it for yourself...and for your kids!