The One Minute Entrepreneur

The Secret to Creating and Sustaining a Successful Business

By: Ken Blanchard, Don Hutson, Ethan Willis

Narrated by: Sam Freed, Ken Blanchard, Don Hutson, Michael Gerber - forward

Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

Mega best-selling author Ken Blanchard and celebrated business leaders Don Hutson and Ethan Willis present an inspiring story that reveals the secrets to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

In The One Minute Entrepreneur, Ken Blanchard (coauthor of the number-one best selling business classic The One Minute Manager); Don Hutson, CEO of U.S. Learning; and Ethan Willis, CEO of Prosper Learning, tell the inspiring story of one man's challenges in creating his own business. Through a powerful and engaging narrative, we confront many of the typical problems all entrepreneurs face in starting up their business, from finding new sources of revenue to securing the commitment of their people and the loyalty of their customers. More important, we learn the secrets to becoming a successful entrepreneur, including how to build a firm foundation, how to ensure a steady cash flow, and how to create legendary service.

In addition, the book offers invaluable advice, delivered through One Minute Insights, from such entrepreneurs and thinkers as Sheldon Bowles, Peter Drucker, Michael Gerber, and Charlie "Tremendous" Jones.

Today, in the midst of the largest entrepreneurial surge in U.S. history, four out of five small businesses continue to fail. The One Minute Entrepreneur offers businesspeople and would-be entrepreneurs a treasure trove of wisdom on how to think, act, and succeed in creating and sustaining a business, no matter what their industry.

©2008 Ken Blanchard (P)2008 Random House, Inc.

Boring at the beginning but truly amazing towards

What did you love best about The One Minute Entrepreneur?

Lots of good advices, specially the golden rules of entrepreneur success which is revenue exceed expenses, collect your bills, take care of your customers and your people. I love the advice on the how to set up a good performance system and the employee performance strategy.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The first four chapters.

Which character – as performed by Sam Freed – was your favorite?

Terrie

Glitch in book?

Great story. Great for the series. Good ideas. Mine had a glitch as the story started over in the middle when over. Odd. But worth a listen.

Low on Entrepreneurship - High on Christian Values

I was disappointed in this book. I had read the One Minute Manager decades ago and it was life-changing. This book is told as parable about a young man who wants to be a speaker. He meets a woman, they marry, start a speakers bureau together, and she becomes a full-time mom. Then his business takes off on the path to going public and his marriage is in trouble. He gives up the dream of a public business to save his marriage.

This doesn't sound like the steps towards being an entrepreneur. It's a blueprint for starting a speaking company. Unlike true entrepreneurs, the protagonist doesn't produce anything of value. Just words in the air. There's no advice on getting funding, selling equity, innovation, or exit strategies.

This is a feel-good motivational speech in the form of an audio book. It proposes that work-life balance is the path to success. It pushes Christian values - but not all of us are Christians. The entrepreneurs I know and have studied have a relentless single-minded drive. Many have given up relationships in favor of their dreams. This book doesn't explain how to do this. In fact, it advises against it.

I can't recommend this book.