The Entrepreneur Mind: 100 Essential Beliefs, Characteristics, and Habits of Elite Entrepreneurs

Born in 1979, currently the CEO of Atlanta's Johnson Media Inc., which he founded, Kevin D. Johnson had already established several successful enterprises while still in his twenties. In his excellent book, Johnson offers the would-be entrepreneur 100 guidelines, complete with apt quotations, and enriched by his personal experience, expressed candidly. I liked his comment that going into business to make money is like getting married to get sex. To succeed, one needs more admirable motives. He's not big on "follow your passion" nor "become your own boss," either. Rather, become an entrepreneur if you want to provide goods and services that others value and if you get real pleasure out of doing so. The money will likely follow. He writes well-clearly, interestingly, with many supporting quotes and examples. Neither overly modest nor unwilling to share his failures, Johnson presents some hard truths, including that the entrepreneur has got to be willing to put his business ahead of his family. Talk about not being politically correct! Fortunately, he married a woman in synch with his goals and lifestyle. Surprisingly to me, they have a mortgage. Though it is a form of financial diversification, when you owe money, you are less secure than when you do not. You have to be willing to take risks, Johnson notes, and he has been rich and nearly broke within the last decade or so. It will be interesting to see whether he continues his well-earned winning streak or runs into circumstances that even diligence and talent cannot overcome. Johnson's success is at a scale that puts him within reach of many potential readers. He has multi-million-dollar success rather than mega-million-dollar triumphs, much less the billion-dollar riches of Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg or of the founders of Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, Amazon, etc. If his level is hard for us to reach, it is not out of sight. His advice is relevant to the would-be captain of industry during those early years when such captaincy is just a distant goal. Sub-titled "100 Essential Beliefs, Characteristics, and Habits of Elite Entrepreneurs," his book delivers as promised. The 100 topics are categorized within seven chapters: Strategy, Education, People, Finance, Marketing & Sales, Leadership, and Motivation. Some of my favorites from the 100 are: Think Big; Create New Markets; Build a Company That Is Systems-Dependent, Not People-Dependent; Ask for Help; Business Comes First, Family Second; Hire a Good Lawyer; The Business Plan is Overrated; Fire Your Worst Customers; Technology is an Opportunity, Not a Threat; Always Follow Up; Failure Doesn't Kill You; An Idea's Execution, Not Its Uniqueness, Yields Success; Don't Underestimate Your Competition; School Is Not Necessarily Education; Spend the Majority of Your Time with People Smarter than You; People Don't Only Work for Money; Get the Right Mentor; A Check in Hand Means Nothing; The Biggest Investment in Your Company Is Yours; Your Customer Is Your Boss; Networking Isn't All About You; Act in Spite of How You Feel; Make Difficult Sacrifices; You Are Excited When Monday Morning Arrives; You Are Disappointed When Friday Arrives; You Feel Unequaled Joy When Your Idea Becomes Reality. The book ends with some valuable contact information for Kevin D. Johnson: at Twitter, he is @BizWizKevin; his email is [email protected]; not surprisingly, his web site is TheEntrepreneurMind.com. Mr. Johnson knew he wanted to be a businessman from early on, once he found he was too vertically challenged to make it into the National Basketball Association, even as a point guard. He now has the NBA as one of his premier accounts. He convinced me, however, that his is a route I was glad I had not taken: too much work, too many trivial issues, more stress than I would want. Still, he has hobnobbed with interesting people and seems to have enjoyed his choices. The audience for this book should be those who want to understand successful businessmen and those who are entrepreneurs or are thinking of running their own businesses.

I've been working towards starting a business for some time and I read books that range from sociology to economics to business strategy every day. The Entrepreneur Mind moves quickly from point to point as you move through the material, which allows the ideas to sync together because of the rapid rate at which the information flows. I read this book in one sitting over the course of about four to five hours and found that rapid pace to really allow me to see how each piece fit together. The section on strategy was by far the largest and, in my opinion, the most valuable as Kevin shares experiences from his own first businesses of where he was successful and some of the golden nuggets he has picked up through his own mentors, such as being creative with your marketing and understanding the value of non-conventional business arrangements while trying to build the infrastructure and reputation of your business. Some of the points and experiences in this book will not relate to every business in the world, but there is definitely plenty of information that can apply to anyone who is trying to improve their mindset on how to succeed in a business atmosphere where the rules are not as set in stone as one would think. Upon finishing this book, I gave it to my sister who has been struggling to build a jewelry business for over ten years. I hope that layout and ideas serve her as well as I feel they have served me. I understand what other posts on this book are saying about the writer speaking about himself so favorably. Personally, I didn't even notice really, because I was so focused on trying to get value out of the book that the tone of whether it was egotistical or not never crossed my mind. I just wanted more knowledge and wisdom and I feel that this book delivered that to me.

As someone who has owned a small business for almost 29 years, I found this book to be a refreshing overview of the different aspects of running a business broken down into 100 individual pieces. The chapters cover basic business strategies, how to work with others, finance and marketing as well as some useful tips for staying motivated to pull it all off. Especially useful for younger entrepreneurs who are working on a game plan for a potential or newly started venture. The topics are presented very clearly and are easy to understand. An enjoyable read.

Kevin Johnson writes a very well-received analysis of his success in business and what he did to get there. And his writing is quite clear and straightforward, which is probably part of what is successful about his book. In the spirit of Patrick Bet-David, this is a chronicle of success. And as he reflects on his success, the beliefs and habits and actions that were of use in obtaining that success are defined and described. However, this isn’t five moves; this book is 100 moves. It is a compelling read. It’s not just a look at what you should do — it also discusses what you should not, or what might happen if you don’t follow the advice. Which is good because as they say, nothing teaches like a mistake.

I have to thank Kevin dearly for this book. It was this book that helped me get my start as an entrepreneur. This book was the seed that started me on the right path of success. Because of the knowledge I gathered from this book, it has led me towards further development of myself and the molding of my entrepreneur mind. This is something that you should get if you want to be an entrepreneur. Successful people always talk about the importance of copying the steps of other successful people in order for you make it too and potentially a lot quickly, because a lot of the trails and errors have already been done. This book has given me nothing, but gold. This is one of the most valuable books that I own, because it has given me my start and provided the mind priming that I needed. This book has the basics that you need to create your foundation for success. It's also great for advanced people too, because it has some great reminders for you and some things that you didn't even think about trying out. Heck, I might go back and read it again. Let's just say this, if you don't want to be successful, then don't buy this book. Achieving success starts with the right mindset. Before pursuing a life as an entrepreneur you need to first think like one. You need to understand what habits they practice, what morals they follow, and what systems they use. This book provides all of that for you. This book is way underpriced. It could potentially be worth millions to you, if you follow the proven steps that this great book has to offer. The only reason I gave it 5 stars was, because they didn't have 6 stars as an option. Long story short, buy this book today and start your year right.

This is an easy book to read, but it's a hard book to describe. At first it seems like a memoir or a how-to. It is not. It really does indeed offer some valuable insights into the Entrepreneur Mind. Entrepreneurship is actually a very complex subject. Most other books cover the textbook operational aspects of starting or running a business - or pitching to venture capitalists. The Entrepreneur Mind covers - almost in a stream of consciousness manner - all the little things that a seasoned entrepreneur learns along the way. Many of these lessons don't end up in entrepreneurship books- instead each piece of advice is really embedded in the mind of an experienced entrepreneur. It's the entrepreneur's "little voice in the back of their mind" that tells them to steer away from those minor issues that can later ravel their whole company. It's the little voice that said "I should listen now instead of talking. It's the "gene" that causes the entrepreneur to persist and persevere - even when all odds, evidence and logic is against it. That's what The Entrepreneur Mind is about. For experienced entrepreneurs, The Entrepreneur Mind will validate and echo what they already know from years of hard-earned lessons. For new entrepreneurs, The Entrepreneurial Mind will give them a robust glimpse into all the rules of thumb, that make up the entrepreneur's innate intuition. Recommended reading for all new entrepreneurs.

My pastor Jamal H. Bryant recommended The Entrepreneur's Mind by Kevin Johnson as a must read book to inspire entrepreneurship in our congregation. I've spent the last 8 years working full-time on my own business. Due to the economic climate, the last couple of years have been very challenging. I was eager to read the book to gain additional insight into entrepreneurship. Very well written and captivating, I read this book in 2 days. I recommend to all entrepreneurs not just persons considering entrepreneurship. The 100 lessons highlighted in this book prompted a range of reactions in me--from unsettling to inspiring. Chapter 1- Strategy, I discovered through Lesson #3: Work on Your Business, Not in Your Business, I was indeed self-employed and not the official entrepreneur I believed to be. "Until a company runs without the founder, that person is just self-employed, the lowest rung in the hierarchy of entrepreneurs." Ouch. That was a wake-up call for me. Lesson #13: Fire Your Worst Customer, reinforced my intuitive belief that some customers are not worth the money. Amen. I enjoyed the entire book, yet I found Chapter 7-Motivation was the most inspiring. Every lesson described the spirit of an entrepreneur. It described me. Yes, Lesson #87: A 9-to-5 is worse Than Death, keeps me motivated. Lesson #97: Following your Passion is Bogus, was refreshing and contrary to the feel good advice we are given to pursue entrepreneurship. I pursued a business that made sense rather than something I so passionately loved. I no longer feel like an alien. I agree, The Entrepreneur Mind is a must read.

Quick, easy and entertaining read. From a leadership perspective, I found the chapters on strategy and people most applicable. I was actually a bit disappointed in the leadership chapter. I wanted more. Good, practical advice. For those who can't get past the author stroking his ego, you really miss a key point. In order to set yourself apart, there's a level of confidence you must have and I applaud him for being so candid. Not only does he discuss the good, he'd very honest about the bad. It's not a cake walk. I recommend for all those interested in being an entrepreneur and those in leadership can get something out it this book as well.

Everyone has the goal to be independent, becaue of this a man looks for ways to reach his goals. There are many interesting tipps and expericences offered from the writer for almost all the aspect of being or becoming an entrepreneur. Many proverbs and many stories about how to act and react in many applicable life and business situations. To start with this book if you are interested in this subject.

Excellent

Arrived on time. Initial preview shows I am in for good learning

I would recommend this book. Insightful and useful truthful info about the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur. A bit more tech industry focused than I expected.

Truly amazing work Done by Kevin Epic Art work by team and writer Must have for business people ..!! Thumps up