DBC - “The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster” by Darren Hardy

Druid's Book Club

Quick Take: Excellent intro to what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur.

Longer Take:

I just finished re-reading “The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster” by Darren Hardy.

I originally picked this up because I absolutely loved “The Compound Effect,” also by Darren Hardy.

Darren has a gift for covering a multitude of topics in a straightforward way. He uses stories from his own life and other successful entrepreneurs. His writing style feels very much like he’s sitting in front of me, just talking. This is a 200+ page book, but all of this makes reading it feel so easy.

Darren says he wrote this book because he couldn’t find a book covering the entrepreneurial journey in the way he wanted. He takes the reader from the point of why you would want to take this ride, what a person needs to find success in entrepreneurship, plus many the nitty-gritty details a business owner needs to know to be successful.

If I were going to recommend a book to a person trying to decide if they should start their own business, this would be at the top of my list. But I’d also recommend this to a person who has already take the plunge. The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster does a great job of covering the most critical areas of being an entrepreneur.

Do yourself a favour, give this one a read.

I’ll drop a link to my blog here if you want to read a few of my favourite lessons from the book.

Some of My Favorite Quotes:

“While I might not know you personally, I know you are capable of being a great entrepreneur. How can I know? Because we all are.”

Quoting Steve Wynn on being an entrepreneur: “Know there will be dark days. There will be more dark days than good days, but the few good days are really, really good!”

“People don’t go as fast as they can. They don’t work as hard as they can either. They aren’t as disciplined as possible. They aren’t as positive-minded or enthusiastic as they can be. They’re only as fast and disciplined and positive as you are. As the leader, you set the pace. You create the standards. ... They will only be as disciplined, driven, focused, and consistent as the person leading them.”

“Productivity isn’t magic. It’s discipline. It’s the discipline that separates the superachievers from everyone else.”

“Most people who never step up to ride the entrepreneur roller coaster resist because they believe that entrepreneurs are fearless, courageous risk-takers who never doubt themselves. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Every great entrepreneur starts out scared. Every one. Richard Branson started out scared. Bill Gates started out scared. ... One hundred percent of them started out scared. Courage is not the absence of fear—it’s feeling the fear and proceeding anyway. … The entrepreneurs who make it are brave not because of the absence of fear, but because they put one foot in front of the other and face down that fear every day.”

"If you stand still in life, you won’t experience much failure and pain. But you won’t find much success and happiness either. … This is the mistake most people make: They think they can have success without failure, love without heartache, and happiness without sadness."

Druid’s Top Entrepreneurship Lesson: We all have the potential to be great entrepreneurs.