(Originally Posted at Absolution Mediation)

Let me give you two scenarios:

1. It's about two hours after lunch and you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror.  You notice you have food wedged into your front teeth, and you just got out of an important meeting, and no one said anything!  You feel embarrassed that you were walking around like that, but kind of glad no one said anything.

2. You walk into an important meeting shortly after lunch and your boss shouts out across the table that you have some food in your teeth.  Your face goes red that he announced it in front of everyone, but you are glad to have someone tell you the painful truth.



Which scenario would you prefer?  If you picked two and you have a business or are looking to start a business then rush out (or go to Amazon) and buy "The Entrepreneur Equation" by Carol Roth with an amazing foreword by Michael Port (It is also a New York Times Best Seller!).

Carol holds back no punches, she'll let you know if you have "Spinach in your teeth" but she is also extremely helpful in this book.  There are two chapters that really stuck out for me; Chapter 12 - When the Heck Are You Going to Have Time to Start a Business? and Chapter 19 - The "Secret" is Hard Work"

Chapter 19 - The "Secret" is Hard Work

If you think you are going to set up your business and have products rolling out or clients rolling in, guess again.  It's going to take more then some hopes and dreams to make your business successful.  "Businesses are not successful because of miracles, vision boards, and good old wishing and hoping" (pg. 157).

One of the best parts about this book is that Carol doesn't just slap you in the face and run away.  She lets you have, but also offers you a remedy to your situation.  At the end of most chapters there is a series of questions that you can ask yourself to assess your particular situation.  By giving you a space to reflect on your business, Carol proves she is one of the best out there.

The long and short of it is this - Go buy this book, if it doesn't cause you to think, then you probably aren't ready for business.

Here is one takeaway for me from this book -

Ideas are great, but without action, they are useless!