"Rework" by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson's book "Rework" will tell you how to start a business of your own, perhaps even at the same time as your main employment. Also this book will tell you about the improvement of the already existing business and your views on it. You will receive answers to questions about what should be the size of a successful company, how to plan and what you need to plan, and also about many other things.
The uniqueness of the book is that it is very easy to read, motivate, inspire, dispel doubts, expand the boundaries, offer a lot of effective practical recommendations and overturn the established vision of business, which today so often hinders success. That is why the book "Rework" instantly became a bestseller in the US and helped to improve the business both for beginners and experienced businesspersons.
About Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
In addition, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson have their own blog, "Signal v. Noise ", which has more than 114 thousand subscribers, and also authors of two other bestsellers -"Getting Real" and "Remote".
The book consists of an introduction, twelve chapters, conclusion and additional information blocks about the company "37 Signals" and its products.
I'll tell you briefly what the authors want to convey to the reader through their work.
Preparation
At present, anyone can do business, because what was previously unavailable can now be easily adopted. You can even work with people living hundreds of miles away from you.
Many experts can tell you that your ideas will not work in the real world, but the reliability of this statement in practice is zero, as evidenced by the company organized by the authors.
The significance of mistakes in achieving success is exaggerated, and even studies conducted at the Harvard Business School have shown that businessmen who have already achieved success are likely to achieve it in new endeavors.
Planning, of course, is good, but in fact it is only guesswork based on past experience. Planning is incompatible with improvisation. To act in many cases is necessary, proceeding from the circumstances.
Take Action!
In order for your work to be at the highest level, you must believe that your occupation is special, and you yourself are a part of something very, very important. When you are ready to start your business, concentrate on what is most important to you. Remember that the simplest and most effective way to create a first-class product or service is to create what you yourself would like to use.
Always be guided by the fact that the idea will always remain an idea, if not start acting. Wait for the perfect time, too, is not worth it, because it will never come - better time - now. Having started to work, remember as often as possible why you are doing what you are doing. The most successful businesspersons always have their own point of view and philosophy, and not just some kind of product or service.
Develop
To succeed, you must always be resourceful. Creating something, you can think of a wonderful half of a product, not a low-quality whole.
Do not forget that in any new activity you will face what you are able to do, with what you want to do, and with what you will be forced to do. And you need to start with exactly what you will be forced to do.
To take any decisions should be taken as seriously as possible, but it is not worth waiting for an ideal variant to come. It is better to make a decision and, immediately, to proceed to action.
If you notice that something does not work, you do not need to throw all the resources to solve the problem. On the contrary, it is necessary to reduce resources. If you start to increase the budget or shift the time, this process may not end never.
Productivity
In the business world, you will find mountains of documents that eat your time, but to understand the essence of the process you need to move on to more real things. To understand if you really do what you need, just ask yourself the following questions:
- Why am I doing this?
- What problem am I solving?
- Do I add value?
- Is there an easier way?
- What could I do instead?
- Is it really worth it?
Before immersing in an activity it is important to determine the actual value of the forthcoming case. If suddenly the activity proved ineffective, the best option would be to stop it, even if a lot of effort is invested.
Competitors
Your success will cause people to copy you, but from hundreds of imitators you can protect yourself - make yourself a part of your product. This means that in your product you need to invest your own unique way of thinking and add something that the rest cannot offer.
Copy in business means to guarantee yourself a failure, because copying does not understand the essence and underlying foundations of the copied. Among other things, to overtake competitors you can do no more than they do, and less. And do not be shy about the fact that you do less. On the contrary, it should be exhibited and proud of it.
Evolution
Do not blindly believe that the customer is always right, because the satisfaction of several pretentious customers is not worth it to make the product worse for others. Naturally, this does not mean that you should immediately say to such customers "no" - you just need to be honest and politely explain why you cannot make concessions.
Sharpening the product to the requirements of someone one immediately will cause most consumers to "cool down" towards you. Make every effort to ensure that the maximum number of people can use your product.
Promotion
At the beginning of your journey, most likely, very few people know about you. Extract from this benefit for yourself - you can safely make mistakes that no one will learn, change strategy, make adjustments, etc.
All companies have their customers, happy companies have fans, and the most successful ones have their own audience, and it can play the role of a secret weapon. Attention of the audience does not need to be bought. she will give it to you.
In the same case, when you need to get someone's attention, abstain from following the example of the bulk and try to find something that can be distinguished. For example, you can first make a trial version of the product, organize a presentation and allow people to try the product for free. But it should be done so that people necessarily return for the "additive".
Recruitment
At the very beginning of your development, do everything yourself and do not hire any employees until you try everything yourself. This will allow you to understand the features of the work and understand what should be a good result. To accept the same new employee is necessary only when you do not manage yourself.
You need to hire only the best of the best, no matter how far away they are from you. Those who like to delegate duties and tell others what to do should be wary most of all, because they will pull the whole thing to the bottom.
Elimination of damages
If something goes wrong in your affairs, it will be much better if you make news of your failures publicly, before there is fertile soil for spreading rumors and distorted information. You yourself should become a source of bad news about your affairs.
Do not also think that you will be able to hide unpleasant information. In our time, any secrets are always open, and there simply is no point in hiding.
Inspiration does not last forever
We all have ideas, but the difference between ideas and inspiration is that ideas can be eternal, and inspiration is not. When you have a desire to do something, immediately proceed to this! When you are in a state of recovery, in one day you can do what you would normally need in two weeks. If inspiration has come to you, immediately begin to apply it in your activities.
Conclusion
Tips from the book of Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson "Rework" will turn your ideas about how you can approach the creation and conduct of business, will make your work more efficient, and the process itself is even more interesting and exciting. As the authors, themselves say: you did not suspect that business can be like that!