Andrhea Arnuco

HRM535M

Discover the Entrepreneur Within

Verinder K. Syal, Published by Thoughtful Simplicity, Winnetka, IL

www.thoughtfulsimplicity.com, 2015, ISBN-13: 978-0692514863
ISBN-10: 0692514864

Discover the Entrepreneur Within is a guide to discover the entrepreneur within a person
and truly live life at a higher level. The book answer the essence of entrepreneurship, the
mechanic of business and how entrepreneur can live a great life. The author, Verinder K.
Syal was exposed to the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) – a group whose
members had become presidents of large businesses at a young age. He and a colleague
embarked on a new journey by buying a coffee franchise. Then became an adjunct faculty
member in Northwestern University teaching two courses “Principle of Entrepreneurship”
and “Leadership, Ethics and You”.

Nowadays, entrepreneurial revolution kicked into high gear when Internet became widely
available. People can now sell and buy everything from food, electronics, medicines,
jewellery and clothes through online shops like EBay, Alibaba, Lazada even in Facebook
and Instagram. Truly, entrepreneurship is a way of life and a stable source of income.
But, the challenge and fear in entrepreneurship is how and where to start. Today,
competition is the highest, experience may be the best learning ground but this book is
worth the read for those who are entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneur.

Syal’s book is simple but inspiring. It capture the essential ingredient for entrepreneurial
success. He synthesized a lifetime of experience into a highly readable book whether
starting a business or starting in business, this is a book that will make you think about
integrity, passion, discipline and teamwork, as well as the nuts and bolts that are essential
and common to all successful companies.
The book consist of 6 parts. It begin with the Foundation wherein entrepreneurship was
defined. It discussed how to organize a team, the skills needed to execute it successfully
and why entrepreneurship is better done as a team. Also business model is explained
and how it can be best used. Next is Refining Idea in this topic you will take your business
idea and refine its customer focus. You will learn how to understand your customer, their
needs and the problem you are solving for them. You will also determine your channels
of distribution and develop a sales strategy. The third part is Refining Operating Model it
focus on the profit margins and structure of your business. Fourth part is Looking Within
here you will think about what leadership really is and why leading oneself is perhaps the
hardest thing to do. You will be challenged to develop your values and principles that will
lead you not only through your business journey, but also very possibly through your life.
Then The Pitch in this topic you will now have enough data and ideas to assemble a 10
page business plan and a 10-slide presentation to “pitch” your business to external and
internal constituencies. You will also decide how you will fund your business. Lastly is
Stepping Out wherein you have all the knowledge you need and you will have done all
the work necessary to get started.

It is difficult not to like the book especially for a person like me who is dreaming to have
my own business. Overall, the book is straightforward and offers inspiration and
information on idea generation, marketing, management, finance, business plan, latest
trends and strategies. In terms of format and grammar, the author make it plain and
simple. Theory and jargon have been kept to an absolute minimum. He also make use of
self-assessment which serve as realization for the reader. The only downside is most of
the sample business, scenario, application and data used is based on US setting which
some is not applicable for the Philippine setting. Nevertheless, this book guides you
through an external journey of pursuing entrepreneurship and an internal journey on how
to lead a meaningful life.