Anything You Want Summary
5 min read ⌚
40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur
40 Lessons for a New Kind of EntrepreneurNow is the time to say – Stop, we’ve invented everything, or did we?
You cannot stop the progress because it’s counter-effective.
This summary provides a run-through of entrepreneurial findings, which will expand your horizons.
Who Should Read “Anything You Want”? And Why?
From the moment we as humans started exploring the world, our journey of innovation begun. Since then, the people have always been eager to learn new stuff and develop tools that will ease their daily tasks.
“Anything You Want” is a book that puts the spotlight on customer satisfaction and the passion for enforcing simplicity. We believe it’s suited for everyone because nobody can escape the circle of entrepreneurship.
About Derek Sivers
Derek Sivers unusually wanted to become a musician who would sell his music online. This idea, later developed into an extraordinary business – CD Baby.
This company turned into the biggest seller of music online and was sold in 2008 for astonishing 22 million dollars.
“Anything You Want Summary”
Staying true to what you believe in is a lot harder than it sounds. There’s nothing more valuable than the ability to adapt to every environment; in other words be flexible!
If you plan on attracting potential investors for your business – conducting an extensive analysis before making a business plan is vital. The art of investing is the ability to make trade-offs between cost and benefits and your business plan should contain both.
Have you tried to go on your own?
Your answer doesn’t twist the fact that the attempt to sort and balance all matters related to your business, is proving to be a nightmare for inexperienced entrepreneurs and innovators. As far as your start-up is concerned, an early struggle is unavoidable and an integral part of future success.
Maybe you feel like the world is crushing on your shoulders, but give it a moment, all will change in a flash!
Derek offers a proven solution and advice that can turn your average business into a top-notch brand.
There’s an old saying: The chances of success increase parallel with your persistence to push forward and try new things. The same logic is applied when trying to put your business plan into action.
The ideas you’ve gathered are not the final draft. Once you design a model, all other assets will rise to the surface showing whether the idea fits your goals. However, a lot of people complain that their vision is still floating, and their perfect moment is yet to come.
How to speed up this process?
From the moment you started questioning your ideas, you’ve initiated this procedure. Before a plan is set in motion, you must outline all potential obstacles that might hinder your progress. With this settled, you can make a stand against any possible threat and promote your idea.
The final barrier is actually the users or customers on the receiving end. If the idea draws negative publicity, or if you’re not getting positive feedback, you should think about leaving the battlefield and choose another battle.
After all, who wants to spend countless of hours trying to fulfill a simple need?! In the hope that your business plan is comprehensive and easy to absorb, all that’s left is designing a mind-blowing presentation that will further stimulate acceptance.
Many businesses have failed due to the wishes of a single client. For example, if you manufacture products or deliver services specially designed to serve the needs of a single customer, with the hopes that you’ll receive financing as a result of your dedication – prepare yourself for a short and bumpy ride.
With such strategy, every decision you make about your company or start-up is going to be risky. To hard to handle businesses are destined to experience a total collapse.
When planning to embark on a new adventure, most people are not too concerned with the idea, as much as they prefer to talk about the actual budget. The emphasis falls on the finance, and who is about to invest in the “vision.”
Even if you don’t possess enough capital, potential investors may finance your idea if you explain how your products will solve the problems of a particular group.
Just take care of the other factors, and leave the financial part to take care of itself by providing a quality solution. So, if you are low-spirited about your current situation, thinking about cash will not help. Instead, help others to get the hang of your vision, which is crucial for the business growth.
Money is, in fact, the last resource you’ll need. Being available to your target audience ought to be your number one priority and your primary focus.
Now, that you have the time to absorb this, you can begin the implementation phase, and test your business plan in practice. Profitable businesses quickly realize the necessity for a shift in focus, from profit-based to customer-based.
Key Lessons from “Anything You Want”
1. Derek’s notion of prosperity
2. Money is not essential
3. Give it all you got
Derek’s notion of prosperity
We are all familiar with the quote” The customer is always right,” but some argue otherwise.
Derek Sivers endorses this saying, and even expands on it, by suggesting that satisfying even the pickiest customer is the only route to loyalty.
Money is not essential
Today’s biggest brands all started with limited funds such as Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, and Facebook.
As you can see, lacking the capital to launch your idea can even turn out to be an advantage.
Give it all you got
In reality, complex schemes are prone to failure, so you want to keep it simple and clean. Generally speaking, your business should satisfy the user needs, in a limited time.
If you can convert your business plan into something valuable, then you’ll no longer be on the verge of financial collapse.
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“Anything You Want” Quotes
Most people don't know why they're doing what they're doing. They imitate others, go with the flow, and follow paths without making their own. Click To Tweet Our lives drifts along with normal things happening. Some ups, some downs, but nothing to go down in history about. Nothing so fantastic or terrible that it'll be told for a thousand years. Click To Tweet The first follower is actually an underestimated form of leadership in itself. … The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader. Click To Tweet Don't be on your deathbed someday, having squandered your one chance at life, full of regret because you pursued little distractions instead of big dreams. Click To Tweet If you think your life's purpose needs to hit you like a lightning bolt, you'll overlook the little day-to-day things that fascinate you. Click To Tweet
Our Critical Review
The line between a dream and reality is blurry.
All it takes is one creative idea to get you started.
If you dream big, you’ll end up in the same way. Put your intentions on a piece of paper and start planning.
Emir is the Head of Marketing at 12min. In his spare time, he loves to meditate and play soccer.
