Thammasat University students who are interested in business, economics, innovation, and related subjects may find a new Open Access book available for free download useful.
66 Simple Rules for Entrepreneurs: A Roadmap for Improved Performance is by Professor Dean A. Shepherd, who teaches entrepreneurial leadership and entrepreneurship at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, the United States of America, and others.
The TU Library collection includes a number of other books on different aspects of entrepreneurship.
The publisher’s description of the book follows:
This open access book is your ticket to entrepreneurial success! Learn practical tips to think more like an entrepreneur, spot opportunities, build key relationships, tell compelling stories, and grow your venture. Discover the secrets to overcoming challenges, managing stress, and making decisions in the dynamic world of entrepreneurship. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting, these straightforward tools will guide you to success in the complex entrepreneurial landscape. Say goodbye to overwhelming decisions and hello to a simplified path to building your entrepreneurial dream!
From the book’s introduction:
The purpose of this book of simple rules is not to explain the process of entrepreneurship or why some groups of entrepreneurs perform better than other groups of entrepreneurs. Instead, this book is designed to give you tools we hope you can use to improve your entrepreneurial performance.
We have structured these rules following the entrepreneurial journey. You will find rules for recognizing opportunities, selecting markets for entry, making decisions, and developing plans and strategies.
We have included rules for collaborating with important others, such as engaging with external stakeholders, working with cofounders, and managing employees.
You will also find tools to grow your venture, ride the emotional rollercoaster of the entrepreneurial journey, and develop the social aspects of your venture. Finally, the book also includes rules for managing mistakes and failures and exiting your venture.
We situate these simple rules in the entrepreneurial context. The entrepreneurial context is one of great complexity, dynamism, uncertainty, emotionality, time pressure, consequential outcomes, etc. It is a context in which decision-making cannot be formulated based on traditional decision analysis.
There is no right approach to generate the right solution. In this context, your decision-making can substantially impact the quality of your decisions and thus your venture’s performance.
We hope these simple rules help you consider your environment, venture, entrepreneurial team, and yourself. Good luck.
Here are some of the simple rules, according to the book’s table of contents:
- Simple Rules for Recognizing Opportunities
1 Simple Rule: When Others Constrain Your Career,
Look for an Entrepreneurial Opportunity
2 Simple Rule: Invest Effort to Build Expertise
from Your Experience
3 Simple Rule: Don’t Be Fooled by Your Experience
4 Simple Rule: Use Entrepreneurship as a Channel
to Express Yourself
5 Simple Rule: To Design Value, Look for Disruptions
(in Users and Your Environment)
6 Simple Rule: Motivate Creativity to Generate
Opportunities
7 Simple Rule: Adopt an Entrepreneurial Mindset
to Learn and Generate New Things
- Simple Rules for Market Selection and Entry
1 Simple Rule: Identify a Broad Opportunity Set
from Which to Choose the “Best” One
2 Simple Rule: Think Like a Scientist to Generate
Novel Business Models or Opportunities
3 Simple Rule: With Resource Constraints, Embrace
the Lean Startup Approach
4 Simple Rule: Create, Use, and Adapt a Community
of Inquiry to Evaluate and Co-construct
an Opportunity
5 Simple Rule: If Your Opportunity Does Not Work
Out, Pivot
- Simple Rules for Entrepreneurial Decision-Making
1 Simple Rule: Entry Decisions Are Complex, so
Time Them Right
2 Simple Rule: If You Think You Do Not Have
Implicit Biases, You Are Probably Wrong (We All
Do), so Set Up Procedures to Circumvent Them
3 Simple Rule: Reduce Your Overconfidence
in Making Predictions
4 Simple Rule: While Slack is Nice, Necessity Can Be
the Mother of Innovation
5 Simple Rule: When You Lack Information to Make
Decisions, Turn to What You Have at Hand
6 Simple Rule: If You Want to Capture Fleeting
Opportunities, Then Speed up Your Decision-Making
7 Simple Rule: Decision Analysis Will Only Get You
so Far; Tap into Your Inner Child to Ask Questions
- Simple Rules for Developing Plans and Strategies
1 Simple Rule: Reflect on Your Personal Goals When
Setting an Entrepreneurial Strategy
2 Simple Rule: Think About Your Venture’s Future
and Your Future in It
3 Simple Rule: When Facing Uncertainty, Look
for Ways to Capitalize on Learning (Stage Gates
Won’t Cut It)
4 Simple Rule: Simplify Your Rules
as the Environment Becomes More Complex
and Dynamic
5 Simple Rule: Be Aware of and Minimize Your
Venture’s Vulnerabilities
6 Simple Rule: Anticipate and Avoid (or Prepare for)
Potential Threats
7 Simple Rule: Meetings Can Help Make Effective
Transitions from One Project to the Next
8 Simple Rule: Avoid Firefighting Mode to Improve
Long-Run Performance
- Simple Rules for Engaging External Stakeholders
1 Simple Rule: Build a Circle of Trusted Advisors
and Listen to Them.
2 Simple Rule: Don’t Journey Alone; Involve Others
Because Entrepreneurship Needs to Be a Social
Endeavor
3 Simple Rule: When It Comes to Building
Relationships, Don’t Always Go for What Is Easy
and Natural
4 Simple Rule: Engage Others in Dialogue Like
a “Good” Professor Does in a Case Discussion
5 Simple Rule: Emphasize Inquiry with Others
(Instead of Advocacy) for Generating Creative
and Innovative Outcomes
6 Simple Rule: To Access Resources, Learn How
to Tell a Good Story
7 Simple Rule: Know Your Worth and Communicate
It to Others for Effective Pricing
8 Simple Rule: Ask for Help.
- Simple Rules for Working with Cofounders
1 Simple Rule: Don’t Be a Fool, Don’t Rush in
2 Simple Rule: Make Sure to Invest Time in Setting
up Your Founding Team
3 Simple Rule: If You Want Your Founding Team
to Function Well, Nurture It
4 Simple Rule: Make Sure Your Team Can Manage
Team Issues
5 Simple Rule: Your Team May Not Stay Together,
but a Breakup Doesn’t Have to Be a Disaster
- Simple Rules for Managing Employees
1 Simple Rule: Consider the People You Can Attract
to Your Startup
2 Simple Rule: You Will Shape Your Employees,
but They Will Also Shape You
3 Simple Rule: Build a Culture in Which Your
Employees Thrive
4 Simple Rule: If You Want to Be Entrepreneurial,
You Need to Be a Failure-Tolerant Leader
- Simple Rules for Growing Your Venture
1 Simple Rule: Growth Is a Challenging Journey; Be
Well Prepared.
2 Simple Rule: Transform Your Venture Multiple Times
3 Simple Rule: Build Your Cultural Intelligence
to Enter Foreign Markets
4 Simple Rule: To Make Your Organization
Entrepreneurial, Enhance Its Capacity to Learn
5 Simple Rule: Formalize Some of Your Personality
to Build Your Venture’s Culture
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)