Ricky’s Online Business Blog

Here are the 14 key failure factors (KFFs) in entrepreneurship according to the unusual but great book called The Little Black Book of Entrepreneurship by Fernando Trias De Bes.

Regarding the entrepreneur:

1. Starting a business with a motive, but without motivation
2. Not being a true entrepreneur at heart
3. Not being a fighter; lacking a competitive nature

Regarding partners:

1. Depending on partners when you can really do without them
2. Choosing partners without ensuring that they are really compatible with you
3. Giving equal reward for unequal contributions
4. Not having trust and communication among the partners

Regarding the business idea:

1. Believing success hinges on the idea
2. Entering sectors you don’t like or don’t know anything about
3. Picking unprofitable or stagnant economic sectors

Regarding the entrepreneur’s family situation:

1. Allowing your family’s needs and your material ambitions to be dependent on your business’ success
2. Becoming an entrepreneur without acknowledging how it will affect the balance in one’s life

Regarding managing growth:

1. Creating and sticking with business models that do not generate profits quickly and sustainably
2. Not knowing when to quit

I’ll be sharing this book in a few book sharing meetups. Let’s meet and share thoughts with one another!

Welcome to join any BookPeckers (formerly Business Book Club) meetup in November 2012 below. Book sharing is not compulsory. You can just come and listen to sharing of others, and participate in discussion. But if you choose to present a book, welcome to bring the book and talk about it for 10 to 15 minutes. Please contact me for any enquiry.

Group: BookPeckers @ Petaling Jaya #9
Date/Time: 22th November 2012 (Thursday) 1:30pm
Host: Joshua Tan
RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/443483669046107/

Group: BookPeckers @ Bangsar South #3
Date/Time: 24th November 2012 (Saturday) 3:30pm
Host: Ricky Soo
RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/125502664267693/

To know more about BookPeckers, please join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/business.book.club/

On March 26, 2012 (Monday), the humble start of a new book sharing club took place in Starbucks, Bangsar Village II at night.

Three like-minded friends came together and shared four books. The titles include The Platinum Rule, How To Simplify Your Life, What The Dog Saw, and The Top 10 Habits of Millionaires.

Each of us took 15 minutes to present the books we brought.  In less than one hour, we have already got a glimpse of all four books presented.

At the end of the sharing session, books changed hands. Group members could borrow books from one another for one month until the next meeting.

Such is the working of the new Business Book Club (BBC) started in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  We meet once a month to share and lend books to one another.

Books to be presented include all books on business, management, entrepreneurship, finance, investment, self-development, motivation, inspiration, career, work/life balance. In fact, any book that helps us achieve business success.

Business people might be too busy to read books, so someone came up with the idea of book summary and book review. Then they just need to take a short time to read the summary. If they wish to delve further into the book, they will buy and read the book.

Now such book summary has gone live. By gathering a small group of business book lovers, we orally read our own book summary to one another.  If any member wish to read it, he or she just borrows it from the book owner.

It’s like a private library on business books making use of peer social networks.  After all, there is not any public library dedicated on business books to satisfy such hunger for business knowledge and experience!

But there is not only one group meeting once a month.  This is a new upcoming movement where such group is to be duplicated to meet and do the same things in different places, at different times, even in their own language.

Are you interested to start such a book sharing group at your place, among your friends, in your school or company? Get a small group of 3 to 7 people, and you can start your own book club.

Or do you want to join us to meet once a week in KL?  Tentatively we meet every month on the last Monday at 8pm. Each session is expected to last from one to two hours. Don’t forget we don’t just read books, but we network with like-minded members too!

If you have a book to share, just bring your book and introduce it to the others for 5 to 15 minutes.  Or if you just wish to sit and watch, come and be our guest.

Please contact me to join us, or join the club on Facebook.

I suppose one best way to help the poor to stand on their feet financially is by empowering and inspiring them with knowledge. But why is there no specialized public library with book collection on business, management, finance and self-development?

You and I may not have the funds to start one such library. But an idea crossed my mind to start a business book exchange club instead, starting right where we are, and among our own friends. It’s a small-scaled library.

Why not start a book exchange clubs where we meet regularly, say once a month?

1. Each member is to bring one book.
2. Each member is given 15 minutes to introduce the books.
3. At the end of all presentations, members are free to grab one book they are interested in from another member.

So at the end of each meeting, we will have previewed and “read” many books within one or two hours!

What do you think? I’m giving idea, and will be glad to partner with anyone to bring this into reality. Join this Facebook group for help start the movement.