Rework: Book Summary

An excellent read for someone who is already running a business or wants to run a business or wants to do a side hustle. In today’s world, anyone can start a business with just a laptop. Technology that cost thousands is now just a few bucks or even free. You don’t have to burn your life savings to start a business. This book is a diamond for someone who wants to set up or sustain a business (and not a startup :)). It has short lessons that are powerful and replicable in a business scenario. Below you will find a summary of most of the lessons that I felt are important to me and for the readers.

Ignore the real world: A lot of people in the world will try to depress you by stating that “your idea is awful”, “I don’t think this will work”. If you believe in your idea, give it a shot because. The real world isn’t a place, its an excuse

Learning from mistakes is overrated: If other people can’t market their product, handle their team or run their business it has nothing to do with you. You might learn what not to but you will still not learn what you should do next to be successful

Planning is guessing: You have the most information when you are doing something, not when you are planning to start something, then why write a plan at the beginning of the year.

Why grow: Why is it important to have a bigger office, large workforce, huge revenue. Maybe the right size for your company is 5 people. Or maybe it’s just you and your laptop. Don’t be insecure about aiming to be a small business. Till the time your business is sustainable or profitable, you should be proud.

Workaholism: Working more doesn’t mean you can get more work done. Try to be efficient rather than work overtime

Make a dent in the universe: Do something that makes your effort feel valuable. See that you are not building another me-too product that makes you a commodity

Start making something: Most important thing is to begin. Don’t just sit around with your idea and let someone else walk away with execution and glory

No time is no excuse: A lot of people would say they have a great idea but they do not have time to work on it. This is just an excuse. If you value your idea you will find some time out in the day to work on it. You are never too young or old to start something new. If you constantly fret about timing things perfectly, they will never happen

Draw a line in the sand: Stand by your belief system even if it turns off a few people. Don’t think your product will make everyone happy, but make your products for those who are your superfans. When you bring a new feature, you will face backlash but make your customers understand and eventually they will like it.

Outside money is Plan Z: Many companies today do not need big capital to start or grow. No matter what kind of business you are, take as little outside cash as you can because:

You give up control and it’s a distracting process

You need less than you think: There is nothing wrong with being frugal. Keep a lean team so you can take decisions swiftly.

Start a business not a startup: In a startup, you use other people’s money until you figure out ways to make your own. Act like an actual business and try to be profitable quickly.

Build half a product, not a half-assed product: You cannot do everything that you wish to do because of the limited time that you have. So cut your ambition in half and build a great product that caters to the specific problem rather than making a product that can solve everything

Decisions are progress: Whenever you put off decisions they pile up and you end up ignoring them. Take decisions quickly rather instead of postponing them. Have meetings where you get things done rather than just discuss them.

Launch Now: Once your product does what it needs to do, get it out there. Don’t hold everything because of a few leftovers. You can do them later.

Reasons to quit: Sometimes abandoning what you have started off is the right move, even if you have put a lot of effort. Keep asking yourself these questions:

Why am I doing this?

What problems you are solving?

Is this actually useful?

Are you adding value?

Will this change behavior?

Is there an easier way?

What could you be doing instead?

Productivity interruption: When you are in your productivity zone, do not allow anything to interrupt you because you can get a lot of stuff done. Create productivity hours at your workspace where people can get on a task and complete it efficiently because no one would interrupt others during this time

Meetings are toxic: Meetings usually convey a small amount of information and consume a lot of time. If there are 10 people on the call, the meeting ends up taking 10hrs of productive time. You do not need to set up 30mins meetings if your job can be done in 10mins, set up 15mins meetings instead.

Celebrate quick wins: The way you build momentum is by getting something done and then moving on to the next thing. No one likes to be stuck up on an endless project. If you are working on a big project, break it down into smaller milestones and celebrate once you reach them.

Focus on you, instead of they: When you focus on the competition you dilute your own vision. You become reactionary instead of visionary. Create your own game, your won rules and excel in that

Say No: Use the power of No to set your priorities right. People avoid saying No because of confrontation but the alternative is even worse.

Welcome obscurity: No one knows you when you are small and that’s the best time to make tweaks to your products. Test random ideas, try new things. No one knows you so it’s no big deal if you mess up.

Build an audience: Share information that’s valuable and you will build a loyal audience. Then when you need to get your word out, the right people are already listening

Out-teach your competition: You can hire salespeople, advertise, spend a lot on promotion but your competition is also doing the same. Instead, you focus on your product, the technology and try to make your product superior. The audience will naturally flow to you

Emulate Chefs: Famous chefs have become famous not because of the dishes they cook but because they share everything through videos or blogs. Businesses today are paranoid and secretive. Don’t be afraid of sharing.

Emulate drug dealers: Make your product so good, so addictive that giving customers a small free taste makes them come back with cash in hand.

Hire when it hurts: Do not hire for fun. Hire only when there is a need. Also when someone leaves, don’t hire someone immediately. You often discover you do not need as many people as you think.

Forget about formal education: Formal education boxes us in a specific format that is different from the actual world. No wonder so much business writing is dripping with non-sense. The pool of good candidates is far bigger than just people who have passed college with a stellar GPA

Own your bad news: When something goes wrong, you are better off breaking the news yourself. Otherwise, you create an opportunity for rumours to spread.

How to say you are sorry: Be open and take responsibility if you have done a mistake. A good apology has no conditional “if” attached. It shows people that the buck stops with you.

Put everyone to the front line: Have a restaurant culture where chefs for a stretch of time have to serve as waiters so they empathize with them and understand the customers better.

They are not thirteen: When you treat people like children you will get children to work. When everything needs constant approval you create a culture of non-thinkers.

ASAP is poison: It devalues other requests that do not say ASAP. So reserve your use of emergency language where there is an actual emergency.

And that's a wrap!

You can check out other blogs on my website: https://ashishmalhotra.store/