The Introverts Guide to Entrepreneurship by Nate Nicholson
By Melissa Batai
The world notices extroverts. Many of our recent presidents such as Bill Clinton and George Bush were extroverted. So was Steve Jobs. The world just seems to be made for extroverts.
Yet, introverts like Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates, and Warren
Buffett can also be wildly successful.
If you think you can’t make it as an entrepreneur because
you’re introverted, Nate Nicholson asks you to think again. In fact, he says in his book, The Introverts Guide to Entrepreneurship, as an introvert, you have valuable skills that will
help you succeed.
Book Contents
Introduction: Introverts Can Make Great Entrepreneurs
In the opening, Nicholson hints at what he will write about
and urges all readers to take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test to
understand the specific aspects of their introversion.
Chapter 1: Your 5 Main Strengths as an Introvert to Help You
Become an Entrepreneur
While extroverts are the movers and shakers, Nicholson says
that in many ways, introverts may be more suited to business. Unlike extroverts, they’re not easily
distracted. They have the ability to
look deeply at themselves and their business, and they are better at
forecasting where their business might be or what the trends might be in the next
few years. Nicholson compares introverts
to the tortoise and extroverts to the hare.
Chapter 2: The 5 Most
Harmful Weaknesses You Need to Be Aware of When Running a Business
Most introverts will be well aware of the weaknesses listed
here—over thinking, being judgmental, dislike of collaboration, dislike of
networking, and being reserved. This
chapter is most useful when Nicholson offers ways to network that still get
results but don’t require introverts to go through a draining social meet and
greet.
Chapter 3: How to
Lead Your Company as an Introvert
As an introvert, you can lead your company by listening to
your employees. Nicholson mentions that
this is how Richard Branson, owner of the Virgin companies, runs his business. Nicholson also gives other
suggestions for managing a company, including having no employees at all, if
you can manage it. If you do have employees
and don’t want to be the boss, you can always outsource that to someone else,
as Branson does.
Chapter 4: Introversion, Entrepreneurship, and Other People
If you don’t own a business that is ideal for an introvert,
consider pairing up with an extrovert.
Nicholson uses the example of Steve Jobs (extrovert) and Steve Wozniak
(introvert) as a great pair who helped rocket Apple to one of the most
well-known companies in the world. In
addition, Nicholson gives 5 key attributes of a good business partner for an
introvert.
Chapter 5: The Introvert’s Guide to Self-Promotion
If you partner up with an extrovert, the extrovert can
handle the promotion of the business.
However, if you work alone, you have to handle self-promotion. Nicholson gives some creative ways to
self-promote that will be more comfortable for introverts such as blogging or
writing a book or becoming a speaker at a conference so afterward, others will
approach you rather than you having to approach them.
Chapter 6: Types of Businesses Suitable for Entrepreneurs
Nicholson has a list of qualities an ideal business for an introvert should have—easy to automate or outsource, with minimal customer
interaction, with no fixed business hours, location independent,
analytical. He also gives general
businesses that you may think about starting such as online stores.
Chapter 7: Choosing the Right Business for You
Nicholson, who is an introvert, made the mistake of starting
a business that played on his strengths, but required him to make 20 to 30
calls to customers a day. The business
failed because he burned out quickly.
Nicholson suggests you recognize your weaknesses as an introvert and
choose a business that plays instead on your strengths.
Chapter 8:
Introvert-Friendly Ways to Come Up with Business Ideas and Test Them
The Internet makes it very easy to research what types of
jobs there may be a need for. Nicholson
suggests following Twitter, discussion boards, and blogs to see what people are
complaining that they need (so you can provide the service) and what jobs are
in demand. Then, see if you can get a
few clients before you can launch into a full scale business.
Should You Read This Book?
I’m an introvert, and I found some of Nicholson’s
assessments of introverts fascinating because they were traits I
possessed. However, there were other
traits he mentioned that I definitely don’t possess. Even among introverts, skills and strengths
vary widely, so don’t be surprised if sections of this book don’t apply to you.
However, this book is a great book to help introverts see
that they can succeed in business, even if they’re not as charismatic as their
extroverted peers. In addition, this
book is a quick read and fairly low cost at $2.99. I do wish, though, that Nicholson would have
delved deeper with examples and ideal jobs for introverts.
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