Peggy Salvatore’s “30 Days into the New Economy” offers a primer in getting started in the internet age.
If you ever considered going into business for yourself, “30 Days to the New Economy: Your Role in History as an Entrepreneur” by Peggy Salvatore would go a long way to nurturing the thoughts you should have before getting started.
The book might more properly be called “How to Succeed in Starting Your Own Business in the Internet Age.” Even if you are not contemplating such a move, the book would be useful in giving you some insight into the modern age where a “business” is constantly being redefined by the internet. It speaks of basic concepts rather than just providing a checklist of specific to-dos.
It is not a long read and is cleverly divided into 30 chapters, with the intent that you read one chapter a day. In this way, you will be able to digest and think about what you have read and apply it to yourself. Reading it all at once may cause you to miss some of the subtleties inherent in the modern commercial world. And the chapters logically build day after day.
Salvatore refers to the internet as the “new frontier” and believes that most people, even those who use it for commercial purposes, do not actually realize what a tremendous tool it is and that the mercantile revolution is only just beginning because of the depth of information, connectivity and instantaneous response that is available.
This book was written after exhaustive research (on the internet of course) and is a distillation of the best thinking available as well as some of the author’s personal experiences.
Chapter 6, “Virtues of Internet Joe,” details the seven key aspects of a good entrepreneur in this modern age. This chapter highlights the reason for the one-chapter-a-day approach. You can quickly scan the seven virtues, but the list should lead to self-reflection as to how you as an individual meet these critical aspects.
Chapter 10, “Characteristics of the New Entrepreneur,” dwells on five key items. The question for any budding participant is how they fit you. I like her use of the word “fleecemasters” to describe those who will not succeed.
Chapter 11, “Integrity,” should be the one chapter that everyone reads no matter why you picked up the book. Integrity is often an afterthought in “how to” business books and yet it is the single most critical item that you must have to succeed, in life as well as business.
Chapter 16, “Imagine Leadership and Management,” is closely allied with integrity. The key point is to realize that these abilities are not the same. You can be a fine manager, a learned skill, without being a leader since “true leadership isn’t conferred as much as it is earned.” Unfortunately, we often have people in leadership positions who are not leaders. No names, please.
This book was an unexpected delight and would be interesting to many general readers, not just aspiring entrepreneurs. It is available as an e-book on Amazon and a second edition updated just recently.
Peggy Salvatore is a resident of Bethlehem and is a published author as well as trainer and facilitator. Her management consulting business includes workshops and seminars for a variety of industries.
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Dick Sakulich has a new book of his own, “Stories and Thoughts,” available from the author. He lives in Doylestown and is a member of The Intelligencer and Bucks County Courier Times editorial board. If you know a local author with a recent work, let him know at newrms@comcast.net.
