Self-help books line bookshelves everywhere, but which ones are suited to your business? Complete Idiots Guides and Dummy’s Guides educate you on all facets of business, making them indispensable for start-ups. Who knows, they may even give you that competitive edge that separates you from your competitors.
By Craig Falck for Africa Report
Photograph: © Picstudio | Dreamstime.com
You’ve probably seen them in tons of comedy movies, you know, when a complete idiot pulls out one of those luminous yellow books entitled, ‘The Dummy’s Guide To…’? You may have laughed then, but the last laugh will be on you, because they’re actually pretty decent books to read for a number of reasons.
Dummy’s Guide To books are written for beginners in thousands of different fields, from cooking and playing tennis to website building and welding. And guess what? There are ones for business people too. The simple truth about these self-help books is that they’re written in the simplest terms for people who are new to the various environments. By using simple terminology and fundamental concepts, it’s easier for the average person to understand whatever they’re getting into, as well as being able to incorporate these concepts into their businesses.
The problem with so many people these days is that they try to ‘go big’ from the get-go, with or without the proper foundations. It’s impossible to go from zero to business superhero overnight (even Sir Richard Branson has burnt his fingers a few times). You need to build up step-by-step, each time adding to what you’ve already set down. And the only way to do this is by having a fundamental knowledge of your industry, in this case; business. They even have Dummy’s Guides To various business types so that you are able to understand the different types of business and which one will suit you better than the rest.
Self-help books can be used by businesspeople of all ages and experience levels. The core issue here is one of education. And when it comes to learning and packing information into your brain, there’s no such thing as “bad” or “too much”. The saying that “knowledge is power” is true and there is no way that knowing too much can be a bad thing. Once again, when you look at the fact that these self-help books use the simplest terms, they are the building blocks for running a business. It’s also important to remember that you need to understand these terms on their own and as a whole – you mustn’t only understand concepts 1 and 2 on their own, but also that they can be combined to form concept 3, etc.
Self-help and Dummy’s Guides To books aren’t something to be laughed at. They contain important information that can be learnt, understood and used by anybody reading them. The important thing to remember is that everyone has to start somewhere, and knowledge really is power.
Cammy Buda
March 27, 2012
I was really confused, and this anwsered all my questions.