This is a book review of The Monocle Book Of Entrepreneurs, by Monocle. This book provides advice, at the same time as it offers visually inspiring content on how to run your own business and find a better quality of life. TLDR; I love it!
I found this book in a local bookstore, in the section of “books to give as gifts”. I guess I did give it as a gift, only to myself. It’s a bit sad that gorgeously designed books like these apparently aren’t bought often by people; except as gifts to others. One reason is probably the price since they do tend to be more expensive than cheaply printed pocketbooks. And for this one, I’d definitely say that the price was worth it.
You can buy the book here! (Note this is an affiliate link, so I earn some money from sales, but it comes at no extra cost to you).
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The best Part: Creative & Artistic Entrepreneurs!
I’ll start off this book review of The Monocle Book Of Entrepreneurs with what I love the most; that the book is filled with over a hundred stories of entrepreneurs who share their advice and lessons they’ve learned.
What I like the most about the featured entrepreneurs is that this book focuses on creative businesses, whereas many other books I’ve read about this subject mostly feature non-artistic businesses. Some examples of my favorite branches featured are design, media, fashion, and culture.
Here to left in the image, is the most charming story about a couple who changed their lives and jobs so that they today “rarely feel like we are working – we’ve never been happier”.
If you’re thinking about leaving it all behind in search of something better, our advice would be to believe in your first instinct. We. did and we wouldn’t change a thing”
How lovely! Sometimes, all I need to hear is just a small encouragement and a positive story like this.
During my life, I’ve always been into the creative arts (design, painting, writing) and have tried many different ways of earning money through my own projects. I still haven’t succeeded in the way I want to though, and sometimes I can get discouraged and wonder if I should keep trying new ideas. I wonder if I should just conform to an ordinary job even though I have other dreams. This book, however, gave me a real kick of inspiration, which I really needed. And I’m very happy to have this book in my home to casually browse through whenever I need to get inspired.
The piece of advice that I loved the absolute most from this book was by Femi Adeyemi:
Spend enough time not working – it will make your business better.
Femi Adeyemi for The Monocle Book Of Entrepreneurs
This advice resonates with me so incredibly well. It is the one thing I feel like is the fuel for all my creative work. If I do not get exposed to new cultures, art, music, literature, environments, or people, my ability to be creative takes such a huge dip. Actually, my energy overall and excitement for life take a dip if I do not live a life outside of the hours actively creating. So, I absolutely love this quote.
Cities & Stories
This book also has a section featuring nice cities to start your business in or work from. And the cities they choose to feature fit my energy so well; such as Amsterdam and Leipzig.
I’ve thought about moving to Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Leipzig in Germany so many times. To study a master’s or to find nice co-working spaces and go to their cultural events. To see such gorgeous pictures and small tidbits of information about them was so nice. And now I’ll always have it easily available in my home.
Additionally, I love the creative people they’ve chosen to feature in this book, and the free-spirited advice they give.
Fabien Cappello, who works with design, gives this advice in the book:
Do things exactly how you feel like doing them, take your time, never accept compromises that you don’t feel comfortable with and don’t stress about your visibility on social networks. Keep yourself busy but never try to be what you are not.
Fabien Cappello in The Monocle Book Of Entrepreneurs
Another person I loved to read about was Antoine Bisou, a musical talent. The advice he would give to himself in the beginning, and which I take now as a piece of personal advice for myself is:
Just try thing and don’t be afraid. You’ll make mistakes but if you have the right spirit, it won’t feel like a failure.
Antoine Bisou for The Monocle Book Of Entrepreneurs
So in conclusion, this book is a lovely inspirational and informational collection of stories and places! It is all I wish it to be. I highly recommend it.
Thanks for reading this review of The Monocle Book Of Entrepreneurs!