Nothing happens unless first a dream. – Carl Sandburg
The important part of dreaming is what you do when you wake up. – Dal LaMagna
Raising Eyebrows–A Failed Entrepreneur Finally Gets it Right is a must-read book on entrepreneurship lessons from Dal LaMagna, popularly known as the founder of Tweezerman. The story takes you on the road to discovery – the lessons you must learn from a failed entrepreneurial venture and how one failure leads to a larger success. The success lies in:
- perseverance,
- learning from the failures and
- acting on the present opportunities
Though these form the basic elements one must learn on the path to entrepreneurship, the book teaches you a lot more! The abstract of the book puts it in perfect words here: “This book offers an unforgettable business and life journey that brings new meaning to the saying “never give up.” If you’ve ever dreamed of following your own path and changing the world along the way, you’ll want to see how a lot of pluck – and a little luck – had one man Raising Eyebrows.”
If you are an entrepreneur or an aspiring one this book should be in your list of “must-read”, especially if you are at the point of giving up on a failed venture or dissatisfied with the success of the present one. Inspired by DL’s personal experience stories you’d definitely want to give it another try once you are done reading Raising Eyebrows. What makes this book a wonderful read is that it never preaches or tells you what to do and how to be successful, it is a story – a journey – of a born-entrepreneur who candidly tells you about his failures and how one failure was a stepping stone to yet another one till he finally found the niche which made him a multi-millionaire.
Dal LaMagna – a self-made millionaire who learned never to give up, who learnt that a failed venture is a brilliant teacher – what we must do is to learn from what went wrong and how can we set it right, or know when to move on to a profitable venture. And once you have a grasp on this essential life-skill on the path to entrepreneurship you get it – there’s no hurdles to your success and the millions you had dreamt of. It is no doubt that entrepreneurship is a long and difficult road, but if you ready to take a risk, fail, learn, persevere, and then turn your problems into opportunities you’ve not only learned to brave the storms but have acquired the skills and abilities to take larger risks, turn around your previous failure lessons to the stepping stones to success and accelerate towards your goals.
There are no failures, only lessons. – Dal LaMagna
I failed, to get ahead. – Dal LaMagna
There is a resilient die-hard drive in the stories that DL has for us in the book, a drive to learn from our failures and move on and then to get your project across the finish line.
An excerpt from one of the chapter on Focus:
“I hadn’t yet created a mission statement for my new business, but I did have a definite vision. I knew I wanted the best tweezers, and the thought of simply being excellent excited me. I could hardly fall asleep alt night and couldn’t wait for the morning to come so I could make it all happen.”
Read more about and from Dal LaMagna at his blog.
In an exclusive interview with Careerbright Dal LaMagna shares his insight on the book and the entrepreneurship lessons.
Welcome DL, thanks for the wonderful insight on lessons on the entrepreneurial road from your life experience, it is one of those few book that I have read in one sitting. Raising Eyebrows was a compulsive page-turner – just to know what happens next since you have failed yet again!
Your entrepreneurial pursuits date back to the 1960s when at a very young age you had real world experience on launching not one but multiple businesses, though rare back then it is a widespread phenomenon these days as many young GEN Y entrepreneurs are sprouting in every town around the world. If you were to offer an entrepreneurship class for the teens and the GEN Y today what are some essentials tips or guidelines you would share with them?
DL: Now it the best time in your life to start a business. You don’t have a family and expenses to worry about. You are probably living with your parents. You can afford it. What skills do you have? Recently I spoke at career day at my alma mater Bishop Loughlin. One of the student told me she was braiding hair and making money. Another was tutoring other students. (Read more at Dal LaMagna’s blog)
You are probably a lot more educated about computers and the Internet than your realized compared to us Baby Boomers. Hire yourself out as a computer geek – $25 an hour is fair. Help older folks set up their computers, get onto Facebook, browse the web, etc. Put fliers on cars or in the doors of your neighbors. Whatever business you start you must be organized, stay focused, and find something you can do with the retargets you have or can easily get.
It has been a delight knowing you through your book, which in itself is a delightful reading! What are your next ventures and what excites you to yet another entrepreneurial venture?
DL: What I am doing now is working as a small business responsible capitalist activist. I am a Trustee and major funder of the Bainbridge Graduate Institute (BGI). Also my book is designed to inspire and encourage people to start a business and show them how if I could do it so can they. Recently I have become a co-managing partner of IceStone a company in which I have a large investment. IceStone make counter tops out of recycled glass and cement. It is in the Green Building space.
About Dal LaMagna
Dal LaMagna is the founder of Tweezerman, the socially responsible global beauty tools company, and a major funder and active trustee of the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, which awards MBAs in sustainable business. A partner and a blogger at HuffingtonPost.com, he is also author of the book, Raising Eyebrows: A Failed Entrepreneur Finally Gets It Right (John Wiley & Sons, www.raisingeyebrows.com).