For most people, entrepreneurs are a bit of a mystery. After all, why would someone love doing business 7/24. What makes them start a new business after they have enough money to retire or after they have had a failure? This book tells it all.

This is a book about entrepreneurs - their stories, their highs and lows and their needs and fears. Not just those that were successful - but all of them. This is a book about entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs, for those that are close to them, those that work with them and those that wonder about them. It is the good, the bad and the ugly. It is about having a laugh at our own expense - it is simply who we are. It is a collection of one liners, comments and brief stories about lots of entrepreneurs that have been there and done it - some successfully and some not so well. What we consider ordinary, non-entrepreneurs will find fascinating. What they consider to be the normal ups and downs of business life will appeal to other entrepreneurs who will read it and say 'Yea - just like me".

This book is really about living the life of the entrepreneur and what makes that different from everyone else. So, not just about business, but about the person and how they interact with others, their aspirations, challenges, problems, relationships and so on.

More than 100 entrepreneurs from a dozen countries have contributed to the book. My task as the author, educator and entrepreneur is to make sense out of it all, tell my own story as a central theme and weave the other stories around it to show that entrepreneurs the world over are remarkable similar.

"Entrepreneurs are fascinating. They live a strange life where their business is their hobby. They get up every morning excited by what they can achieve to make a difference and then they struggle each day to bring in enough sales to cover the payroll. Their lives are roller coasters but they would not give it up for anything else. Most entrepreneurs have great stories about deals closed and deals lost, problems that sapped their energy and successes that they celebrated. To understand them you need to hear their own stories in their own words"

This exciting insight into the world of the entrepreneurs is arranged in 10 gripping chapters.

1. We all start somewhere
2. Why do it
3. Nobody understands me
4. Along the rocky road
5. Things you don't forget
6. Events that changed the future
7. The view from the sidelines
8. Family moments
9. Reflections
10. This is who I am

"Entrepreneurs are constantly seeking others like themselves because they live in a world where they see that they are different. They have lots of business ideas, problems balancing their business and their personal lives and a huge responsibility to look after their employees." "This book will find a home with entrepreneurs who will see that there are many others with similar experiences as themselves"

Get A Life! Provides a rich insight into the lives of over 60 entrepreneurs from around the world documenting their successes and failures, motivations, aspirations and reflections on their life journey as an entrepreneur.

Only a small percentage of individuals ever have the chance to experience the life of an entrepreneur. Those that have talk about the passion with which they approach business opportunities, the highs and lows of business life and the loneliness of not being able to share their successes and failures with those around them. This book has reached out to over 60 entrepreneurs of all ages and all levels of experience and asked them to share their experiences. They describe how they started in business, why they work long hours and give up well paid jobs to pursue their dreams. They describe their loneliness, of not being able to share their problems with those around them or not having others to discuss their opportunities with. They have all experienced a roller coaster ride of great successes and great setbacks and describe these in terms that will fascinate the reader. They share their deepest feelings for their life partners and how their relationships have impacted their ability to follow their path. These are stories from the heart, not of the world's most successful entrepreneurs, but those that we meet daily, the person who is driven to have a go, to make something happen and to make a difference.

Entrepreneurs chase opportunities. It is what gets them up in the morning and keeps them awake at night. They come from all backgrounds and all sectors. They share a common dream of making a difference. It is never about the money, most would be better off with a corporate job. Instead, they make sacrifices of money, time and relationships to pursue an idea for a business. Their stories are compelling, sometimes sad, often amusing. Few make it to great riches but they all say they would not have it any other way. This is what they do and what they love. They are in business 7/24. Their business is their hobby and their life.

This book sets out to provide the reader with an inside view of the life of an entrepreneur. These stories are woven around the personal experiences of the author, a global entrepreneur who started a sold four businesses in the UK and USA over a period of 20 years. His own journey as an entrepreneur with its highs and lows are replicated in similar ways by the many entrepreneurs that have contributed their own stories to this book. They each have their own incidents but yet, they all have similar themes to them. This tapestry of life journeys will provide great comfort to other entrepreneurs, astound and amuse those that are not entrepreneurs and, hopefully, educate many on the talent and contributions that entrepreneurs bring to our economy and society.

This book will allow entrepreneurs to see that they are not alone in their journey. They will find great comfort in the stories of others and will be able to relate to the experiences described in the book. For many, it will resonate with their own experiences. They will laugh and cry as they connect with others like themselves. For others, it will enable them to understand the driving forces that shape the entrepreneur. These are individuals who make a great difference to our communities and yet they are perhaps the least understood. This book allows them to explain who they are.

Entrepreneurs are very poorly understood. Many think they are simply in it for the money, that they are no better than clever salespersons. The truth is far different. They do it because they want to make a difference. They are consumed by doing something that no one else has done. They have ideas flowing from them that need an outlet. They are in a rush to make it all happen and impatient when things get in the way. Few ever succeed to gain great wealth, most know that it probably won't happen to them but yet they still have a deep need to do what they do. These are very ordinary people with a special talent for building value for customers. They succeed when they create something that makes a difference to other people's lives and that is their prime motivation. If they do it well, they hope the wealth will follow but they will do it anyway.

Get A Life! includes contributions from entrepreneurs in many countries and shows that they are all the same. The motivations of entrepreneurs in America is no different from those in such places as Australia, Israel, Scotland, Argentina or Indonesia. Some have worked in family businesses and relate their experiences of working with parents. Others have interesting experiences of working with their spouse or their children. Many have had failures but have picked themselves up and gone on to new ventures. Their journeys are remarkably similar across cultures.

We all know individuals that are entrepreneurs or have entrepreneurial talents. This book is a wonderful insight into their motivations, aspirations and concerns. It allows us to go behind the door into their innermost thoughts and to hear from real entrepreneurs about the events that have shaped their lives and the issues that they deal with in their personal relationships.

"Entrepreneurs are a special group of people. Those that are successful create our great corporations and our great social institutions. But for every one that is highly successful, there are many thousands that are having a go, working every day to create a business that offers employment, provides value for customers and generates wealth for our community. Their lives are not easy. They struggle with the balance between their passion for business and the need to conform to the social customs around them that say they should divide their lives between work and pleasure. But their work is their pleasure. They get up in the morning to chase the next deal and lie awake at night worrying about covering the payroll for that week. Theirs is not an easy life and yet few in our community really understand what they experience to undertake the role they do. Hopefully this book will shed light on part of our community that deserves much greater recognition than it currently receives."

Get A Life! offers insights into -

HOW I GOT STARTED?
Some start as children, others as teenagers or out of university - these are the Traders. The other group drop out of corporate life, the corporate escapees. Find out what event triggered their leap into business.

WHY DO I DO IT?
It is about passion, being in control and pursuing that grand idea. Find out what drives them and keeps them going day after day in the face of huge obstacles.

NOBODY UNDERSTANDS ME?
Their hobby is their business and their business is their hobby. They are consumed by doing deals and creating the next big thing. But they have problems having normal conversations and interacting socially.

WHAT HAPPENED ALONG THE WAY - THE ROCKY ROAD?
These are stories you could not make up. This is where fact is stranger than fiction. Here is where you weep and laugh at the highs and lows of their roller coater ride through business.

HOW DO MY FAMILY FEEL ABOUT WHAT I DO?
It is not easy being the partner or child of an entrepreneur. The lucky are well supported and the unlucky end in divorce. However, it is who they are and they cannot change that. Partners and children also tell their stories about living with the entrepreneur.

WHAT EVENTS CHANGED MY LIFE?
Few things happen by accident. Perhaps it was a conversation, maybe a big deal, sometimes an argument with a boss. There are events that stand out that change your life forever. What were they - find out from many entrepreneurs about what made a huge difference in their business lives.

WHAT DID I LEARN ALONG THE WAY?
Wisdom is often hard won. There might be many mistakes behind you before you find the pot of gold. If you started again - what would you do differently? If you were advising a young entrepreneur - what would you say to them? In their own words, many entrepreneurs reflect on a life of successes and failures.

WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR?
Many entrepreneurs have found the journey to self esteem and personal contentment a hard one. They acknowledge that they are different but it can take a lifetime for some to accept who they are. By reading these stories, I hope all entrepreneurs will identify with my contributors and be proud of who they are.

TESTIMONIALS

"A great resource for people like us and those close to us that may wish to understand."
Rob de Pinto
liquidwit.com

"The book reads well. I am impressed by the way you have woven the stories together. What you have actually done is similar to a phenomenological study of entrepreneurship, as you have quoted entrepreneurs' own words and stories (their experiences) and then interpreted them in such a way as to create a story that applies to entrepreneurs generally.
Well done"
David Alan Robinson
Gold Coast, QLD