Chicken Soup for the Entrepreneur's Soul

by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Dahlynn McKowen

Chicken Soup for the Entrepreneur's Soul is a compilation of short stories from entrepreneurs, both large and small, who share their experiences of success, failure and courage, with a little helpful advice mixed in. Many of these stories, told for the first time here, will enlighten you to new methods of entrepreneurship or simply help you believe in the possibilities of getting started. People such as Doris Christopher, a stay-at-home mother, who introduced her love of cooking to others through founding The Pampered Chef; Thom Chappell, who stuck to his instincts when developing Tom's of Maine and kept value at the core of his business; and Carol Gardner who intimately shares a desperate time of debt and divorce, until along came a bulldog named Zelda, followed by a greeting card line - Zelda Wisdom - which became one of Hallmark's number one sellers. These entrepreneurs and many more will inspire you with their amazing life experiences and fascinating beginnings.

Genres: Nonfiction, Entrepreneurship, Business, Self Help

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 2005

About the author

Jack Canfield is an American motivational speaker and author. He is best known as the co-creator of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book series, which currently has over 124 titles and 100 million copies in print in over 47 languages. According to USA Today, Canfield and his writing partner, Mark Victor Hansen, were the top-selling authors in the United States in 1997.

Canfield received a BA in Chinese History from Harvard University and a Masters from University of Massachusetts. He has worked as a teacher, a workshop facilitator, and a psychotherapist.

Canfield is the founder of "Self Esteem Seminars" in Santa Barbara, and "The Foundation for Self Esteem" in Culver City, California. The stated mission of Self Esteem Seminars is to train entrepreneurs, educators, corporate leaders and employees to achieve their personal and professional goals. The focus of The Foundation for Self Esteem is to train social workers, welfare recipients and human resource professionals.

In 1990,he shared with author Mark Victor Hansen his idea for the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. After three years, the two had compiled sixty-eight stories.

Canfield has appeared on numerous television shows, including Good Morning America, 20/20, Eye to Eye, CNN's Talk Back Live, PBS, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Montel Williams Show, Larry King Live and the BBC.

Canfield's most recent book, The Success Principles (2005), shares 64 principles that he claims can make people more successful. In 2006, he appeared in the DVD, "The Secret," and shared his insights on the Law of Attraction and tips for achieving success in personal and professional life.

Jack Canfield was born on August 19, 1944, in Fort Worth, TX. He is the son of Elmer and Ellen (a homemaker; maiden name, Taylor). He attended high school at Linsly Military Institute, Wheeling, WV, 1962. He went to college at Harvard University, B.A., 1966; University of Massachusetts at Amherst, M.Ed., 1973. Canfield married Judith Ohlbaum in 1971 (divorced, November 1976); he married Georgia Lee Noble on September 9, 1978 (divorced, December 1999); he married Inga Marie Mahoney on July 4, 2001; children: (first marriage) Oran, David, Kyle, Dania; (second marriage) Christopher Noble. He is a Democrat and a Christian, and his hobbies include tennis, travel, skiing, running, billiards, reading, and guitar.

Reviews

[Autumn Fiske · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I enjoyed about reading the stories of business owners in this book is that most struggled or failed multiple times but never gave up. It reminds me that there are humble beginnings and hard work can lead to success.

[Jeniffer Joi · Rating 5 out of 5]

full inspiring. aku baca versi terjemahannya zaman SMP-SMA waktu itu dan buku ini jadi “teman” yang ngebantu aku bangkit dan melewati masa sulit keluarga. tbh i can’t be the person i am today without reading this book!

[Adam Farhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book good for me to get reference of successful people in entrepreneurship

[Sneha Nathani · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are popular entrepreneurs and there are regular ones too. This series never fails you to inspire.

[Jennifer L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have typically loved Chicken Soup books as a quick "feel good" read. However, I have to say this one disappointed me. There weren't the variety of stories in this one as there seem to be in the average book. There were no laugh out loud funny books, no tear-jerking stories. This was a complete "Rags to Riches" book. While I realize that's the theme of this book, having a few other stories in there would have been nice as well.

[Sumeet · Rating 3 out of 5]

well..unfortunately i have been reading THE BLACK SWAN and FOOLED BY RANDOMNESS by Naseem, makes me skeptic to all the books which only tell u about the success stories and nt the failure...which are atleat 99 % of the times when u start something new. so it kinda is difficult to conclude something when u r lookin at nly one side of the coin...tht being said , it still does make me wanna try out my hands on the bussiness i have been planning about.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was not so bad. Granted, I would have liked to have more meat to the stories but it does deliver inspiration and motivation. I was particularly interested with the Ewomen network and the search engine company that was sold to a certain bookstore that is now their website.

[Keith Aul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to understand what people have gone through in order to achieve the level of success they've desired. To often we here the success stories, but don't understand what people had to go through in order to achieve success. Very inspiring!

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the stories to be motivating. This is a book that will stay on my shelf instead of being donated to the local library. I think I will return to it and re-read some of the stories from time to time when I lose momentume and need an inspirational jump-start.

[Edwies Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of the stories are really good, memorable, motivating and valuable. Some of the stories aren't explained clearly, short and mediocre. This is my first Chicken soup book, and overall i enjoyed this book. :)

[Anne Bean · Rating 4 out of 5]

My dad wrote a chapter of this book, so I had to read it and love it. :) It was a surprisingly good book, though, considering I'm a bit burnt out on Chicken Soup for the Soul books...

[Sally Wurr · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another good self help book on my reference library.

[Ana Kofmehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great inspirational stories of enterpenurial success. Motivating, interesting, easy reading.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm reading this book slowly. I like all the inspirational stories from the people who have "been there, done that."

[Ramzi Zaindeen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Be inspired.

[Pk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the book. And what more, I got jack to sign in it and will cherish that for a very long time.

[Reyna Marrufo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very inspirational!

[TJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great stories but they were too short to be helpful. I would have like there to be more success stories for people that weren't millionaires.

[Lisa J Shultz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very inspiring and cool to find out the stories behind so many businesses and enterprises that are popular today. They all started from humble beginnings and did not give up.