Delivering Happiness..

Reading about Tony's story of building a successful enterprise leaves me feeling amazed and determined at the same time. It made me realize the scale of commitment that is required to succeed as an entrepreneur, and all the finer technical details that you would never think of while ordering shoes online; the perfect symphony that must take place so that you receive your order on time. I found the book quite engrossing and an enjoyable read due to his almost-conversational style of writing.

The highlight of this book was the passion that Tony had in everything he did; right since his childhood days he had the drive to make money and to keep going after challenges that he was passionate about. His experiences with the worm factory, the button making experience, the Microsoft job; he made a point to learn relevant things from each of them and build up on them.

The process of having your own startup doesn't just suddenly begin one day, although the idea may hit you from out of the blue. The actual act of owning your own business is a long process which needs to be thought out and planned carefully. His detailed descriptions of the financial risks involved at every step gave a thorough picture of the tough situation that most startups must face. His ability to trust in what he believed came forth when he found out that his business plan might need to be changed in order to keep Zappos from disintegrating. The decision to hold their own inventory instead of just drop shipping the orders was probably the trickiest and best move that they made which saved Zappos at a critical stage.

 I particularly liked his thoughts on networking, building a relation with people with the intension of gaining trust and not just seeking immediate profit from it. The importance given to inculcating the right culture amongst the Zappos employees and hence creating the brand was remarkable too. Taking the effort to create a brand through your company's culture seems perfectly logical since that is the right place for it to begin. Talking more specifically about Zappos, as an online e-commerce company which basically thrives on customers' happiness, to focus on the customer service is an extremely important factor which was recognized by him and suitably taken care of. What I learn from that is, find out what is going to set you apart from your competitors and go the extra mile in that direction, and make it the focus or the core of all your activities.

It was intriguing to go through the entire process of building a successful company right from scratch through the perspective of an accomplished entrepreneur. I will definitely carry the information contained in this book a long way in terms of all his advice regarding entrepreneurship and all the planning that goes into it.