Bill Rancic - Book Review

I. Book Report

a. Thesis

In order to succeed in life and in business, you need to be able to enjoy what it is that you do, no matter what it is.

b. Outline

• The Spirit of Enterprise:

Getting started in the real world

Setting a standard for becoming successful

• Getting Started

Entrepreneur at an early age

Selling cars in high school and college

• The Price is Right

Summer job start up in college

• Business as Usual

Starting up Cigars Around the World

• Business as Unusual

Changing the business plan of Cigars around the World

Selling of Cigars Around the World

Getting started in real estate

• Playing the Game

Venturing into The Apprentice

c. Summary

Bill Rancic, the first winner of the hit reality show The Apprentice in 2004, wrote his book You’re Hired: How to Succeed in Business and Life in the months shortly following his winning an apprenticeship from Donald Trump. In the book, he details many aspects of his life growing up, including the business ventures that he felt were key in his being able to outshine over 250,000 other applicants for the show, and his experiences in his short time with the Trump Organization. Bill also describes in detail many of the qualities he sees about himself in developing what he believes would be a successful life for himself, and always proving that nothing is insurmountable as long as you are dedicated to what you do.

To start the book, Bill tells us about the first job he acquired out of college with a commodity metals company as an outside salesman. He knew nothing about the business he had been hired into, but the pay was decent for a recent college graduate, and he knew he could learn the tricks of the trade in know time and be able to become a successful salesman for this company. After graduating college, Bill set a standard for himself that he would not settle for any job paying less than $50,000 per year, and even though he knew his goals were set high, maybe even to the point of unattainable, he felt he would be able to reasonably be able to achieve this standard he set for himself despite many of his friends recently taking mediocre $20,000 a year jobs that were very demanding. Though his first job didn’t guarantee the $50,000 a year he was looking for, he felt that he would be able to gain as much through commissions in addition to his yearly salary. He wasn’t happy there though, as one day he watched one of the senior salesman with the company get fired simply because the company management could not justify paying this senior member so much money when they could hire two or three younger salesmen for a lesser expense to the company. He knew his job was not secure at this point, no matter how well he was able to perform. Before long, Bill made the decision that he didn’t want to work for someone else, as he couldn’t find the joy in it. There was no leadership involved in his current position, and he wanted to be able to motivate people through his leadership. He wanted to be successful, and in reading, it can be hinted at that he wanted to make a good living off of becoming successful. He knew after seeing one of his own colleagues get fired that there was no such thing as job security, and he did not want to work for anyone but himself.

In the next few chapters of the book, Bill begins to explain how he started off as a young entrepreneur while still in grade school, and continues on with his ventures through high school and college. One of the first entrepreneurial moments he could recall occurred during a trip to his grandmother’s house. With nothing to do, Bill’s grandmother decided to teach him how to make pancakes, and he immediately caught on, and liked it so much that he suggested to his grandmother that she invite over her friends for pancakes the following day. After cooking for her friends, while Bill was cleaning the table, he discovered under each of the plates a five dollar bill which had been left by each of his grandmother’s friends. Naturally, like any young entrepreneur, Bill was quick to make sure he could go back and spend more time with his grandmother, and in the process, he made over $100 doing so until