Less Work, More Money Tells It Like It Is


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Less Work, More MoneyIf you’re a fan of biographical entrepreneurship stories, then you’ll really enjoy Less Work More Money: The Entrepreneurial Life Plan by Matt and Kristen Hawkinson (@moremoney) and Maxie McCoy.

This start-up business book tells the story of Matt and Kristen Hawkenson and their journey from corporate employees to successful entrepreneurs.  I received a review copy of the book a few weeks ago and have been reading through it during the weekends.

Have you been daydreaming about MORE?

Less Work, More Money is a business book targeted to the person who finds his life as an employee fundamentally unrewarding.  If this sounds like you, then you will feel like the authors are talking your language and telling your story.  The book starts with Matt looking back on his days at GEICO and watching the guy with the coffee kiosk outside his office building:

“He stood outside in the courtyard in his sandy flip flops for just a few hours every morning.  Handing cappuccinos and coffee to the men and women making one last stop before bustling into work….day in and day out I watched.   From behind the glass of the insurance company office window, I saw him pack up the cart and roll it away around 10 o’clock.  Then he headed to a day that was all his.”

This Is The Everyman’s Entrepreneurial Story

I think that what I enjoyed most about this book is the overall scrappiness and messiness of it all.  This isn’t some elegant story about the foundation of some huge chain or conglomerate or mega-brand.  It’s a story of a regular guy, setting a goal and then going about the messy, clumsy and obstacle riddled path to get there.  That’s what makes this book worth reading.

Hawkinson writes the way you or I would tell a story; sharing the day-to-day journey that moves you from his epiphany about owning his own business, to the story of how he met his wife, the death of his best friend and the entrepreneurial roller coaster that he still calls his life.

As you read the stories, you’ll see the familiar themes of perseverance, hard work, relationship building, and constant innovation.  The book isn’t meant to persuade or dissuade you – it’s meant to inform and educate you so that you can make a good decision about what’s waiting for you outside the corporate office window.

Stories, Lessons and Resources

You can probably read this book in a leisurely weekend.  It’s only about 200 pages and practically reads like a novel.  Each chapter starts with a slice of entrepreneurial life and then gives you the lessons that Hawkinson’s learned from that personal experience.  The final part of the chapters includes actual bootstrapping resources that they used and how they applied them to their business.

The Title Isn’t Exactly Right

While I have to admit the title is irresistible, I’m not sure that it’s all that accurate.  Especially after reading the stories and experiences that the authors shared.

Less Work, More Money might be a noble goal, but I wouldn’t say that the authors worked any less at building their business than they did at their corporate jobs.  In fact, like so many others – they invested their share of blood, sweat and tears.  The only difference is that the stakes were higher and the rewards more meaningful because they were working for themselves rather than someone else.

If The Hawkinson’s Can Do It, So Can You

The most inspirational aspect of Work Less, Make More are the authors themselves.  After reading so many books about “extraordinary entrepreneurs”, the Hawkinson’s show us that the only extraordinary that matters is how committed you are, how persistent you are and how resilient you are.

You don’t need to be the next Steve Jobs to enjoy the fruits of owning your own business.

This book is ideal for anyone who feels like another cog in the wheel of the corporate machine and is looking for inspiration to go off on his own.

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10 Comments ▼

Ivana Taylor Ivana Taylor is the Book Editor for Small Business Trends. She is responsible for directing the site’s book review program and manages the team of professional book reviewers. She also spearheads the annual Small Business Book Awards. Ivana publishes DIYMarketers, where she shares daily do-it-yourself marketing tips, and is co-author of "Excel for Marketing Managers."

10 Reactions
  1. Nice article about LESS WORK, MORE MONEY!. It’s good the aspects of commitment and persistence came out clearly. Entrepreneurship revolves around these anyway because even if you identify a good business opportunity, without commitment and persistence you probably won’t make good use of that opportunity. Thanks

  2. Haven’t read it but it’s definitely got a great title. It should sell quite a few copies on the title alone. Important lesson!

  3. Ivana: Is this an example of the “Linchpin” revolution started by Seth Godin?

    • Hi Martin – WOW – I’m not sure. I’d love to hear the connections that YOU see between Linchpin and Work Less. I think it would make for an interesting discusion here on the site — so get it started!

  4. Ivana: According to Mike Myatt, contributor at Forbes magazine, if you apply Seth Godin’s advice to become a linchpin, you could be out of work. You will definitively “work less,” if you are unemployed! 😉 But you could then start your new career as a self-employed! 🙂

    Seth Godin’s Linchpin Theory: Sound Advice or Career Suicide?
    http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2011/11/29/seth-godins-linchpin-theory-sound-advice-or-career-suicide/

    Talking about employment, I am working on becoming an “unemployed millionaire,” as laid out in Matt Morris book (The Unemployed Millionaire: Escape the Rat Race, Fire Your Boss and Live Life on YOUR Terms!).

    • You will have to keep an eye out for my next book review — I think you will find it VERY helpful in this search. That’s all I’ll say for now. Hope the anticipation is building 🙂

      As for the whole “Work Less” theme. I’m not sure I subscribe to this notion. I’ve not known too many successful entrepreneurs who got that way by “working less”. That’s not to say that they didn’t work their way INTO working less. I think the distinction is that they were doing work they were good at and work they loved. They certainly spent a good amount of time getting good and developing a company, product or service that was excellent.

      This is where I break with a lot of 4-hour-work-week fans. I believe you can create a 4 hour work week – but even Tim Ferris worked is ass off getting there.

      Now that should get some folks going!

      • Ivana: You know how to keep the conversation going and the debate starting! 😉

        You are right that Tim Ferris et al lifestyle “architects” have “worked their ass off,” before they could have a more “relaxing” time schedule.

        I will create my own lifestyle by working a lot at the moment, to gradually have my ideal way of worklife. I am on the right track and my long-run goal is to become a digital nomad and renaissance man.

        Have you Jim Kukral’s book, Attention? He has an interesting section on residual income.

  5. Hi Martin – I’ve read Kukral’ s book – I may have even reviewed it 🙂 I thought it was incredible and he says something in there that is so true — not many of us have the guts to really put ourselves out there to stand out. I think that I would definitely fall into that place.

    • It was a bit of a leading question by me. You have probably covered the most business books that I have read! 😉 The “work less – earn more” concept could be working in the long run if you have a steady residual income. In order to get that, you probably have to work plenty of hours before you could harvest the fruits of your labor. But it could definitively be worth it… 🙂

      I will use Jim Kukral’s “attention” grabbing tips in order to follow through with the rest of the A.I.D.A rule.

  6. Haven’t read it but it’s definitely got attention grabbing title. I agree with Padgettsh that the book can sell on its title alone. As the entire title give me an impressive of more effective and efficient ways of doing things so as to get such an outstanding result. That’s perhaps makes this book worth reading.

    Great article. Thanks for sharing.