THE SOLOPRENEUR'S MONEY MANIFESTO

Nelson’s debut nonfiction work aims to help readers avoid the mistakes the author made as a solo entrepreneur.

By way of introduction, the author summarizes his career in insurance and financial services and notes how he eventually realized that he ought to focus on helping solopreneurs like himself. This book is an extension of what he currently does as a financial advisor. He promises a “detailed guide for solopreneurs who want to define their vision of life success and manage their finances toward achieving it,” and he uses his own experience as the primary case study. First, he encourages solopreneurs to reflect on the big picture and how the work they do should support their life goals. He then introduces the “Life Wheel” as a tool to help assess and evaluate one’s achievements. He stresses the need to plan with purpose; in this phase, he says, solopreneurs should be realistic regarding the state of their cash flow, including purchases, debts, savings, retirement, and other monetary matters. He details different plans for building retirement wealth, making decisions about large expenses, such as education and investment, and how to structure one’s taxes. In the third part, “Living Your Dream,” Nelson gives a case study of a fictional client who has common traits of his own real clients and runs through the advice he’d give them. There is a clear and straightforward structure to this business self-help book, and its ideas have a logical progression, as when he suggests that one break large goals down into smaller ones and demonstrates how one must make sacrifices to find success. The author is highly enthusiastic about his strategies and advice, which may help to build confidence in readers who aim to follow his example after reading this book. That said, most of the work is based only on the author’s own opinions and anecdotes, and the text includes little research from outside, peer-reviewed sources.

An energetic business advice book that draws heavily from the author’s experience.