In America’s small business landscape, the fail-success rate leans entirely too far in favor of failure. Past experiences provided the author with invaluable insight into many of the reasons. Adam Starks’ Vultured is part autobiography, part self-help book highlighting the dark side of entrepreneurship by identifying pitfalls in the decision-making process of starting and running a small business. By serving as a cautionary tale, the book warns against all such mistakes one can make that may result in landing on the failing side of a small business venture.
Vultured chronicles Starks’ journey as he planned and operated his dream restaurant and performing arts venue, Wanderlust, and then tried to fend off one vulture after another as they attempted to eat his venture alive. The book serves as an exposé of these vultures living under the guise of contractors, manufacturers, lenders, licensers, distributors, and other unexpected partners with ulterior motives.
To maximize profitability in the business-to-business (B2B) sector, any contractor or supporting business partners may be trying to scavenge your cash flow with unnecessary or over-priced products and services, thus leaving us “vultured.” At times, small business owners experience the consequences of such vulturistic practices, which too often end in the death of a small business venture. Vultured seeks to help all novice business owners by providing first-hand account knowledge of business in the trenches to fend off those coming from the lair to unwittingly disrupt your potential success and avoid the same fate as Adam’s dream turned nightmare.
Adam Starks, Ph.D. is a product of the foster care system that defied the typical outcome. Against the odds, he broke the cycle and now celebrates life with his wonderful wife and three children. Currently, Dr. Adam Starks is a child advocate and volunteer envisioning a better today for our society's most vulnerable youth. His purpose includes advocating for and empowering at-risk youth to encourage our society to realize each student's potential.
His unique perspective and life experiences allow his catalytic leadership style to thrive in the most challenging situations. Influenced and inspired by leaders past and present, he views the world through the lens of self-empowerment to enhance optimal learning opportunities. His level of self-awareness opens him up to listening effectively and integrating the best ideas from the entire problem-solving spectrum. It’s going to take ideas from all walks of life to address this crisis in education, and Dr. Starks is willing to do whatever it takes to help as many children as possible succeed in this uncertain world.
Reading Vultured was an enlightening experience not just because of the lessons shared by author Adam Starks but also because of his encouragement to readers about entrepreneurship. The book is part memoir and part business development book. It tells the story of Adam Starks, a business owner in the service industry who has seen it all.
The author journals his experiences, engaging the reader in every topic that touches on the significant challenge or wins he encountered. This book is an excellent read if you are passionate about starting a small business and you are looking for pointers from someone with extensive experience. The author uses a unique phrasing as he chronicles his business journey, family, dealing with finances, and friendships.
The book is divided into three sections, with each section covering various related topics. Adam Stark has written a captivating book that includes his personal story about running his business, personal life, lessons learned, the ups and downs of the service industry, and how to navigate the waters of entrepreneurship. The author is open and applies his frankness throughout the book.
The author is straightforward and rarely uses complex jargon in his narration. As a result, the text in the book flows naturally, and the reader can grasp the subject matter with ease. Some of the topics that I found invaluable touched on the real vultures in business and their greed, contractors, food distributors, COVID19, trademarking, and music licensing. When discussing a concept, like the expenses incurred when running a business, the author lists the key points and dissects the subject matter in detail.
The author also goes into specifics when discussing issues, not generalizing topics. Topics related to entrepreneurship include marketing, labor, sourcing for more capital, legal, dedication, and consistency when running small and medium-sized enterprises. One of the critical lessons I learned in the book is that the government is involved in small businesses indirectly. Good policies created by lawmakers will make your business flourish. This book is about entrepreneurship, but the author also educates the reader on politics’ role in running a business.
Vultured is an eye-opening self-help book for entrepreneurs that is filled with actionable advice and tips from someone that has been there. The author shares his lessons learned from running a small business with readers in hopes they can avoid the mistakes he made.
The book aims for new entrepreneurs however it can be useful for any stage of entrepreneurship journey. I like the real life examples from business situations and creative ideas flow. There are nice tips to implement hangout own business as well. If you let the info flow through the lense of your business situation there can be useful tips and creative approaches to address it.