To Be a Free Range Human requires leaving the 9 to 5 corporate work culture behind for a better work-life balance.
The book suggests that everyone has a bit of entrepreneur in them just waiting to be discovered. By using exercises, it tries to help the reader find their inherent skills that can be transferred to a gig lifecycle. Once the idea is found, the book explains how to test the merits of your ideas in as short as one week. Does it pay enough to support you and your family? The book is full of myth-busting of old ideas that may be stopping you from starting out on your own. For example, your idea doesn’t have to be original. Not everyone can invent an iPhone but plenty of companies including Android, Google and Amazon can copy that formula and reach a different audience. There are also many empowering stories describing how real people became free range humans.
Anyone needing motivation to quit that corporate job that is slowly killed them from the inside out will enjoy this book. That said I’m not sure how many practical skills for beginning a company are listed here. It is all well and good to say that you don’t need a business plan, an MBA, or to research to start your own business. That may be true for many readers of the book. However, for most readers, they will need to do some research. If they need a loan to begin their own company, they will also need a business plan. I think it would have been better if the author was a little more honest in her assessment of how easy it is to start a business when you are not a person with a million bucks (or even $10,000) in the bank. But again, the stories within this book will motivate you to work towards your dream. However, expect to read several other books in addition to this one. I wish the author had included a “For Further Reading” list at the end of Be a Free Range Human. Because she didn’t, I can’t give this book more than 3 stars.
Thanks to Kogan Page Ltd. and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.