Ever dreamed of starting your own business but didn’t know where to begin? In Million Dollar Weekend, Noah Kagan breaks down how to launch a business with simple, actionable steps. As an inspired entrepreneur, I learned some valuable lessons from this book that I’d like to share with you.

Here are my 4 takeaways from the book that can help someone start a business: 

• Do lots of experiments
• Be comfortable asking and getting rejected
• Selling is not a crime
• To have a successful business, you need to sell something others want

Experiment, Experiment, Experiment

The author emphasizes that when people want to start a business, they tend to over-research. They read a lot of books, watch YouTube videos, and in the end, still haven't started anything. If they had started small by experimenting, they would have made more progress. This message hit me hard because I realized I had been doing the same thing—everything except taking action. The key to starting a business is to begin experimenting.

Start small and often

Experimentation means trying out your ideas quickly and efficiently to see if they work. The author suggests experimenting frequently and on a small scale. When you fail (which happens often), you’ll be glad the experiment was small and inexpensive—it saves both time and money. For example, if you want to sell T-shirts, you wouldn’t order 10,000 of them right away. Instead, you might start by ordering just 5 to see if people are interested. If they sell well, you can gradually increase your inventory. Many people invest too much too soon in a business idea that ultimately doesn’t work. By the time they realize this, they’re already in too deep with no way back. Small experiments, on the other hand, save you time and allow you to make adjustments as needed.

Experimenting Gives You Quick Feedback

Experiments provide immediate feedback on whether your idea has potential. For example, if you want to start a dog-sitting business, begin by asking family and friends if they would let you watch their pets and pay you for it. If enough people love the idea and are willing to pay, you’ve got an indication that it might work. If no one shows interest, you already know that the idea may not be worth pursuing. Experiments prevent you from wasting time and money on something that won’t work. Once you realize something isn’t working, you can quit and move on to a new experiment.

Experimenting Helps You Find What Works Best

Experimentation helps you discover what works best for you. Entrepreneurs often don’t know exactly what they’re doing at first or how things will turn out. Through experimenting, you find new directions and possibilities. Many successful businesses started with one idea and evolved into something different because of the experiments conducted along the way. Experimentation clarifies your vision and helps refine your dream into something that can actually work.

Selling Is Not Stealing

The second valuable lesson I learned from the book is that selling is not a crime. Are there crooks out there trying to scam people? Definitely. But there are also many good and honest sellers. A lot of people feel uneasy about selling because they think asking for money is somehow wrong. But selling is not a crime. As Zig Ziglar once said, “If you have a product or service that will truly change someone's life for the better, then it’s your duty to sell it to them.”

In fact, if you have something valuable and don’t offer it to others, you’re doing them a disservice. Imagine if the people who developed the COVID-19 vaccine hadn’t made it available to the public. That would have been a crime. Their product was a service to the community, and by selling it, they helped people all over the world. We need to see business in the same way. Selling is not a crime; it’s actually a way to help others by providing them with something valuable.

Be Comfortable with Asking and Rejection

I’ve always been uncomfortable with asking for things. As an introvert, I often feel like I’m bothering people when I ask for help or feedback. But the book taught me that if I want to be an entrepreneur, I need to get out of my comfort zone and build the muscle of asking. Successful entrepreneurs have to become experts in both asking and handling rejection.

There are countless moments in the life of an entrepreneur when you'll need to exercise the skill of asking. Whether it’s asking for feedback, a favor, or for people to try your product, asking is everywhere in the entrepreneurial journey, and we need to become comfortable with it.

Many of us are afraid of rejection, but instead, we should wear it as a badge of honor. Rejection means you tried, you asked, and that’s better than doing nothing at all. Even when you’re rejected, there’s an opportunity to learn and improve. For example, if you ask someone to try your product and they say no, you can dig deeper to understand why. Their feedback can help you refine your product or service to make it more appealing next time.

To Create a Business Is to Provide a Service People Will Pay For

The most important lesson from the book is the demystification of business. People often make business sound complicated, but the author, Noah, breaks it down in simple terms that anyone can understand. If you want to have a business, you need to provide a service or product that people need and are willing to pay for. That's it—simple, right? I love the book because it simplifies what a business truly is.

If I want to start a business, I need to think of a service or product that meets people's needs.

How to Come Up with a Service or Product for a Business?

The author offers many ways to generate business ideas, but the one that resonated with me the most is solving problems. Solve other people's problems or even your own. From reading the book, it’s clear that anyone good at solving problems can easily create a business. Countless things frustrate or annoy people, and if you can solve these problems, people will pay you for it.

For example, I recently registered for a soccer league that requires players to wear indoor soccer cleats. When I went online to find cleats in my size, I couldn’t find any. Why? Because they don’t make indoor soccer cleats in size 16, and I wear size 16 shoes. I searched everywhere on the internet and called every soccer store nearby and found nothing. I was frustrated and willing to pay a good amount of money to anyone who could sell me cleats in my size. I even considered starting a business to solve that problem. 

Many businesses are created to solve problems people face. If you look around, you’ll likely come up with many business ideas simply by identifying and addressing common issues.

People Must Be Willing (and Able) to Pay You for Solving the Problem

Now that you have a great idea and a solution to a problem, you need to ensure that people are willing to pay for it. The best way to find this out is to ask people if they would pay for the solution to the problem. If they say yes, you can proceed. If they say no, you don’t have a business. The larger the group of people willing to pay for your solution, the bigger the potential of your business.

When brainstorming business ideas, think of solving problems that affect a broad niche. Remember, no matter how much you love the idea, if no one is willing to pay for it, you don’t have a business. Without customers, your business will fail.

Get Paid for Providing the Solution to the Problem

The final step in creating a business is to get paid. Once you know people are willing to pay for your service or product, you need a way to collect payment. This could be through PayPal, credit cards, or checks. If you don’t have a system in place for accepting payment, your customers won’t be able to pay you, and your business won’t survive.

In conclusion, Million Dollar Weekend was a fantastic read. As someone who isn’t yet an entrepreneur, the author made me believe that starting a business is an achievable goal. It’s not rocket science—start experimenting, don’t be afraid to ask, and find people who are willing to pay for the solution you provide. As I continue learning how to build a business, this book will be pivotal in helping me take the next step.

Here’s a link to purchase the book. It was incredibly helpful for me, and I hope you find it just as valuable. Thanks!

Million Dollar Weekend on Amazon