Book review: How to get rich by Felix Dennis
'How to get rich' by Felix Dennis
Many business books are written ultimately to earn additional income for the author. Not so Felix Dennis, he one of the richest men in the UK and his motivation for writing this book is simply to help those who wish to undertake the massive task in becoming rich. He is very qualified to do so, as his life is a real rags to riches story – he nearly lost it all too.
For those that don’t know, Felix Dennis is Chairman of Dennis Publishing. Titles include The Week, Auto Express, Computer Shopper, Blender, Mac User and Evo. Dennis Publishing is also the owner of Maxim, the world’s biggest selling men’s lifestyle magazine. The 2008 Sunday Times Rich List estimates that Felix Dennis is worth £750 million. He is also a best selling poet, and poetry is his favourite past time.
Dennis uses his poems and passages from those he admires to illustrate key points and chapters in the book. He is not being indulgent either, they do convey the sentiment very well and some are quite pogniant.
The book is essentially an autobiography about Dennis’s business career. Starting out in the late sixties with the controversial OZ magazine, then a well timed Bruce Lee biography in 1973, followed by Kung-Fu magazines then pioneering personal computer titles in the eighties. From here Dennis Publishing introduced other titles with varying degrees of success. The Bruce Lee book was his first major financial success and the circumstances around it are bizarre. Dennis has no interest in Kung-Fu for a start.
Dennis likes to explain his errors and failures more than his success, in the hope that the reader will take heed and avoid similar pitfalls in their journey, even if it’s on a smaller scale. He has come close to losing everything by succumbing to drink, drugs and other vices. Luckily he pulled himself out of the quagmire. Although he regrets the consequences to his health and the time he lost. He wishes he used the time to practice poetry instead.
Dennis’s business principles are usually backed up with a story from his past, which are always interesting and sometimes surprising. For example, few would know that Dennis and Pet Shop Boy’s singer Neil Tennant worked together on the launch of magazine Star Hits in the USA. Tennant left at the height of the magazine’s success to pursue the Pet Shop Boys. His parting shot to Dennis was that his band would be on the cover of the Star Hits within a year – they did it too. Tennant’s departure from the successful US magazine, demonstrated Dennis’s credo of never procrastinating on your ambitions or passing on better opportunities.
Overall the book is difficult to put down and deserves several readings. I like to re-visit chapters every now and then. While one may think being rich is the only way to be, there are many downsides as Dennis explains. While he owns many homes and collects art, the author values time as it’s greatest advantage, as it gives him freedom to do as he pleases – like writing poetry everyday and worthwhile books like this one.
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