Book Review - RAIN: What a Paperboy Learned About Business

RAIN: What a Paperboy Learned About Business by Jeffrey J. Fox

An important parameter of a good parable based book is that it instantly strikes a chord with the readers and establishes a deep connect with them. This book definitely scores very well on this parameter and is written exceptionally well. The readers will easily be able to relate to the parable and its underlying message(s) that this book aims to deliver.

The book is about a teenage paperboy and his struggle to become a "man" in terms of learning lessons of business. It's like a journey of a boy and his travails to learn the fundamental lessons of life. What starts as a vocation to earn some pocket money leads to Rain (the protagonist) learning a good deal about business, entrepreneurship, customer service and personal growth. The book captures the story of this paperboy in the form of various adventures that he gets into and the learning that he derives from each of those adventures.    

The business lessons are wonderfully captured in the form of "Rainmaking principles" and these principles apply very well to various situations and circumstances in our life. The book does draw parallel of these principles in real-life through various examples. The characters and the metaphors mentioned in the book are very well crafted and definitely leave an indelible impression on the readers. The way the author, Jeffrey J. Fox, renders an understanding and explanation of key business concepts like Money, Customers, Referrals, Entrepreneurship, Competition, Marketing, Negotiation, Innovation and Valuation is incredible. My favourite is Chapter 24 on Valuation.

Another impressive component of the book are the "rainmaking principles" and the exercises at the end of the parable. A parable or a story is only as good as its application. This book definitely boasts of well thought of activities that would help the reader become a rainmaker in life.   

It's the simplicity of the book in explaining the complex subjects/ topics so subtly that makes this book a must read. In a nutshell, this book is about the evolution of an ordinary teenager into a rainmaker. 

Rain comes out as a real superhero in this book !

N.B : Rainmaker is any person in an organisation who is a key differentiator by virtue of the business, money and clients the person generates. A rainmaker is like a superstar.