Jen Groover’s What If ? and Why Not? is an inspirational business book, mostly targeting wannabe entrepreneurs, but worth a read by anyone in business for themselves.

The basic mantra of the book, which is repeated over and over that fear of regret is much worse than fear of failure, or basically, tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.

Jen Groover is the inventor of the Butler Bag, which apparently is all the schizzle, though being both male and Canadian, I hadn’t heard of this revolution in women’s handbags.

Surprisingly, while the book does speak to her own experience, it never becomes “look at me, look at my product”, which is great. Instead, it focuses on the reader, and their hopes and fears and doubts, running everything through the mill of “what if?” why not?

The two questions are meant to counteract the typical fear of failure that frustrates so many of us. “Take the typical questions of doubt” says Jen (and I’m paraphrasing here), “and turn them around.” Instead of asking “What if I fail?” she says, ask “what if I succeed?” Or, instead of “why should I try this when someone might copy me”, ask “why shouldn’t I do this, and get ahead of the competition?”

The questions are designed to both force us out of our comfort zones and to make those scary areas less scary and less uncomfortable. Don’t be unaware of the risks, but be willing to take them.

Each chapter features a key idea, and then a list of questions to help get readers thinking in a different direction: What if I succeed? What if my concept is actually really good? What if marketing isn’t as hard as it looks? The whole thing sometimes comes perilously close to ra-ra cheerleading, but never quite crosses the line, being upbeat, encouraging and optimistic without being saccharine or overbearingly cheerful.

While the book is targeted at people just starting out, it’s a good read for photographers considering what they’re doing in their business. “Should I offer this?” or “Should I try this?”  How can you tell which ideas will succeed and which ones will fail? Is every idea a winner? No. Ultimately, it is only by trying and either failing or succeeding. The book gives us a framework to put these ideas into place without being paralyzed by self-doubt and questions, and that’s always a good thing.

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