Review of When Business Is Love

[Cristina Corui Mihailescu]

[Following is a volunteer review of "When Business Is Love" by Jan Ryde.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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I would have never thought that a book about business could be delightful, but When Business Is Love: The Spirit of Hästens— at Work, at Play, and Everywhere in Your Life by Jan Ryde is outstanding. The author has more than three decades of experience in the same company, the Swedish firm Hästens, located in Köping. He belongs to the fifth generation of owners of this company, which creates the finest beds in the world and sells them in more than 50 states, the customers being the Hollywood VIPs and royal families. Its most famous product, a bed named Grand Vividus, is handcrafted and luxurious, being sold for almost a million dollars.

The 25 chapters are accompanied by a note to the reader where the author explains how he started thinking of this book when he had completed his doctorate and began working in the 171-year-old, family-owned business that was struggling. Three decades later, the annual sales of the company reached 100 million U.S. dollars and the CEO, Jan Ryde, wanted to share his knowledge about how people can realize their true potential by living a life filled with love, joy, peace, and abundance.

The book is an unforgettable journey from founding the company in 1852 as a one-man saddlery to one of the world’s most famous brands. The motivation for writing it is to serve people and make their lives better. The writer is convinced that when people work with honesty, integrity, humility, gratitude, forgiveness, and a spirit of encouragement, everyone prospers. How people are at work affects their overall life. In accordance with the law of attraction, because love is a powerful energy that flows through us, when we align our actions with this energy, we attract more love and abundance into our lives.

I learned a lot from this book, which is not only about business but also about many other domains. For instance, in one of the chapters, the readers are urged to think of Jesus or Buddha running a company. ”They would likely run a company without judging, blaming, or comparing. Instead, they would establish their companies on pure, unconditional love”. We learn about the Hawaiian ho’oponopono, which means returning to a state of balance, through love and forgiveness of ourselves and others. We learn about proper self-love which makes us more authentic. In the Hästens formula, this means “the Triple A”: attention, affection, and acknowledgement.

There is nothing to dislike about this book. On the contrary, there are several reasons to love this book, such as the author’s vast knowledge in various domains, or the chapters dedicated to the way this company employs people: the resumes are read with intuition so as to see if the applicant is growing. The interview then looks for other values in the applicant such as authenticity, congruence, vulnerability, charisma, and ambition.

The book is recommended not only to people interested in business but to everyone who is open-minded and wants to broaden their horizons. I recommend this book to people of all ages and religions because it is written with love for all. It was professionally edited, there is no error whatsoever, so I can gladly rate it five out of five stars. It is a charming and helpful book.

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When Business Is Love
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Juma Florence]

I read this novel, and my highlight was Chapter Two, which delves into Jan Ryde's life story. He candidly shares his childhood experiences, the adversities he faced, and the profound shift in his mindset that enabled him to overcome the challenges.