Complete Idiot's Guide To Starting Your Own Business ... (ISBN 1567615295)

Amazon.com Review:
The revised second edition of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting Your Own Business, by author and entrepreneur Ed Paulson and marketing consultant Marcia Layton, is an extensive handbook of small-business basics for those who already have the desire and drive mandatory for launching an individual commercial enterprise--but it does not include all of the specific day-to-day skills that significantly increase its chances for survival. The book begins with plainspoken advice on matters such as choosing a business, setting goals, and initiating the plan that makes it all happen. This is followed by material on sales and marketing and developing business structures, which is bolstered at appropriate intervals with useful definitions, additional resources, and warnings about potential pitfalls. The next two sections on finances and growth, however, may ultimately prove most valuable. The best information here includes sections about evaluating competition and defending against potential incursions; why business bankers reject loan applications and how to make them your allies; and why production plans are critical. This book also looks at the "secrets of success," suggesting ways to cope with the ups and downs that any entrepreneur will inevitably encounter. --Howard Rothman

Introducing Business to New Entrepreneurs:
When most entrepreneurs first get the yen to start a business, they realize that there must be a lot that they don't know. The legal, accounting and tax choices often seem particularly daunting . . . and there's often no money to retain an attorney. Not knowing where to turn, many take local adult education classes (like the kind I teach). In those classes, these strivers often find out that what they didn't know that they didn't know is even more dangerous than what that they do know that they don't know. The fourth edition of Starting Your Own Business is a good resource for such new entrepreneurs. You will learn many of the fundamentals of picking a business to start, preparing a business plan, selecting a legal structure, organizing for success and operating the business once you start it. Based on my experiences with new entrepreneurs, this book will answer about 80% of the questions that they usually have . . . and about 60% of the questions they should be asking. One of the book's strengths is the CD-ROM that has sample forms and form letters for handling routine matters. While these won't substitute for having an attorney (I am one, so I know), they will allow you to work with an attorney in more effective and less expensive ways. The areas where the book is weakest are as follows: 1. Doesn't spell out how the choice of business type affects your chances of success and the difficulty of raising money. 2. Doesn't do enough about the pros and cons of being a franchisee and how to pursue that opportunity. 3. Doesn't teach you how to create an advantaged business model and improve upon it. 4. Doesn't provide enough perspective on how to establish a management team. One of the things I did like about the book is that it considers manufacturing businesses as well as service and professional service companies. Most resources about starting up businesses ignore the opportunity of manufacturing. This book won't make or break your business, but it will speed your process of getting ready to launch if you don't have any background in this area.

Useful and easy to understand:
I am using this book to help my friend's painting business get organized and focused. Bids and jobs take up much of his time, so this is a great tool to understand some of the "bigger" picture without having to take a bunch of business classes. The CD also has useful general forms.

How To Get Started in 24 Easy Chapters:
I'm about halfway through this book and it's exactly what I was looking for. Over the years I've considered going out on my own but had no idea how to start. I needed an introductory guide to the setting up and running of a small business from the legal, financial & business side and that's exactly what this book does. It's a great overview of what any entrepreneur will face when they take the plunge. On top of that, it's not a bad read, for a non-fiction book.

Small Business Classic:
Starting Your Own Business has been a top seller for many years and for good reason: it's the classic handbook for business owners. For the 4th edition, this book has been totally updated. If you have the 3rd edition, it is worth buying the new one just for the CD. An indispensable guide to those thinking about buying a business. Buy this book before you begin the process -- it is a must-have volume. If you are in business, keep this volume handy -- it addresses the most important challenges facing business owners today. Highest Recommendation.

Idiot's Guide to Starting a Lemonade Stand.:
This book is more for a high school report then someone who is starting a business. Anyone starting a business knows that you are burning the candle at both ends trying to put it all together. When you start a business you make a few mistakes, right? Well mine was buying this book. Please don't make the same mistake. The book was remedial and I was looking for something with more substance. Great for someone looking to start their own lemonade stand!!!!!