Synopses & Reviews
You’re not alone if the thought of running your own business has crossed your mind. Even if your vision of a small business differs from your neighbor’s, you probably dream of being your own boss and of providing a needed service or creating a cool new product.
But your very first small-business decision may be to admit that you’re not ready for this career – at least not yet. If you’re straddling the fence, Small Business For Dummies will uncover whether this career works for you. You’ll also gain insight into getting your personal finances in order before exposing yourself to the risk of a new business, and discover how to draw a roadmap to reach your career destination. This easy-to-understand guide is also for those who want to
- Write a gang-buster business plan
- Create the right legal framework for your business
- Locate financing that suits your needs
- Develop and market your product
- Hire the right employees for the right jobs
- Build your business
You’ll also gain understanding of the tactical side of running a small business, from pricing, budgeting, business expansion, and complying with government regulations to operational issues including:
- Managing your time
- Collecting accounts receivable
- Understanding your financial statements
- Taking good care of your customers
- Locating new financing or revising existing financing
You don’t need to be a genius to run a successful small business, but you do need some help. And that’s exactly what this book is, a guide into the stimulating world of small business ownership and management.
Synopsis
"No one should try to start a business without this book."
Hattie Bryant, creator of the PBS series Small Business 2000
Get savvy tips to help you start and grow your business
"Eric Tyson continues his never-ending quest to help people gain economic self-sufficiency and freedom."
Jim Collins, coauthor of Built to Last and author of Good to Great
Take control of your future and make the leap from employee to entrepreneur with this enterprising guide. From drafting a business plan to managing costs, youll profit from expert advice and real-world examples that cover every aspect of building your own business.
The Dummies Way
- Explanations in plain English
- "Get in, get out" information
- Icons and other navigational aids
- Tear-out cheat sheet
- Top ten lists
- A dash of humor and fun
Synopsis
" No one should try to start a business without this book."
Hattie Bryant, creator of the PBS series Small Business 2000
Get savvy tips to help you start and grow your business
" Eric Tyson continues his never-ending quest to help people gain economic self-sufficiency and freedom."
Jim Collins, coauthor of Built to Last and author of Good to Great
Take control of your future and make the leap from employee to entrepreneur with this enterprising guide. From drafting a business plan to managing costs, you ll profit from expert advice and real-world examples that cover every aspect of building your own business.
The Dummies Way
- Explanations in plain English
- " Get in, get out" information
- Icons and other navigational aids
- Tear-out cheat sheet
- Top ten lists
- A dash of humor and fun
Synopsis
Use the latest technology to improve performanceThe fun and easy way to be your own boss and run a successful business
Want to start a small business — or energize the one you already have? This practical, no-nonsense guide gives you expert advice on everything from generating ideas and locating financing to hiring the right people, balancing the books, and planning for growth. You'll ramp up your management skills, develop a marketing strategy, keep your customers loyal, and more!
Discover how to:
Obtain financing
Make sense of financial statements
Navigate legal and tax issues
Set up a home-based business
Buy an existing business
Synopsis
Want to start the small business of your dreams? Want to breathe new life into the one you already have?
Small Business For Dummies, 3rd Editionprovides authoritative guidance on every aspect of starting and growing your business, from financing and budgeting to marketing, management and beyond.
This completely practical, no-nonsense guide gives you expert advice on everything from generating ideas and locating start-up money to hiring the right people, balancing the books, and planning for growth. You’ll get plenty of help in ramping up your management skills, developing a marketing strategy, keeping your customers loyal, and much more. You’ll also find out to use the latest technology to improve your business’s performance at every level. Discover how to:
- Make sure that small-business ownership is for you
- Find your niche and time your start-up
- Turn your ideas into plans
- Determine your start-up costs
- Obtain financing with the best possible terms
- Decide whether or not to incorporate
- Make sense of financial statements
- Navigate legal and tax issues
- Buy an existing business
- Set up a home-based business
- Publicize your business and market your wares
- Keep your customers coming back for more
- Track cash flow, costs and profits
- Keep your business in business and growing
You have the energy, drive, passion, and smarts to make your small business a huge success. Small Business For Dummies, 3rd Edition,provides the rest.
About the Author
Eric Tyson, MBA:A personal financial writer, lecturer, and former financial counselor, for the past two-plus decades Eric has been his own boss. He works with and teaches people from a myriad of income levels and backgrounds, so he knows the small business ownership concerns and questions of real folks just like you.
After toiling away for too many years as a management consultant to behemoth financial-service firms, Eric decided to take his knowledge of the industry and commit himself to making personal financial management accessible to everyone. Despite being handicapped by a joint BS in Economics and Biology from Yale and an MBA from Stanford, Eric remains a master at “keeping it simple.”
An accomplished freelance personal-finance writer, Eric is the author or coauthor of numerous other For Dummiesnational bestsellers on personal finance, taxes, investing, and home buying, and is a syndicated columnist. His Personal Finance For Dummieswon the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best Business Book.
Eric’s work has been critically acclaimed in hundreds of publications and programs, including Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Bottom Line Personal,as well as NBC’s Todayshow, ABC, CNBC, PBS’s Nightly Business Report,CNN, FOX-TV, CBS national radio, Bloomberg Business Radio, and Business Radio Network.
Jim Schell:Contrary to what some people may think, Jim has not always been a grizzled veteran of the small-business wars. Raised in Des Moines, Iowa, and earning a BA in Economics at the University of Colorado, Jim served in the U.S. Air Force in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Jim’s entrepreneurial genes eventually surfaced when he and three Minneapolis friends started The Kings Court, at the time the nation’s first racquetball club. Two years later, Jim bought General Sports, Inc. After another two years, he started National Screenprint, and, finally, he partnered with an ex-employee in Fitness and Weight Training Corp. Each of the start-ups was bootstrapped, and each was privately held. For several years, Jim involved himself in the management of all four businesses at the same time. His third business, National Screenprint, ultimately grew to $25 million in sales and 200 employees.
Relocating to San Diego, Jim began a long-simmering writing career, authoring four books (The Brass Tacks Entrepreneur, Small Business Management Guide, The Small Business Answer Book,and Understanding Your Financial Statements) and numerous columns for business and trade magazines.
Table of Contents
Introduction.
Part I: Becoming an Entrepreneur.
Chapter 1: Is Small Business for You?
Chapter 2: Laying Your Personal Financial Foundation.
Chapter 3: Finding Your Niche and Timing Your Start-Up.
Chapter 4: Turning Your Ideas into Plans.
Chapter 5: Financing, Ownership, and Organizational Options.
Part II: Buying an Existing Business.
Chapter 6: Exploring Buying a Small Business.
Chapter 7: Evaluating and Negotiating to Buy.
Part III: Running a Successful Small Business.
Chapter 8: Owners Wear Many Hats.
Chapter 9: Marketing 101: Product, Promotion, Sales, Distribution, and Pricing.
Chapter 10: Keeping Your Customers Loyal.
Chapter 11: Tracking Cash Flow, Costs, and Profits.
Chapter 12: Learning from Others' Experiences.
Part IV: Keeping Your Business in Business.
Chapter 13: Finding and Keeping Superstar Employees.
Chapter 14: Providing Employee Benefits.
Chapter 15: The Long Arm of the Law: Regulatory and Legal Issues.
Chapter 16: Mastering Small-Business Taxes.
Chapter 17: Special Considerations for Growing Businesses.
Part V: The Part of Tens.
Chapter 18: Ten Tips for Home-Based Businesses.
Chapter 19: Ten Ways Computers Can Aid Your Small Business.
Chapter 20: Ten Tips for Managing Your Growing Business.
Index.