Three weeks? Can you really start a business in three weeks? Yes, you can. Tim Berry, business planning expert and principal author of Business Plan Pro, the country’s bestselling business plan software, and Sabrina Parsons, co-founder of Palo Alto Software UK, unveil a new, more innovative business landscape and show you how to streamline your startup using the fastest resource in the world—the internet. Eliminate the exhausting, time-consuming legwork involved in traditional startup plans, and instead fast track your business using a wealth of online tools and services. Berry and Parsons help you build your business step by step, including establishing your business plan, making your business legal, financing your venture, hiring your staff and more—using online tools and resources at every stage. Discover how easy it is to reach your dream of opening your own business faster than you ever thought possible. Let the countdown begin—you’re just 3 weeks away from opening the doors to your new business!
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Tim Berry is the founder and president of Palo Alto Software, the manufacturer of Business Plan Pro, bplans.com and co-founder of Borland International. He is the author of three business-planning books and is a popular blogger and speaker.
Sabrina Parsons is CEO of Palo Alto Software as well as the co-founder of Palo Alto Software UK Ltd. and Lighting Out.
Although back when I went through business school they were training us to be either consultants or middle managers at large companies, I always liked small business, startups, and entrepreneurship better. I always liked business planning because it's about designing the future in detail and then, when done right, managing the pieces to make it happen. Planning to me is not about the document, but about the goals, metrics, milestones, accountability, and, ultimately, management.
I'm a bit jealous of the "lean startup" meme because 1.) it's real, practical, and appropriate for our times; and 2.) I think my 'Plan-as-you-go Business Plan' book had the same idea for business planning in 2008, but it gets a lot less buzz.
My main claim to validation is having done it: I've bootstrapped a company to 40 employees and multimillion in sales with profits and no debt (Palo Alto Software) and also founded bplans.com, FreeTheNumbers.com, and Eugene Social at eugene-social.com; and I was a co-founder of Borland International. I also have a Stanford MBA degree and a lot of blog posts, magazine articles, and several books published.
I'm blogging on my own blog, Huffington Post, Amex OPEN, gust.com, smallbiztrends.com, and Up and Running. To consolidate all my blog posts in one place I'm using a powered Rebelmouse site to consolidate them all on http://blog.timberry.com. And my main blog, where I've posted about 2,000 posts since 2006, is "Planning Startups Stories" (http://timberry.bplans.com). I also have a business and consulting site, with some speaking samples, at http://timberry.com.
Start a business in 3 weeks? What about all the details, the research, the website, the legalities, the planning?
As a consultant who works with business owners on startup and finance issues, I already knew it was possible to quickly launch a business. I've done it several times myself and have helped consulting clients do the same. What I didn't have was a comprehensive, step-by-step manual that I could hand to new clients to get them up to speed on, well, SPEED.
I often use the following Anita Brookner quote regarding the usual tortoise approach to starting a business to give clients an idea of what I'm talking about:
In real life, it is the hare who wins. Every time. Look around you. And in any case it is my contention that Aesop was writing for the tortoise market. Hares have no time to read. They are too busy winning the game.
If you are looking to start a business that will require financing from banks or venture capitalists, three weeks won't be enough time. Most businesses don't start out that way, though. They start as tiny enterprises with no employees and they grow from there.
3 Weeks to Startup is a comprehensive resource covering all the nuts and bolts details you need to attend to in getting your business off the ground. It takes you through a three week schedule of very specific activities you'll need to think about and do. From defining what you want in the business to who your customer is to legal issues to marketing and sales, this is a terrific guide for new and experienced business owners....
Since my consulting practice focuses on cash flow, I was especially pleased to see an easy to follow explanation of the financial side of business and a very practical approach to thinking about and managing cash flow.
The authors' writing style is very readable. The book contains no theory, it's all application and practical, realistic tasks to get your product or service to market quickly without sacrificing any of the important details. The authors also include a large number of additional resources.
This book is particularly a must-read for new business owners who have the feeling that they "don't know what they don't know." It's also valuable for experienced business owners who want to quickly launch a new venture.Read more ›
We have used this for a couple of years now for our microbiz class. Students like it. Would recommend if you can reliably get enough. Our supplier quit carrying it, so we have been ordering from Amazon.
