22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Resource for Budding Entrepreneurs, October 28, 2005
This review is from: The Business Startup Checklist and Planning Guide: Seize Your Entrepreneurial Dreams! (Paperback)
There are a LOT of guides to starting your own business out there. In the past ten years, I've read most of them. And I have yet to start my own business, unless you consider blogging a business. Maybe non-profit?
Most of the guides I've read end up sounding like a pep rally for self employment. They talk up the positives and downplay the negatives. And I think that's the benefit of this book -- the negatives are shown. But the negatives aren't presented as problems -- they're presented as obstacles that can easily be surmounted with the proper amount of forethought and planning.
Stephanie Chandler writes as someone who has experience -- she's started her own business after what most would call a successful career in Silicon Valley. She did her research when she went out on her own (which is what most budding entrepreneurs fail to do). She found out why businesses fail, and what can be done to prevent that failure. She talks about overcoming the fear of starting a business from scratch. She speaks positively of franchising as an option for entrepreneurs (though it's not THE option).
Another strength of this book is the inclusion of "Entrepreneur Profiles" in each chapter. These profiles show what successful small business owners went through in getting their business going, and what problems they had to confront. Knowing that someone else has traveled the path already, and faced many of the same obstacles, can help to motivate potential entrepreneurs to take the final step.
58% of all Americans have at least considered starting their own business. If more of them had read this book, and adopted Chandler's policies (especially in researching available opportunities), more of them would be successful small business owners.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very helpful!, August 30, 2005
This review is from: The Business Startup Checklist and Planning Guide: Seize Your Entrepreneurial Dreams! (Paperback)
This was exactly the book I needed to help me start my pet sitting business. It gives very practical advice that helped me decide that starting the business was something I was ready for as well as some great advice for getting it off the ground. The books is easy to read and written so that even someone without a lot of business experience can understand it - I found myself not wanting to stop reading! The section on marketing was especially helpful and opened my eyes to consider marketing areas/tools that I wasnt even aware of. I also enjoyed the profiles at the end of each chapter. They made me feel that if that person could do it so could I. I highly recommend this book if you are considering starting your own business.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extremely Useful, March 30, 2006
This review is from: The Business Startup Checklist and Planning Guide: Seize Your Entrepreneurial Dreams! (Paperback)
My father recommended this book to me as he has been a small business owner for over 20 years. I set a pack of flags next to me when I first started reading this book to mark any information that I could actually apply, as I went through the process of opening my own law office. There are so many flags sticking out of this book, that it looks like a beautiful bird's tail! I learned things about small business loans, free resources such as how to sign up for trade publications, and much more. The entrepreneur profiles were inspiring, and helped me to stay grounded and enthusiastic through both the exciting times and the struggles of opening my own business.
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