The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting your own Business, 4E [Paperback]

Edward Paulson (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Complete Idiot's Guide | Publication Date: December 2, 2003

Now with a CD-ROM!

Newly revised for the ever-changing world of business, this book offers stress-free guidence for anyone who wants to turn a good idea into a good living. This edition also includes a CD-ROM featuring commonly requested forms and documents essential to business start-ups.

€ Completely revised and updated edition of this top-selling title
€ CD-ROM included, featuring commonly requested forms and documents
€ Nearly 1.5 million new businesses are formed in the U.S. each year, most of which are "small businesses"
€ One in 12 Americans will start his or her own business at some point, according to the Jan./Feb. 03 issue of The Atlantic Monthly

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Sick of working the daily grind at the office? Can't stop dreaming about striking it out on your own? This book is a one-stop resource for the burgeoning entrepreneur. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Edward Paulson is a successful entrepreneur, business consultant, college professor, and author with more than 25 years experience in setting up and running businesses. He is the author of ten books and numerous articles and frequently lectures throughout the United States.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Alpha; 4th edition (December 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592571387
• ISBN-13: 978-1592571383
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #956,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I have a personal mission - to improve business and personal lives. Concepts are useful and powerful but only as they can be applied to improve the quality of life. My most basic talent is the ability to simplify the complicated so that it becomes useful to people (especially my readers) in their everyday life. My advanced technology and business management education (too many degrees according to my family and friends) combined with years of practical experience (yes - gray hair is involved) in a wide variety of fields enable me to speak science, technology, finance, entrepreneurship, management, engineering, sales and marketing "geek" (partial listing) while always trying to answer the question, "Why would anyone care about this?"

As a college professor, I learn from my students about new ways to explain things. As a writer I learn from other authors about ways to improve my craft (watch for fiction some time in the future). As a person, I am insatiably curious - learning every chance I can. And I really cannot control where that curiosity will lead me. Insatiable curiosity tied in with a focus challenge is sort of like that. :-)

It is my honor to serve my readers, clients, students, colleagues and friends in the successful pursuit of their own best lives. I promise to keep reinventing myself and hope that you occasionally invite me into your life along the way.

My latest book (coming in early 2012) is the Sixth Edition of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting Your Own Busness" which in prior editions has sold over 250,000 copies. This edition has been substantially revised to address the questions that readers have told me they need to answer today. Feedback from prior readers who have started their own succcessful businesses let me know if I am on the right track in my mission. I hope to hear from you.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Starter, January 11, 2000

By 

frisky2000 "frisky2000" (Margaritaville) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting Your Own Business (Paperback)

I've had the seed of an idea for years on starting my own business, but I didn't have the first clue about where to begin. This "Idiot's" guide was very helpful, though ignorance to a topic does not necessarily brand you an idiot. It guided me through the right questions, the possible pitfalls, the little in's and out's of what it takes to start out on my own. Whether or not I choose to take the plunge is still undecided, but at least I have a broad idea thanks to this book. Of course seasoned entrepeneurs will find the contents boring and irrelevant, (then again, they're not the ones who should be reading it!) but to someone who has never explored the area, this guide is a good starting point of reference.

87 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Only for the true complete idiot., March 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting Your Own Business (Paperback)

If you truly are a complete idiot, then this is the book for you. Half the book is dedicated to things that you should already know if you have decided to start your own business: "What kind of business do I want?" Wouldn't you already have that in mind before buying the book? There is little or no information regarding important matters like scouting locations, government regulations, advertising strategies, etc.

If you don't know whether or not you want to start your own business, then this book might help, but if you need a guide on how to get started, look elsewhere.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Introducing Business to New Entrepreneurs, May 11, 2005

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting your own Business, 4E (Paperback)

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.