Customer Reviews

Go It Alone!: The Secret to Building a Successful Business on Your Own

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What this book delivers:

1. It proves you can start a substantial business without a lot of money, employees, specialized knowledge or risk. In fact most of those things would be a hinderance.

2. The principles are guideposts for you to follow. You also learn the biggest non-secret in business which is simply to do what is important.

3. It gives you numerous examples of how people turned the knowledge they had into the business they wanted. It is not hard to see the principles at work.

3. As a side benefit you learn about some business services that are available to you that you probably have not given much thought to such as Logos.



What you do not get in this book:

1. A list of the hottest businesses to start.

2. How to do accounting, marketing plans, or any of the other specialized courses they teach in business schools. Spend your time on what you do well not learning something that someone else can do for you.

3. Detailed handholding complete with checklists. The principles are presented clearly with numerous examples. It is your responsibility to apply them to your own situation.

I loved this book! I recognized the truth that as solo business owners would do well to maximize their efficiency by concentrating on what they do best and outsourcing the rest. I am especially reminded of this as I spend hours trying to fix a website problem (I am a writer and a Mom's life coach, not a web designer!) instead of writing articles or thinking about growing my business.

Reading this book has caused some practical and immediate changes to my home business strategy and I am very grateful to the author for his efforts.

The real-life stories are very inspiring as well.

Get this book today!

I should begin by saying that I am quite in sympathy with this book's thesis, which can be boiled down (to oversimplify a bit) to one phrase: Do what you do best, and outsource the rest.

Bruce Judson, the author, brings out some great reasons for pursuing "light footprint" entrepreneurship (my term, not his). So many functions and so much technology can now be outsourced, via web-enabled communications and applications, that a world of opportunity is now open which could not be dreamed of a decade ago.

One of the effective marketing approaches employed by Judson was to make the entire text of the book available on the web. If his bet was that this would entice a serious reader to buy the book after sampling some good content, then it worked in my case. I'd far rather read a printed book that scan a monitor.

If you're thinking about starting a one-person or very small business, I think the content here will be quite helpful and a needed boost of encouragement. However, the book (and accompanying website) are not without flaws.

First of all, the book is over 200 pages. It could easily have been 80-90, with better editing. There is a lot of repetition, including using the same examples over and over again. The overall structure is not tight - too sprawling. And, in various places in the book, various resources are offered on the website - but when you go to the site, no such resources are to be found.

That said, I'd buy the book over again, because it has been an encouragement and affirmation for my chosen course of entrepreneurship. Despite the less-than-optimal execution, Judson is onto something, and that's the main thing. If you're going to "Go it Alone", you'll derive some serious value from this book.

This is a terrific guide. I bought the book after I heard Judson on NPR, and it's worth a lot more than I paid for it. The magic in this book is that Judson shows how my hard work can turn into a better living for my family, and an independant lifestyle for me. The book opened my eyes to a whole different way of thinking about opportunities. I checked out the Web sites of some of the people and businesses mentioned in the book and they are the real thing! They look like people just like me, who mastered the ideas in Judson's book and are now living a much happier life. Five stars plus...

The author offers more than a guide for creating a new business. His motivational stories from experienced entrepreneurs a realistic assessment of the risks involved and the resources required to make your venture a success.

Entrepreneurs are often seen as risk takers. Actually, the authors says they do everting they can to limit failure's costs. He suggests testing the validity of your concept before making it a full-time undertaking. This results in:

1. Risk reduction by gaining experience with paying customers.
2. Putting less pressure on the new business for fast financial success.

Once you make the jump to full-time entrepreneur keep in mind the following:

1. Be aware nothing happens until you make it happen.
2. There are no "A's" for effort. Once you start full-time, all the risks are yours alone.
3. Be prepared to sell.
4. Be prepared to demonstrate credibility and viability.

Starting a business has never been easier. Although many desire to leave the corporate umbrella, only a few actually do and even fewer succeed. Follow Judson's simple steps and your will increase your odds of success.

This is exactly what you'd want from a business book. It's like having a really smart, successful friend coach you on everything they've learned about striking it rich. It's great too for women who want to start a business from home but don't know how to get started.
If you know anyone who has started a business or is thinking about it,
send them this book immediately.

Go It Alone! is an extraordinary read. Judson's explains how to get started without cash or employees, and how to turn this humble start into a big business, while minimizing your risk. His approach perfect makes sense, is hard hitting, and is really compelling. I have already started to use the practical techniques he suggests. Judson also provides a way of thinking about business problems that is unique. I started the book and there was so much good stuff here I could not put it down until I had finished it. I am now telling all my friends about it.

Some ideas in this book are revolutionary to me, such as the goal of staying small for maximum leverage and minimum risk (by outsourcing); also the idea of developing metrics for your business to help you decide where to focus.
He also convincingly explains his contention that these times are better than ever for a go-it-alone venture.
Other ideas may not be revolutionary as the author quotes many other business gurus but it's very helpful to see them together.
What I particularily like are the example go-it-alone businesses and case studies, in fact I'd love to see more!

Finally I give the author credit for making building a business sound possible without glossing over the difficulties; I definitely disagree with the Editorial reviewer's contention that he paints an overly rosy picture. In fact he spends a lot of time talking about taking risks but at the same time reducing risk. There is a whole chapter about when to quit your day job which I think is pretty realistic.

Altogether a very worthwhile read if you share the dream of creating your own business! The web-site also seems helpful even to the point of helping the newly self-employed look for health insurance.

Disclaimer: I have enjoyed meeting the author and that was what led me to read this book; I am currently in the corporate world but more than ever I have the dream of taking more control over my life.

I am an entrepreneur and reading this book has stimulated my thinking in ways I never imagined. I now have literally hundreds of new ideas for building my business that I want to try. I was so excited after reading this book that I worked all weekend! And best of all, Judson's approach showed me how I can build more revenues with almost no additional costs! I am a great fan of the "E-Myth," and this book is the "E-Myth" for the new century.

I was looking for this kind of book explaining about the right detail on doing business while keeping the day job and in the future before going fulltime with my venture. the book is informative and the author is the prime example on how it work in real world.
The only drawback i have from the book is some repetitive word he always use "outsourcing" which somewhat annoying to read most of the time, but overall the messages and information is worth the price and you can't go wrong with that, Would i recommend it, you bet..