The McGraw-Hill Guide to Starting Your Own Business : A Step-By-Step Blueprint for the First-Time Entrepreneur [Paperback]

Stephen C. Harper (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0071410120 | ISBN-13: 978-0071410120 | Publication Date: June 13, 2003 | Edition: 2

The bestselling first edition of The McGraw-Hill Guide to Starting Your Own Business sold more than 75,000 copies, and took the reader step-by-step through the entire process of starting a new venture. This completely revised second edition once again shows entrepreneurs the keys to determining the best business opportunities, creating a business plan, and formulating a winning marketing strategy. In addition, it now profiles alternative sources of funding from SBA loans to angel investors and provides valuable do's and don'ts from over one hundred entrepreneurs.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this guide Harper, head of his own management consulting firm, discusses the aspects of becoming an entrepreneur practically and realistically. He covers choosing the type of business; writing the business plan; advertising; financing; and franchising. Included also is the Entrepreneurial Qualities Self-Test designed to measure potential skills. Harper also cites and describes additional sources of information such as the U.S. Industrial Outlook , published annually by USGPO, and Wilson's Business Periodicals Index . Along with Lyle Maul and Dianne Mayfield's Entrepreneur's Road Map ( LJ 9/1/89) and Sharon Kahn and Philip Lieff's 101 Best Businesses To Start ( LJ 7/88), this book will provide a good "first step" for would-be entrepreneurs. Recommended to public libraries.
- Lucy Heckman, St. John's Univ. Lib., Jamaica, New York
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

The nationwide bestseller, updated for beating the odds and achieving breakthrough success

Insightful tips from over 100 Entrepreneurs for Starting a Business--and Doing It Right!

Today's conditions are among the best in history for starting and building your own business, and The McGraw-Hill Guide to Starting Your Own Business is renowned for showing thousands of entrepreneurs how to do just that. Now let this hands-on book give you the market-tested knowledge and confidence you need to identify and evaluate new business opportunities, draw up a business plan, find the money to get your new venture off the ground, and take that first step toward true success--by launching a business that in your heart, you know will work!

Praise for the first edition of The McGraw-Hill Guide to Starting Your Own Business:

Featured selection by the Fortune Book Club, Money Book Club, BusinessWeek Book Club, Book-of-the-Month Club

"The strength of The McGraw-Hill Guide to Starting Your Own Business is that it delivers on its promise. It is indeed a step-by-step blueprint for the first-time entrepreneur."--Jeffrey L. Seglin, Editor, Inc.

"The McGraw-Hill Guide to Starting Your Own Business is . . . an indispensable reference for any first-time entrepreneur--and an invaluable advantage for every fledgling business."--Fortune Book Club

"A down-to-earth guide to business startup essentials."--Money Book Club

"A practical, information-packed guide: it's loaded with the know-how you need to go it alone."--Book-of-the-Month Club

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 2 edition (June 13, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071410120
• ISBN-13: 978-0071410120
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #269,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen C. Harper, Ph.D. is the author of six books on leadership and entrepreneurship. The McGraw-Hill Guide to Starting Your Own Business is a best seller. The first edition was a featured selection for numerous book clubs. The second edition continues to be popular - including the Chinese edition - for people who want to start a lifestyle business. Extraordinary Entrepreneurship is targeted for professionals in established organizations who are thinking about starting a high-growth business. Steve's latest book on leadership, The Ever-Evolving Enterprise: Guidelines for Creating Your Company's Future was launched in January, 2011.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very good, February 13, 2002

By 

Phuong (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The McGraw-Hill Guide to Starting Your Own Business: A Step-by-Step Blueprint for the First Time Entrepreneur (Paperback)

This is the best book on starting business that I've come across. A lot of practical tips on various strategies (marketing, pricing, promoting etc.). However, it is probably more about running a new business rather than steps in opening one. Worth reading thus.
Phuong , MA in Economics student @ U of Toronto.

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good intro to starting a business, December 26, 2005

By 

Michael Spitzer (New York City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The McGraw-Hill Guide to Starting Your Own Business : A Step-By-Step Blueprint for the First-Time Entrepreneur (Paperback)

This book is a good summary of the more technical aspects of starting a business. It doesn't dig into economics or financial issues too deeply so just reading this book isn't going to make you an expert. But, I think the general steps to starting a business are laid-out pretty well and that this book has a lot of value for someone looking for direction. One thing I would have liked to see in this book was a concise summary of all the steps involved so that when it is time to refer back to this book after reading it, you're not digging through the details and examples.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, January 31, 2011

By 

Shri - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The McGraw-Hill Guide to Starting Your Own Business : A Step-By-Step Blueprint for the First-Time Entrepreneur (Paperback)

Not for the faint of heart. It's a thought provoking book that will challenge you to repeatedly assess your will and preparedness for starting a new venture. It's not like those other books that get you day-dreaming. It's a book that will make you work hard, letting you know all along that you'll be working even harder if you were to start a new venture. I recommended it to other friends of mine it's been widely loved and appreciated by all of them.