Customer Reviews

The Young Entrepreneur's Edge: Using Your Ambition, Independence, and Youth to Launch a Succesful Business (Career Guides)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you've ever wondered what running your own business would be like you really only have two choices: look towards the sky and daydream or give it a shot. If you choose the later, Kushell's The Young Entrepreneur's Edge can help you along that path.

The book is basically a "how to" for starting a business. It presents and answers all of the questions that you might really need to know the answer to, but felt too stupid to ask. It also touches on many things that a first-time entrepreneur may be unaware of or forget (like IRS withholding, etc.).

The book is primarily for someone planning to start a business for the first time and will offer little advice to the seasoned business-owner. Of value, though, especially to younger readers (of all levels of business experience) are the sections on dealing with perception of youth in a business context which may get a more thorough treatment here than in any other manuscript. Entrepreneurs of all ages and experience-levels will also enjoy the start-up-stories that pepper the book.

The books one real lack, however, may be in the accuracy department. For example, Kushell gets the IRS 1099 and W2 form confused, which may seem like a simple mistake but could inadvertently subject a business to a variety of liability (W2 employees are the traditional salaried/wage employees where the 1099 form is used for reporting income for independent contractors - [website] has extensive information on tax forms). The book, thus, is a good overview and may alert you to things that need to be looked into further, but additional research will be required to verify and understand each topic.

Overall, the book is a must-read for anyone under 30 starting a "real" business for the first time. For others, it may serve as a refresher or provide an amusing read, but will be of limited usefulness.

I recently had the pleasure of reading "The Young Entrepreneur's Edge" by Jennifer Kushell. Jennifer is the President and Founder of the Young Entrepreneurs Network, an organization dedicated to helping the next generation succeed in owning their own business. This book was written for the twenty-something's, but I'm thirty-something and thoroughly enjoyed this book. It gives a lot of practical information you can use in order to succeed in any business at any age. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to start their own business. I wish I had read it before I got started. Its a great reference guide.

It is refreshing to know that I am not alone in this entrepreneurial world. The author's insight, humor and poetic prose made reading this book an absolute delight!

The combination of pure insight and Ms. Kushell's obvious charisma make this book not only a must for any entrepreneur (young or old), it is truly a delight to read. I have found as a 28 year old single mother, juggling my young son and my globally expanding business, carefully directed strategy is essential. I certainly don't have time to do anything twice (well...except for reading her book which should be done at least twice). Ms. Kushell's approach to business is innovative, wise and appropriately challenging. Unfortunately, we cannot all personally have Ms. Kushell as part of our team; however, this book will make you feel like you do...

The Young Entrepreneur's Edge is not so much a how-to book on starting your own business, but is really a "how-to-cope-with-life-while-starting-and-succeeding-in-your-own-business-book." I have read many books on starting your own business and this book has some very unique advice because it is geared towards younger entrepreneurs. Jennifer Kushell offers some practical advice about selecting the right business for you, writing a business plan, getting funded, etc. But what sets the book apart are its sections on not having any credit or not having good credit, using interns instead of full time employees, how to get mentors and advisors, how to present a professional image despite of your youthful looking appearance, dealing with family and friends who don't support your decision, how not to starve, etc. The only complaint that I had about the book was that some sections were not very complete on their advice. It is true that there are lots of other books out there on subjects such as marketing and business plans and so on, but if the author was just going to recommend that we look elsewhere, why did she include a chapter on that topic in the book in the first place? Some of the information is a little dated, but not too bad. I also would have like to have seen more resources to go to in the back of the book as to where to go to get that information that she doesn't cover in the book. Regardless, if you are a twenty-something or younger entrepreneur, there are some really helpful hints to be found in this book and it is well worth your time to read for Jennifer Kushell's upbeat attitude and encouragement. She is absolutely right in that there is no better time for young entrepreneurs to go into business then now, when we have little or nothing to lose.

If you are thinking about it, this book will ask you the right set of questions that will let you decide whether you are or should be an entrepreneur.

I've read The Young Entrepreneur's Edge twice at different stages of my business start-up, and probably will read it again! This book has not only been "informative", but it has become a "friend." Being a young entrepreneur is really a "species" of itself and reading this book is not only encouraging,but quite refreshing. This is a MUST read for all entrepreneurs not matter what stage in your business you are in. Everyone can learn from this book(I'd like to give this book "ten" stars)

I wanted to start my own business, but I knew nothing about entrepreneurship. After reading this book, I feel confident about my new business venture. It is impossible to explain how valuable a tool this book is.

Jennifer Kushell does an excellent job with this book. She shows great insight on how to get started as a young entrepreneur. This would be a wonderful book for any young people that aren't sure how to go about starting their career as an entrepreneur. I gave it five stars.

I found this book very insightful on the workings of entrepreneurship. Kushell simplifies the subject to a level which all can understand.