How to Run Your Business Like a Girl: Successful Strategies from Entrepreneurial Women Who Made It Happen (Paperback)

~ (Author) "If you want to start a company, then there's not much that will satisfy that desire except for starting a company..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

What's the difference between businessmen and businesswomen? It's simple these days, says author-entrepreneur Baskin. The emphasis is on relationships, intuition, and quality of life. She examines the state of female entrepreneurship today, not so much from a philosophical or psychological perspective but rather from a very pragmatic point of view: the pros and cons of partnerships, guiding principles to consider, people management 101, weathering economic vicissitudes, among other topics. In the center, acting as exemplars, are three different businesswomen--owners of a public relations agency, a kid-friendly direct mail retailer, and a financial workshop presenter-speaker--accompanied by "instant wisdom" sidebars (e.g., "sometimes it really is all about who you know") and end-of-chapter "answers from women who've done it." The latter, a series of questions and answers on everything from do you have an exit plan? to describe your best and worst day, reinforces the book's premise, and layers real-life experiences atop her core trio. Skip the marketing and sales chapters; concentrate, instead, of the people and monetary counsel. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description

Do women really run their businesses differently than men? Yes! They do it by trusting their intuition, focusing on relationships, and putting more emphasis on life balance. In this book, successful entrepreneur Elizabeth Cogswell Baskin gives you the true, nitty-gritty details of what it really means to start and run a business like a girl, including:

The Labor Pains of a Successful Startup-Summoning the strength, endurance, and positive thinking necessary to breathe life into a new business.

Grab Your Partner and Do-Si-Do-Why a partnership might-or might not-be right for you.

How to Be the Boss Without Being a Bitch-Maintaining your authority while building supportive relationships with your team.

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger-Learn how others survived tough times-from financial woes to staff turnover.

How to Run Your Business Like a Girl takes you behind the scenes of woman-owned companies in a variety of industries, from retail and manufacturing to PR and consulting. This insider's tour provides first-hand accounts of how these entrepreneurs dealt with the various stages of the business cycle, from startup to staffing to the possibility of selling out-and shows you how you can have a great business and a great life-at the same time!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Adams Media Corporation (September 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593374550
• ISBN-13: 978-1593374556
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #102,309 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #64 in	Books > Business & Investing > Women & Business
  #71 in	Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Sociology > Women

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Girlfriend's Guide to Being a Great Entrepreneur, September 26, 2005

By	Echo M. Garrett ", author/journalist" (Marietta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Although women are starting their own businesses at a blistering pace,too few successful women entrepreneurs have taken the time to thoughtfully chronicle their experiences and share with the rest of us what it's like to walk a mile in their manolos. Elizabeth Cogswell Baskin does that and more, giving us not only her experiences starting ad agencies -- she's on her second -- but the inspiring stories of other female entrepreneurs from around the country. One of the best things about the book is that Baskin and her subjects are open about the scary times and tough decisions they've had to make along the way. Although the tone of the book is breezy and fun, Baskin offers plenty of solid advice and cautionary tales. As the former editor-in-chief of Atlanta Woman magazine, I read many books geared to working women and women entrepreneurs. This one is the perfect read for women who are contemplating doing their own thing.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book for women wanting to start their own businesses, but who would love to hear from other women about how to do it, April 29, 2007

By	Jeff Lippincott "www.Jlippin.com" (Princeton, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This was a nice book. It points out that women and men typically have different motivations for starting their own businesses. The author says men are usually starting a business for their healthy ego and to make money. And women instead start a business so they can have more control in their lives. There might actually be some truth to that - at least for the older generation of men and women who start businesses.

I'm actually part of the younger generation of men and women born in 1962 or thereafter. And I don't think men and women (my peers) are all that different today when starting a business. Both sexes in my generation are faced with job opportunities that lack security, pension plans, and wages that can be lived on comfortably. Both sexes are faced with escalating gasoline prices without a commensurate jump in their salaries. And both sexes are competing for the same jobs. Both sexes are quitting the corporate world and starting their own businesses today because they see more opportunity AND CONTROL in doing that instead of collecting a W-2.

This book talks about the unique strengths of women, and the author may have a point there. But I don't think (1) trusting intuition, (2) focusing on relationships, and (3) putting more emphasis on life balance are strengths that women have a lock on.

But what men of my generation have an abundance of is male role models in business. And the wonderful thing about this book is that the author has interviewed a few successful women entrepreneurs and documented their stories so women in my generation can read the book and benefit by hearing from female role models in business. Female readers can gain words of wisdom from other women who have been there and done that. And that's what makes this book so good. 5 stars!

PS. A nice companion book to this one is Small Business Big Life (ISBN: 140160336X). Consider giving it a read.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Run it on your own terms and succeed!, October 5, 2005

By	M. McFarlane "Making it in Mill Valley" (California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book really helped me since I have only been out on my own for a year. To read that other women have gone through the same struggles and challenges, and also share the immense feeling of accomplishment and freedom that comes with it, was very comforting. Ms. Baskin's writing style is very frank and refreshing, as if she were talking to me. I laughed out loud at times, especially the part about "putting your big girl panties on" and dealing with problems that may arise. A wonderful resource in the midst of lots of very dry business books.