Summary

"This book should be on the seasoned entrepreneurrs"s list of ls"what I should have read before I started my business.rs"" JOE KEELEY, President & CEO, College Nannies & Tutors Development "This is one of the best entrepreneurship books Irs"ve read...I wish I had this book when I first started out." RYAN Ors"DONNELL, Cofounder and CEO, BullEx Digital Safety Your own business: Take the leap, make it happen, and make it succeed! The truth about choosing the right business foryouand maintaining a healthy personal life The truth about planning, funding, hiring, and successful launches The truth about financial management, marketing, and growth This book reveals53bite-size, easy-to-use techniques for choosing, planning, launching, and growing your winning business. Yours"ll learn how to generate and test business ideas, and pick the one thatrs"s best for you...select the right entry strategy...name and locate your business...raise capital...build your team and get expert advice...protect your business secrets and intellectual property...effectively brand your business and market its offerings...handle pricing, distribution, and sales...manage your finances to specific objectives...prepare for growth...and even maintain your work/life balance as an entrepreneur. This isn't "someone's opinion": it's a definitive, evidence-based guide to building your own successful enterprise--a set of bedrock principles you can rely onwhoeveryou are,whereveryou are, andwhateverbusiness you choose to launch.

Author Biography

Bruce R. Barringer, a renowned expert on entrepreneurship, is a professor of management at the University of Central Florida. His books include Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New Ventures, 2nd Edition, Preparing Effective Business Plans: An Entrepreneurial Approach, and What's Stopping You?: Shatter the 9 Most Common Myths Keeping You from Starting Your Own Business.

Part I The Truth About What It Takes to Be a Business OwnerTruth 1 Why people start businesses 1Truth 2 The right business for you 5Truth 3 Questions to ask before you quit your job 9Truth 4 Key characteristics of successful business owners 13Truth 5 You may not need "prior business experience" 17Part II The Truth About Generating and Testing Business IdeasTruth 6 The most common sources of new business ideas 21Truth 7 Want several alternatives? Techniques for generating new business ideas 25Truth 8 A make-it or break-it issue: Selecting an idea that can be sold into a niche market 29Truth 9 Screening and testing business ideas 33Truth 10 Writing a business plan: Still as important as ever 37Part III The Truth About Entry StrategiesTruth 11 Starting from scratch: Developing your own product or service 41Truth 12 Franchising: Buying into someone else's formula for success 45Truth 13 Believe it or not: There are legitimate opportunities in direct sales 49Truth 14 Buying a business 54Truth 15 Internet businesses: The sky does seem to be the limit 58Part IV The Truth About Getting Up and RunningTruth 16 Choosing a location for your business 61Truth 17 Something you'll say a million times: Your business's name 65Truth 18 The paper chase: Obtaining business licenses and permits 69Truth 19 Choosing a form of business ownership 73Truth 20 Creating a Web site: An absolute necessity 79Part V The Truth About Raising MoneyTruth 21 How to think about money as it relates to starting a business 83Truth 22 Calculating your initial start-up costs 87Truth 23 Personal funds, loans from friends and family, and bootstrapping 91Truth 24 Debt financing 95Truth 25 Equity funding 99Truth 26 Grants: It takes the right fit 103Truth 27 Persistence pays off: Finding alternative sources of startup funds 107Part VI The Truth About Building a New Business TeamTruth 28 How to approach the task of building a "new business" team 111Truth 29 Starting a business as a team rather than an individual 115Truth 30 Recruiting and hiring employees 119Truth 31 Board of directors 123Truth 32 Board of advisors 127Part VII The Truth About Intellectual PropertyTruth 33 Intellectual property: What is it, and how is it protected? 131Truth 34 To patent or not to patent? 135Truth 35 Trademarks: An essential form of protection 139Truth 36 Copyright laws: A surprising breadth of protection 143Truth 37 Trade secrets: Guard them carefully 147Part VIII The Truth About MarketingTruth 38 How to approach marketing in a new business 151Truth 39 Segmenting the market and selecting a target market 155Truth 40 Establishing a brand 159Truth 41 Selling benefits rather than features 163Truth 42 Pricing: The most dicey element of the marketing mix 165Truth 43 It's okay to advertise, but think through your choices carefully 169Truth 44 Public relations: More important than ever 173Truth 45 Distribution and sales: More choices than ever 177Part IX The Truth About Financial ManagementTruth 46 Managing a business's finances 181Truth 47 Financial objectives of a business 185Truth 48 The nitty-gritty: Forecasts, budgets, and financial statements 189Part X The Truth About Growing a BusinessTruth 49 Preparing for growth 193Truth 50 Stages of growth: More opportunities, more challenges 197Truth 51 Strategies for growth 201Part XI The Truth About Starting a Business and Maintaining a Healthy Personal LifeTruth 52 Work lif

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Excerpts

Preface PrefaceThink quickly. Should you buy this book? You have to make a decision. Every minute of every day, you are making a series of small decisions that could change the course of your career and your life. Our lives are the sum of our decisions. Your success is largely a result of the quality of your decisions. Have you given any thought to how you make decisions?This book won't keep you from making stupid decisions. Alas, it won't offer you a life without regret or buyer's remorse. It will help you step back from the heat of decision making and think about how you approach decision making. I've had the opportunity to work with some of the leading researchers in the field of decision making, including Paul Schoemaker, author of Decision Traps and Winning Decisions, Howard Kunreuther, co-director of the Wharton School's Risk and Decision Processes Center, and Jerry Wind and Colin Crook, authors of The Power of Impossible Thinking. I have learned a great deal from them about making decisions.I wish I could say that all this good schooling has kept me from making absolutely disastrous decisions, but I'd be lying. I've walked away from a stable job to start a business (turned out to be a pretty good decision). I've moved 2,000 miles from Pennsylvania to Colorado with a St. Bernard and three kids and back again in one year (a disaster but a fascinating adventure as well). It is a decision I'd make again in a heartbeat because it was for the sake of family. So the little knowledge I have hasn't kept my tail out of the fire. But the way I think about and approach decisions has changed.There is no simple formula for decisions, but we can become better at making them. No decision is perfect, but often doing nothing is worse. The time to act is now. On the following pages are a series of sharp insights that will give you new ways of thinking about your decisions. There are no shortcuts or machines to make decisions for you. You just need to dig in, open your eyes and get to work. I hope the following truths about decision making can help you in making your own tough decisions.But some decisions are not all that tough. I mean, buy the book already. Robert Gunther Praise for The Truth About Starting a Business"When thinking about starting a business, have you ever felt discouraged because you did not know somebody or some thing? If that is the case, Barringer can be your wise uncle. In this insightful new book, he shares common-sense advice, based on research that can help to get you started and going in the right direction to launch your own venture." James Fiet, Ph.D. , Brown Forman Chair in Entrepreneurship, University of Louisville"Relevant and easily accessible advice on how to start your own business. Barringer's great primer covers it all, from naming your company to handling legalities, from publicity to the psychology of being an entrepreneur." Matt Hedges , Founder and President, Vino de Sol"This book is a must read! Barringer has developed an easy-to-follow blueprint on how to start a new business. He takes the complexity of entrepreneurship and streamlines it, providing insight and expertise that is