(How)Book Review Start Your Own Business

If you want to start a business but don't know where to start, then the place to start is with "Start Your Own Business: The Only Business Startup Book You'll Ever Need" by Reva Lewinsky. Published by Entrepreneur Press, the book is essentially a compilation of Entrepreneur Magazine's extensive knowledge base on starting a business. The book literally walks you through the entire business process—from determining if you really have what it takes to run a business, to how to deal with failure if your business doesn't work, and everything in between. The best thing about the book is that it covers almost EVERYTHING to some extent. If you need more information, they are great at recommending further reading and relevant websites. The book is divided into seven parts, each with several chapters. The first section, "You've Got to Start Somewhere," covers determining if you can be an entrepreneur, how to come up with an idea for your business, and whether you should run your business part-time or full-time. Most people who buy the book already know the answers to these questions, but going through the exercises in the book can still be helpful. The second part of the book is called 'Building Blocks'. It covers how to name your business, choose a business structure, create a business plan, and how to hire a lawyer and accountant. I think this is the most valuable part of the book. These are things that most entrepreneurs either struggle with or ignore. The "Naming Your Business" chapter especially helped me a lot. Naming your business isn't nearly as easy as you think - you need to consider all the registered trademark names, registered domain names and names that are in use but not trademarked. One of the worst things you can do is choose a name that someone else is already using and face a legal battle. The third part covers financing, including where and how to get money to run your business. The fourth section, 'Setting the Scene' is absolutely comprehensive and covers a number of important things such as choosing a location for your business, creating a professional image, offering credit to customers, hiring your first employee and insuring your business. Needless to say, all of these things are extremely important to any business owner. The fifth section covers the purchase of company computers, mobile phones and cars. These things probably won't be too difficult for most entrepreneurs. However, part six covers one of the most difficult things any business owner faces – marketing. The section has almost 100 pages on advertising, marketing and public relations. It also briefly touches on web marketing, but those looking to make serious profits online will need to look elsewhere, as the book is a bit thin on e-commerce. The last part called 'By the books' deals with the favorite things of all entrepreneurs - accounting and taxes. Provides solid advice on basic accounting, financial statements, budgeting and taxation. For most business owners, this section and the web resources listed should be more than enough to get them started on keeping their business legal. I cannot stress enough how important I think it is for every business owner to have this book. It's a mini encyclopedia (ok, so 800 pages isn't THAT mini) for all things business. Having this book on your shelf will save you countless hours. I read it cover to cover when I got it, and I keep coming back to it. I have recommended it to everyone I know who has talked to me about starting a business. Every single one of them bought it, and every single one of them came back to me raving about it. For the amount of depth the book covers, Start Your Own Business: The Only Start-Up Book You'll Ever Need by Reva Lewinsky is an incredibly easy read. Anyone over the age of 16 will be able to understand the simple nature of the book. Reading this book will not guarantee you success as an entrepreneur, but it will help reduce the risk of starting a business by giving you a good foundation to build on.