If you want to start a business, but you do not know where to start, then the place to start is “Start Your Business: The Only Book You Will Never Have” by Rieva Lesonsky. This book is published by Entrepreneur Press and is actually a compilation of great Entrepreneur Magazine information about starting a business.
The book literally takes you through the whole process of business - from determining if you really have what it takes to run a business to dealing with failure when your business is out of business, and everything in between. The best part about the book is that it covers almost EVERYTHING in a certain way. If you need more information, do an excellent job of promoting more reading and relevant websites.
The book is divided into seven sections, each of which contains several chapters. The first part of ‘You Must Start Together’ involves deciding whether you can become an entrepreneur, how you can come up with your business idea, and whether you should start your own business part-time or full-time. Most people who buy this book will already have the answers to these questions, but reading the tests in the book can still be helpful.
The second part of the book is entitled ‘Building Obstacles’. It includes how to start your own business, choosing a business structure, building a business plan, and how to hire a lawyer and accountant. I think this is the most important part of the book. These are things that most entrepreneurs struggle with or ignore. The chapter “Creating Your Business” helped me a lot. Naming your business is not as easy as you think it is - you need to consider all the names of registered trademarks, registered domain names, and unused brand names. One of the worst things you can do is choose a name that is already used by someone, and then face a legal dispute down the road.
The third category includes financing that includes where and how you get the money to run your business. The fourth phase, ‘Setting the Stage’ is very large and covers many important things such as choosing your business location, creating a professional image, giving customers credit, hiring your first employee, and business insurance. Needless to say, all of these things are very important to all business owners.
The fifth category includes purchasing company computers, cell phones, and automobiles. These things will probably not be too difficult for most business owners. The sixth part, however, covers the most difficult thing every business owner faces - marketing. This section is about 100 pages long advertising, marketing, and public relations. It also briefly affects web marketing but those who want to make the most of the internet will need to look elsewhere because this book is very small when it comes to e-commerce.
The last section, entitled ‘About Books’, surpasses all entrepreneurial preferences - accounting and taxes. Provides solid advice on basic accounting, financial statements, budgets, and taxes. For many business owners this category and listed web services should be more than enough for them to start keeping their business legitimate.
I can not overemphasize how important it is for every business owner to have this book. A mini-encyclopedia (okay, so 800 pages is NOT that mini) of everything related to business. Having this book on your shelf will save you many hours. I read it from beginning to end when I found it and always referred to it. I recommend it to everyone I know who has talked to me about starting a business. Each of them bought it, and each of them returned to me talking about it.
With the depth of coverage included in the book, Start Your Business: Rieva Lesonsky's Only Beginning Book You Will Never Be Ready is incredibly easy to read. Anyone over the age of 16 will be able to understand how simple this book is. Reading this book will not guarantee your success as an entrepreneur, but it will help reduce the risk of starting a business by giving you a solid foundation on which to build.
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