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Book Description:
You have what it takes to start a business...but only if it's the right
business for you. At the startup stage, before all of the marketing studies
and prototypes, your most important source of competitive advantage is how
well you understand yourself and can harness the passion inside you.
The
Startup Garden walks you through the process of determining what type of
business best fits your hopes, dreams, and experiences. Unique among books
of its type, it helps you take an honest look at yourself to determine who
you are, what you care about, and what you are good at before you engage
in the nuts-and-bolts tasks of starting your business and controlling your
own destiny.
From there, each chapter focuses on a particular skill you will
need to operate your enterprise, providing a step-by-step examination of the
business, financial, managerial, and marketing skills required to make your
dream business a reality. Dozens of interviews with now-successful
entrepreneurs, along with case studies and examples, show you how others
have set their businesses up from financial reporting necessities to tips
on handling employees to techniques for expansion and illustrate how to
handle the inevitable difficulties along the way.
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Filled with worksheets and
practical advice from those who came before you, and have made their way
down the same path you're now considering, this no-nonsense guidebook
discusses: How to determine what truly matters to you and what you are good
at, then combine the two into a career Where to find the money to fuel your
new business, from personal assets to investors to business loans 10 Classic
Bootstrapping Tips From using college interns to haggling, proven ways to
stretch your limited cash When you start an enterprise, you are the
enterprise. As the enterprise grows and develops, so will you. Wherever you
are in the process of launching a business, from the initial idea to the
eventual need for growth and diversification, The Startup Garden will help
you to ensure that your new business has the proper foundation for survival,
success and growth by first helping you ensure that the business is right
for you.
Book Info Walks you through the process of determining what type of
business best fits your hopes, dreams, and experiences. Softcover.
From the Back Cover
Strategies to Launch and Grow the Business That's Right for You
It's never been easier for an individual to start a business. Ironically,
it's never been more difficult for that enterprise to survive and thrive.
Let The Startup Garden show you how to control your own destiny, first
through learning exactly what kind of business will fit your skills and
personality and then learning exactly what you need to do to make that
business a success.
Any number of books will tell you how to start a business. The Startup
Garden shows you how to start your business, one that matches your dreams,
hopes, and aspirations with the skills and experience you have acquired
throughout your career.
But more than just a "Do your own thing" self-help book, The
Startup Garden provides you with concrete examples and strategies for the
practical skills and disciplines required to make your enterprise a success.
Leading small-business expert Tom Ehrenfeld provides proven, real-world
methods to:
Realize how your particular venture makes money Gather information and
form relationships with potential customers Grow your business by leveraging
existing resources and developing the outside support and capital you'll
need Find great employees then set the boundaries necessary to make them
great for your business "The real-life stories in the Start-Up Garden
are inspiring and demonstrate that you can do it, too. Tom Ehrenfeld is one
of today's most insightful writers on the topic of small business."
Scott Cook, co-founder of Intuit
"With so many books offering startup advice crowding bookshelves,
this book is a refreshing change. It goes beyond the dry basics to examine
the deeper issues involved in starting a business, from the passion
necessary to sustain an enterprise to business ethics and exit
strategies." Lisa Waddle, editor, MyBusiness magazine
"Inspirational, holistic and packed with anecdotes, The Start Up
Garden imparts a plethora of sound advice and timeless wisdom. A breath of
fresh air that will get you to think about choosing work that will motivate
and excite you." Eric Tyson, syndicated columnist and author of
Personal Finance for Dummies and Investing for Dummies
"This book is the start of something new and fresh and powerful. In
the next decade you will see the flowering of entrepreneurship as a creative
activity, as a way of building a life, and not just a business. This book
makes a substantial contribution by giving people permission to think and
talk about business in new ways that today they are afraid to."
George Gendron, Editor-In-Chief, Inc. Magazine
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