The Entrepreneur's Guide to Bootstrapping Up a Business
579678
This book is outstanding for the person who wants a "how to" of bringing up a business in today's high tech world.  Whether you can do it in 4-hrs is irrelevant - what is relevant is the assembly of resources to help an entrepreneur truly find a successful life.  Love it...
3620225
I've put together both an Amazon.com guide and booklist regarding business plans, and this book is included in both. In fact, it is listed as one of the top 3 business plan books in my guide. And it would be listed higher in the booklist if the list were not ranked by copyright date rather than content quality. If you are serious about writing a sound business plan for your small business, then definitely get a copy of this book to help you in your endeavor.

Business plans help a small business get off the ground, get financing, and to expand-grow. To do a business plan correctly requires much research and planning, not to mention the effort to write it all up. The book is split into two parts. Part I is an 86-page treatise on the nuts and bolts of business plans. It is really very well written and covers the full range of topics:

1. Product and service description
2. Market analysis, including industry, competition, target customers, and SWOT
3. Marketing and sales plans
4. Financial plans, including balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows, breakeven analysis, sales volumes, and profit margins
5. The company summary
6. Operations and management plans
7. How to write it up in 20-30 pages

Part II is comprised of five sample business plans that include:

1. The plan of a young female entrepreneur who wants to start a video production company
2. The plan of a young female entrepreneur who wants to start a coffee cart business
3. Some guys who want to take their knowledge as sprinkler system installers and build a sprinkler installer business of their own and expand upon that into a complete yard-care business that might someday become a home improvement business
4. Some guys who want to be retailers of commercial fitness equipment in a big way
5. Some guys who want to be retailers and service providers for building elevator systems

The first two business plans require minimal start up costs. The third plan requires more than minimal start up costs. And the last two business plans require significant start up costs.

I really liked the book. As a SCORE counselor I recommend it regularly to my "clients." I would have liked the book better if the sample business plans had appeared to be better researched. I also was turned off a bit by the extent of copy and pasting done in the sample business plans. But for all I know, real-world business plans at the entrepreneurial level have a certain "homegrown" feel rather than the polished ones I am used to seeing in large corporate merger and acquisition files.
558866
I have learned more from this book than in my business classes and taking seminars from "experts."

Simple advice in a way that makes sense and it is an easy guide for the entrepreneur or sole proprietor that wants to have a plan that they can create and follow in just one glance.

Following this book's advice has already proven useful. New business ideas and opportunities are coming up and they are fruitful.
603687
I liked this book a lot. Its target audience is anyone who is currently earning a salary working for someone other than themselves or a company they own, but who are considering whether entrepreneurship is something for them. It is fairly well written and organized. Chapter 1 provides a nice introduction to the book and Chapter 2 is the meat of the book. The remaining seven chapters flow directly from what is covered in Chapter 2.

This book is not a how-to book. It is a book for wanta-be entrepreneurs who think it is risky to start their own business and cannot find the motivation to transition from their W-2 setup to one of self-employment. The authors explain in chapters 2-9 that there are 8 myths about making the transition to self-employment that simply are not true. Take a look at the Search Inside material the authors have provided Amazon. You will find the titles to the chapters. They succinctly layout what the book is about.

I like to view the book as one that explains that starting a small business is not particularly risky. Sure, any unknown has a certain amount of risk involved with it. But starting a business doesn't have to be like visiting Atlantic City and shooting craps at one of the gambling tables. With the proper research, skills, and planning, anyone can start a small business and be successful.

You might be saying now: What about the money needed to start a small business? Well, every business costs some money to start. Some cost more than others. And some don't cost much at all to start. The book points this out in Chapter 3. My favorite chapters in this book were chapters 1-5 and 8. I wish the authors had more fully developed them and left out chapters 6, 7 and 9, since those chapters did not do much for me.

I would have liked the book better if it had three other chapters included regarding myths as follows:

6. You have to be good at sales if you plan to be successful as an entrepreneur.
7. You have to be a people person if you plan to be successful as an entrepreneur.
9. You have to be good with numbers if you plan to be able to run your own business.

The message in this book is that if you get advice from experts and informed people you will be headed in the right direction to start a small business. If you gather information about an opportunity to start a small business, then you will be well on your way to starting a small business. And if you take all the advice and research and prepare a sound WRITTEN business plan, then you will probably be successful in starting and running your small business.

I found chapters 7-9 to be less-than. Chapter 7 could have included more advice on marketing techniques. And Chapter 8 could have talked a lot more about Internet marketing techniques. Chapter 9 would have been better if business plans had been tied into the discussion and strategic planning had been explained.

In sum, if you are toying with the idea to get out of the rat-race and start your own small business, then this is a good book to help convince you to do what it takes to make the jump. 4 stars!
4869700
Im a long-time entrepreneur who has been involved with six start-ups, two that made initial public offerings, two that were acquired and one that is a profitable business yet to exit.  For three years I headed an accelerator inside the University of Wisconsin-Madison where we took university developed intellectual property from technical proof of concept out to the market and incorporation.  We helped create 15 startup companies out of approximately 30 projects that we funded and worked withothers are still in progress.

In my experience, successful startups result from the right mix of product development, strategy, product-market fit and business model development combined with a good team and execution.  There are certainly no silver bullets among the plethora of books out there that cover those areas but I found Bock and Georges The Business Model Book to be a complete and practical guide to help managers in startups and ongoing corporations alike to develop and test business models. It is a book that dovetails with my experiences as an entrepreneur and a developer/mentor of other entrepreneurs. The books interaction with the exercises and templates on the companion website not only helps practitioners but provides useful aids for teaching and mentoring.

If you think that business model development is a key to the success of your enterprise, if you are struggling to bring the next level of innovation to your business model or are mentoring or teaching entrepreneurship, this is a key book to have.
4642184
A must read for ALL entrepreneur business owners ... recent start-ups and/or longer term, successful emergent entrepreneurs
4971598
Scott Anthony's latest book is an absolute must-read for aspiring entrepreneurs. In this book, Scott delves exclusively into the first few days or months of a business when you realize that your idea may not actually be that million dollar business that you thought it would be. The subsequent days are spent tweaking and pivoting your idea till you reach a sweet spot; a point where your business begins to take off.

The content from the book reminded me of the story of Jeb Blount from my book - Jeb had written a sales book that needed marketing. To market the book, he started an online community for sales professionals. As the community grew, he wanted to look at monetization options for the website. The subsequent pivots led to the business he runs today. SalesGravy is one of the most popular job portal dedicated to sales professionals. Sometimes it is these minor tweaks that eventually lead you to your successful business idea.
4439365
The other reviewers have already told you what the book says... I would like to tell you what the book can do. Knowing how your business is organized... from who your customers are, to what process you use to deliver your value proposition, to how that creates your revenue streams... all good stuff, and useful. But, you either grow your business or go out of business. There is no standing still. That S.O.B. down the street wants your customers. You need to find new ways to keep them. This book gives you a pattern to not only identify your current business model, but by using the same tools, to also figure out ways to build tomorrow's version of your business.

In fact I would venture to say that there is more information in the book on planning the future than there is on defining your current business model. (If you are just getting started figuring out your business model - this book will help you too; but I suspect that most readers will already be in business - I doubt most rookies would use the phrase 'business model generation' and therefore will come across this book further down their entrepreneurial path.)

And my highest compliment of all is that this is the first business book that I have encountered that is friendly to visual thinkers. Although its an illustrated business book, it feels more like an annotated illustration to me. As most of my staff are designers and artists by education, this method of presenting the information was particularly useful to us.
505336
This book is perfect for entrepreneurs thinking about forming a company to commercialize a technology (if you're planning a service business or a low tech business, there are more suitable guides). Readers will really appreciate the book's structure, thoroughness, and writing clarity.  Following are the book's main lessons:

* Preparedness for the startup lifestyle.
* How to form a company and assemble a management team, board of directors and advisors.
* How to position the product, identify markets, and target customers.
* Importance of building a market-focused business (i.e. identifying the opportunity before developing the technology).
* Advice on intellectual property.
* Guide to writing the business plan.
* How to pitch investors and understand funding terms.
* How to compensate and incentivize employees.

The authors, having obviously been through multiple ventures, are excellent mentors.  Their experience will help you to think things through and avoid many pitfalls.
946741
Entrepreneurial Leaders, not ideas, lead their enterprises to success.  Success is defined as a tangible and sustainable enterprise that can run without the leader.  Those are the foundational beliefs that the book is built on.  We know that not all founders are capable of growing a company and that not everyone is capable of starting a company.  This book identifies four distinct yet linear stages of growing a business from an idea to a self-sustainable company and five skills needed to bring a business through the stages.  It is based on the authors own experiences and teaching it as professor.

Here are some of the tidbits in the book:
Stage four is tricky to lead because you must create a balance between innovation and efficiency.

Nave assumptions to actual events do not cause entrepreneurs to fail, rather bad reactions to actual events that may cause an entrepreneurs to lose confidence and their ability to fail, will cause failure.

There are relevant and interesting stories that support the stages and skills.  PayPals evolution of how it started was interesting.  I liked putting logic and how to steps to what is sometimes called intuition or gut instincts.  For example in addition to the classic strategy questions, casual or effectual strategy is a tool that is explained and the example of the Vegan food offering was helpful.

Its an excellent resource and set of case studies for those involved in or wanting to grow a business from idea to sustainable.  Parts of it are adapting known models.  Parts of it seem like a business school case on paper exercise.  In my experience, not everyone wants to and some peoples talents are not best used by learning to move through all four stages.  Overall an interesting and helpful book and best used in conjunction with other resources that focus on each stage of a business growth.
1378582
If you have no idea where to go with a burning desire to start your own business this book is for you.  Half of SYOB is devoted to guidance on little things and how to successfully implement your brand in both reality and where reality now mostly exists, the internet.  The other half is more for start-ups that just need direction than someone who just realized they want to own their own company.  At several hundred pages, SYOB from Entrepreneur is chalk full of everything a budding entrepreneur or start-up business needs.  I bought it for my online gemstones and accessories store Herstruly.co and I have found it rather useful.  I get more inspiration from reading Think & Grow Rich, watching Shark Tank, and writing professional executive summaries using Business Start-Up Toolkit: The Ultimate Guide to Starting Your Business than I do with SYOB but I didn't buy it for inspiration and for that, it serves it purpose.
2298203
I was so honoured to be one of the chapter authors of this amazing book!  Elaine has broken down what you need to do to get your systems ready and covered all the start up needs and tools you may need.  The experts in this book gives you their best tips, tools and strategies to shorten the learning curve so you can get you business Up and running!  Incredible tool to have in your library and a awesome gift to give!  I wish you ALL much Success in your endeavours.  Linda
339404
The Startup Hats provides a powerful blueprint for every entrepreneur (whether budding or seasoned) to build and sustain a successful business.  David Gardner beautifully illustrates his concepts by organizing them under headings of the many hats an entrepreneur wears...sometimes at the same time.  Startup Hats is practical, well written and offers important advice on everything from financing to recruiting to selling...  I teach a class on entrepreneurship and will use The Start Up Hats as the textbook.
2084750
"Unemployable !" by David Thomas Roberts is an excellent treatise on how to make money as a private entrepreneur. The focus of the book is on articulating the needs of customers and seeking them out through the prism of social media or in person encounters.

The author's best advice is on advising prospective entrepreneurs on what not to do. For instance, a new business entrepreneur should never spend more than the business takes in. Optimal pricing is important. Prices shouldn't be too high or too low because customers can get confused or turned off. One of the worst mistakes is not hiring professionals to help you succeed. Professionals are experts in their individual niche(s). And so,  a new business entrepreneur needs to access "the best"  to distinguish the product in a competitive marketplace.

Overall, the author develops the concepts by pointing out what an entrepreneur needs to do to succeed. From here, the book covers network marketing, renegade marketing, financing, franchises and much more! This book is worth your time and investment. The book has good advice for new or existing business owners.
3597420
Entrepreneurs and start-up owners NEED to read this book. It's a review, ten years later, of the classic "Four Steps to Epiphany" book, by Steve Blank. More than a review, it is a "reshape", including all the experience of teaching and coaching that the authors have developed in the last ten years.
For investors, it's a new way to look to new businesses. Instead of asking for old-fashioned business plans that no one will read, investors should start to ask for Business Model Canvas and the hypothesis that supports the new endeavors they are willing to fund.
Superb!
1773037
I am a successful entrepreneur.  Like many entrepreneurs I hit a brick wall when forward progress became a function of the people I hired and the processes they employed--rather than my own efforts.

Working hard didn't cut it anymore.  I had to work smart.

Larry Robertson's book has helped me do just that by taking the mystery out of the entrepreneurial journey.  This book has helped me define the roles necessary for our company and the types of people I need to fill those roles if my venture is to remain a success.

Troops in battle expect their commander to have to have studied and learned his craft.  Their lives depend upon it.  The same is true of entrepreneurs.  If families do not already depend upon you, they soon will.  If you are to lead with grace and understanding, I encourage you to read "A Deliberate Pause."
612320
Entrepreneurs looking for a way to differentiate themselves in an overcrowded marketplace have a new handbook, and it's needed by the many service professionals who soon realize that substantial industry expertise and impressive talent are simply not enough.

In Seal the Deal, Suzi Pomerantz takes talented entrepreneurs behind the business-building curtain and gives them a formula for six-figure success. By teaching the reader how to use marketing, sales and networking in strategic concert, and how to weave individual success strategies into a comprehensive, proven success formula, Seal the Deal empowers entrepreneurs with a logical and manageable system for substantial growth.

Jennifer Kalita&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Home-Office-Parent-Raising-Kids-and-Profits-Under-One-Roof/dp/1932279687/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Home Office Parent: Raising Kids and Profits Under One Roof</a>