What No One Ever Tells You About Starting Your Own Business: Real Life Start-Up Advice from 101 Successful Entrepreneurs (What No One Ever Tells You About...)

466 Pages·1998·1.02 MB·English

by  Jan Norman

What No One Ever Tells You About Starting
title: Your Own Business : Real Life Start-up Advice
From 101 Successful Entrepreneurs
author: Norman, Jan.
publisher: Kaplan Publishing
isbn10 | asin: 1574101129
print isbn13: 9781574101126
ebook isbn13: 9780585211848
language: English
New business enterprises--Management,
subject
Entrepreneurship.
publication date: 1999
lcc: HD62.5.N68 1999eb
ddc: 658/.041
New business enterprises--Management,
subject:
Entrepreneurship.
Page i
What No One Ever Tells You About
Starting Your Own Business
Real Life Start-Up Advice from 101 Successful Entrepreneurs
Jan Norman
Page ii
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information
in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that
the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other
professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the
services of a competent professional person should be sought.
Acquisitions Editor: Danielle Egan-Miller
Managing Editor: Jack Kiburz
Project Editor: Trey Thoelcke
Interior Design: Lucy Jenkins
Cover Design: Design Alliance, Inc.
Typesetting: Elizabeth Pitts
© 1999 by Jan Norman
Published by Upstart Publishing Company®,
a division of Dearborn Publishing Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. The text of this publication, or any part thereof, may not
be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the
publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
99 00 01 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Norman, Jan.
What no one ever tells you about starting your own business / by
Jan Norman.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 1-57410-112-9
1. New business enterprisesManagement. 2. Entrepreneurship.
I. Title.
HD62.5.N68 1999
658'.041dc21 93-30479
CIP
Upstart books are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums
and sales promotions, or for use in corporate training programs. For more
information, please call the Special Sales Manager at 800-621-9621, ext.
4514, or write to Dearborn Financial Publishing, Inc., 155 North Wacker
Drive, Chicago, IL 60606-1719.
Page iii
DEDICATION
To my husband, Mark Landsbaum,
without whom this book would never have been written.
Page v
CONTENTS
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Author's Note xv
Part 1 1
Look before You Leap
1. It All Starts with a Dream 2
2. Make a Plan 4
3. Suddenly, You're Nobody 6
4. Start with What You Know 7
5. Self-Taught 9
6. Don't Buy Blindly 11
7. Work for Free 13
8. Know the Rules 14
9. Devil in the Details 16
10. Fill Me in Fully 18
11. Overcome Ignorance with Desire 20
12. Know Yourself 21
13. Hobbies Aren't Businesses 23
14. Set Your Sites 25
15. So Little Time 27
16. Harder Than Hard 28
17. Plan for Failure 30
18. Get off the Dime 32
Part 2 37
Early Decisions
19. The Supports Are Gone 38
20. The Value of First 39
21. Pay Attention to You 41
22. Right Form 43
23. You Don't Have to Have All the Answers 45
24. Margin of Success 47
25. Know Your Strengths 48
26. Don't Take It Personally 50
27. The Value of a Calm Center 52
28. Bad Vibes 53
29. Strike a Balance 55
30. Investments That Differentiate 57
31. The Right Stuff 59
32. One Size Doesn't Fit All 61
33. Change Transforms 63
34. Seize Growth Opportunities 65
35. After All This, What? 67
Page vi
Part 3 71
The Money Chase
36. Learn to Read 72
37. Everything Costs More Than You Think 74
38. Nickel and Dime to Death 76
39. Bird in the Hand 78
40. Live within Your Means 80
41. Cash Is King 81
42. Count the Beans 83
43. Part I: Know Your Price 85
44. Part II: The Valuable Intangible 87
45. The Search Is Endless 89
46. Equity, Not Debt 91
47. Investigate before You Borrow 92
48. A Piece of the Action 94
49. Don't Give Away Your Baby 96
50. What's Wrong with a Million-Dollar Contract? 98
51. Digging Out of Early Holes 100
52. Speed Kills 101
Part 4 105
Management Issues
53. Count the Hot Dogs 106
54. It's a Business; Act like It 107
55. Break through Barriers 109
56. Make Your Yardstick 111
57. Formal Instruction 113
58. Through Others' Eyes 115
59. Ask, Don't Think 117
60. No Instant Successes 119
61. Big Game Hunting 121
62. Customer Nightmares 122
63. Who's Next? 124
64. The Virtual Corporation 126
65. Scarcity of Supplies 128
66. Get the Goods on the Shelves 129
67. Cope with Growth 131
68. The Downside of Franchising 133
69. Who Is Best? 135
Part 5 139
Helping Hand(s)
70. Delegate to Grow 140
71. Ya Gotta Ask 141
72. The Game of Seek and Keep 143
73. Hire the Best 145
74. You Can't Ask That! 146
75. Complement Yourself 148
76. Win-Win Pay Structures 150
77. It's Policy 152
78. Get a Second Opinion 154
79. Side One: Get a Partner 156
80. Flip Side: Forget a Partner 158
81. Turn Pro 160
82. Take Care of the Child 161
83. Link with Others 163
84. Find Your Pioneers 165
85. Build with Boards 167