Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi everyone,

I was wondering what`s a good book to buy to teach me more about starting a business. I can`t find StartupNation here in Malaysia where I live and buying it from Amazon would mean I pay more shipping costs than the book itself, so I`m looking for other recommendations.

I`ve read The Dip - it`s an inspiring book, but not tactical enough.

I`m in the middle of E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber which is also inspiring, but it feels like lots of pie-in-the-sky info.

I`m considering getting

The Unofficial Guide to Starting a Small Business by Marcia Layton Turner

and

The Small Business Bible: Everything You Need To Know To Succeed In Your Small Business by Steven D. Strauss

I`m interested to know what you think of these books and your recommendations for other good resources. Thanks!


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David Wang
Chief WordPress Wrangler @ ClickWP

Hi blogjunkie,

Welcome to SUN.

Whenever I look for a book on a particular subject I look for someone who has `already completed what I want to complete` rather than a theory book.

You could try My Start-up-life by the 19 yeat old Entrepreneur Ben Casnocha.
You can can some of his book excerps here:

http://www.mystartuplife.com/the_book.php


Hope you enjoy your journey.

Andrew

I just finished `The Carrey Formula` by Barbara Carey, it is excelent. It is for people who have product ideas/inventions and want to make a business out of them. Step by step stuff and some inspiration.

 

Thanks Andrew and liloo, I`ll be sure to check out those books you`ve recommended.

Anyone actually read the 2 that I`m thinking of checking out?

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David Wang
Chief WordPress Wrangler @ ClickWP

Actually, two books that really got us into the swing of things:

• StartupNation: America`s Leading Entrepreneurial Experts Reveal the Secrets to Building a Blockbuster Business - By the Sloan brothers (who got us involved in this whole Web site and forums
• Start Your own E-Business - Robert McGarvey. We originally thought we`d build an eBay business, and read this book. That got us thinking about niche products, which moved us gradually into our own thing, where eBay is only a part of our strategy.

Aside from books, taking a basic business course is very helpful. You can usually find something at a local community college, and in many cases, can audit the class rather than take it for grade points. If you already understand basic business, then books are helpful. Otherwise, learn the basics with a real human being as an instructor, so you can ask questions.

I see that you don`t want to pay shipping costs to buy the Sloan book from Amazon. I`d urge you to reconsider that. If you want to scrimp at the very start, the conceptual phase of even getting into starting a business, you`ll likely have a very steep, uphill battle if you don`t want to invest in your materials.

7 years to 7 figures by Michael Masterson is really good.  Also Think and Grow Rich and How to Win Friends & Influence People  for real, lasting business skills.

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Dale
www.ourbestidea.com
www.maskerinsurance.com
www.maskercreations.net

I really enjoyed this book. I agree both practical and inspirational, complete with a monumental failure or two.

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Chit Chat and Chew is reconnecting families and changing lives. Visit us online at www.chitchatandchew.com

Going with what Andrew said I really enjoyed The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss.  The thing that I have seen about any book though is that you have to follow through with what you have learned from it.  I have read 30-40 business/self-improvement/motivational books and I am only recently starting to figure that out.  So whatever ideas you glean from a book, make sure you can apply them and take action before moving on to another book.

I started out with this book " How to write a business Plan" by Nolo Publishers. Author- Mike P.Mc Keever.This is a great book for aspiring entrepreneurs. 

The book presents all factors to be considered before starting business. All Business needs/all the essential elements are presented in  Quantitative form. You get figures and lot of tables where you can do your math and see if your idea is feasible.

However most comments are relevant to businesses in US and so you need to adapt a bit for your own country. It takes about 2-3 weeks to read this book and play around with tables,working about an hour a day. Once you are through you will be an entirely different person. This book has helped me to think more realistic.

Any body has personal comments about this? I am interested to know.

I am currently reading "Think and Grow Rich" By Napolean Hill - It`s a pretty good book so far, seems like `The Secret` borrowed a lot of it`s ideas from this book.

Rich Dad Poor Dad is another good one.

Neither of these really have the step by step way to start a business that it seems you are looking for, but they both definately make you start thinking in different ways