The Entrepreneur's Guide (Survival Kit Series Book 2)

This is an updated version of the best selling book in Hard Cover with Macmillan and Mass Market paperback with Ballantine since 1980. Also see the newer version, Business Startup, also on Kindle, as well as the related audiobooks on audible.com, an Amazon company, which runs the Apple iTunes audiobook store as well as Amazon’s. Discount codes available to purchasers.

This book emphasizes the basics for entrepreneurs. Why do it? Does your temperament fit? If not, give it a pass and have a happier life.

And secondly, a focus on the basics to make a business work: sales, operations, delivery, and getting paid. Do those 4 well, the author says, and the rest will be much easier. Finances, professional advice, and great employees always support businesses that succeed in these fundamentals—think Amazon, Apple, Walmart, Dell, IBM, McDonald’s, and others.

Brown gives lots of gritty basic tips to make your ventures work.

The Chicago Tribune: “A good introduction to dreamers and budding business people.”
The Kirkus Reviews: “A succinct, instructive, often entertaining introduction to the rewards and risks of proprietorship…A productive labor of love.”

Or as Brown says, “If you don’t love it, don’t do it.”

Contains...

Preface

Getting Started.
>Why Be an Entrepreneur?
>Why Avoid Entrepreneurship.
>The Entrepreneurial Profile for Success.
>How Do You Measure Up?

Formation
>Market Selection.
>Partners: The New Venture Trap.
>Corporate Name.
>Incorporation.
>Investor Selection.
>Purchasing a Going Concern.
>Office.
>First Communications.
>Summary: What to Expect in Early Days.

Running the Business.
>Key Tasks & Priorities.
>How Not to Run a New Venture: The Big Company Model.
>How to Run It.
>Refining Your Talents.

Marketing.
>The Marketing Task.
>The Customer.
>Consumer Profile.
>Product Concepts & New Venture Failures.
>Product/Service Selection.
>Product/Service Positioning.
>Pricing, Packaging, Promotion.
>PR.
>Advertising.
>Market Research.
>Marketing Plan.

Sales
>Sales Leadership.
>Salespeople.
>Entrepreneurial Empire Building: Sales Force.
>Independent Reps.
>Direct Sales People.
>The Customer.
>Key Accounts.
>Key Account Forms.
>Recommended Sales Approaches.

Finance.
>Cash Flow in the New Venture.
>Controlling the Cash.
>Why Banks are Tougher than Vendors.
>The Credit Business.
>Winning Creditor Confidence.
>Credit Sources Other than Banks.
>Financial Leadership.
>The Task.
>Necessary Controls.

Operations.
>If You Must Get Involved.
>Materials & Equipment.
>Cost Control.
>People.
>Unions: Entrepreneurial Nightmare.
>A Final Note: Personal Training.

Professionals and the Business Environment.
>Lawyers.
>Accountants.
>Consultants.
>The Intimidated Professional.
>The Community & Other Ego-Boosting Activities.
>Government Agencies.

Conclusion.
>When to Get Out.

Appendix: Various Reports.

Related Readings.