Start & Run a Real Home-Based Business [With CDROM]

by Dan Furman

Book Overview

Home-based businesses are becoming ever more popular as people want to control where and when they work. This book offers practical, step-by-step advice, from selecting the type of business to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1551808668
• ISBN13: 9781551808666
• Release Date: December 2008
• Publisher: Self Counsel Press
• Length: 179 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.1" x 9.8"

Customer Reviews

A great book for anyone starting a business!

I highly recommend this book to anyone starting a business. It is filled with many helpful tips, ones that point out what you should be doing, and others that point out what you shouldn't. This book gives me the knowledge and positive attitude to get through the first few difficult months. To be honest, I kept knocking on the wrong doors until I found this book. I felt like Christopher Columbus without a map. I wasn't sure what to do, who to trust, and what was really important and what wasn't, what to spend money on, the value of bartering, the importance to advertise, and how to structure my day so I don't work too much or too little. Working from home is very different than working in an office. The book has helped me set attainable goals, set priorities, and what is important to do right now. Dan Furman's book is a gift to anyone starting a new business. The book is direct, to the point, and funny. It covers a multitude of subjects and I take it with me wherever I go. I jot down ideas during the day and Start & Run has everything I need to know. A new business is like having a baby. It takes the same care, time and attention that a newborn needs. I found starting my business was like having my first child. I didn't have a clue what to do first. There were so many first-time, important decisions to be made and I kept looking for a mentor. Well, I found one here. Five Stars

Great place to start

The book is written in a very engaging and conversational style. It's written as a series of essays on various topics, which represent Dan's opinions, so you won't find references to other work. That being said, I found the content to be very sound and reasonable. This is written as an introduction to small business and that's precisely what it is.

It reads like the story of my life.

Person wants to start a new business, makes silly mistakes and loses the business. Person starts again, makes fewer mistakes but the business still doesn't survive. Person finally learns from their mistakes and enjoys a thriving business. Who here with their own business hasn't experienced that loss and learning? That's the story in this book. I found this book to be very informative and a breath of fresh air. The writing is concise, practical, and funny. It's also very believable. Gone are the flowcharts promising a 24.5 percent return on your investment. Gone are the get rich quick promises. What's left in it's place is a solid guide to starting AND keeping your own business. Parts of the book may be obvious to some people. The author presses the need to become familiar with the internet. That may be obvious to you and I but our friend who makes jewelery may never think about that. We know blurry photocopied fliers taped to the laundrymat cork board isn't as professional as business cards but there's still people who do that. There's tips on collecting money from clients, keeping good records, why personal hygenie is a must (hard to believe people will show up to a job interview dirty and smelling of cigarette smoke), and why you should be nice to your competition. I really enjoy this author's book because I believe he's done his time in the business trenches. I've had several businesses myself and the experiences mentioned with the author or the author's friends are mirrored with mine. I charged too less, I thought of advertising as an expense and cut back (forgetting that without it, I wouldn't have customers), didn't keep my records as neat as I should have and a few other mistakes that are too embarrassing to mention now. This book will help you avoid those mistakes. PROS Easy to follow and understand advice. Lack of corporate speak. Real world advice. Good writing samples to use. Very funny writing. CONS None really. I would have liked more information on Internet marketing only because I felt the author is knowledgeable in it. However Internet marketing changes so rapidly, any information could be obsolete quickly. What the author mentions is more than some books mention so it would be unfair to chastise him. I suspect he left the ones he know would be around for a while and that's still very good. I figure I have to put at least One Con for balance so there it is. I'm very happy with this book. I plan on buying a few copies and giving them to my business owner friends as gifts.

Very helpful (and surprisingly entertaining) book

I've read quite a few home-based business books, and this one is the most helpful I've come across for many reasons. First, it's easy to read. Short, concise paragraphs... not pages upon pages reiterating the same information in different ways (I don't have time for that)! It also goes into helpful topics you don't usually find in a business how-to book, like why it's important to keep your car clean (I'm not kidding! Read it and you'll see). The books author Dan Furman does a surprisingly wonderful thing in this book - he makes you laugh! I couldn't put the book down, simply because it was so entertaining. I've never actually enjoyed reading a "business" book before. I wish all informational books could be written this way. You can also pick it up and thumb through it with ease, finding useful information at any point. I highly recommend this book!

Kick Start Your Home-Based Business

If you or someone you know is thinking of starting a home-based business, this is a great reference book for them to have. The author has taken a no-nonsense approach to all the various aspects of starting and running a home-based business, from setting up banking accounts, determining price points, networking and marketing, even scheduling in some much needed time off. The book is loaded with important information and is delivered in an easy to read format - you can pretty much open up any chapter and start learning what it takes to run a successful home business. The author's wry sense of humor is used effectively and makes this not only an interesting read, but a fun one as well. I recommend it highly.