Starting on a Shoestring

By Arnold S. Goldstein

Book Overview

Live your entrepreneurial dream with no-or little-money down

Where there's a will, there's a way. Even if you don't have start-up money in the bank, you can get your new business on its feet with ingenuity and knowledge. Starting on a Shoestring is the key to your success. Now in its Fourth Edition, this perennial bestseller has helped thousands of people live out their dreams; it provides the knowledge and the confidence you need to get your business off the ground and up and running. Authoritative, step-by-step guidance will answer your questions, help you plan your strategy, and get you started. In the new Fourth Edition, an all-new chapter covers everything you need to know about the Internet, from creating an online presence for your business to understanding all the tech jargon.

And there's more:
* Make sure your business idea is right for you-before you take the risk
* Find sources of capital and approach them confidently
* Six common myths: avoid the traps and misconceptions of starting up
* Should you take on a partner?
* Setting up: bargains on equipment, dealing with suppliers, the advantages of leasing, value of consignments
* Marketing and advertising on a shoestring: free publicity, word-of-mouth, creating a prestige image cheaply
* Examples of businesses like yours that maximized their success on the Internet


Now better than ever, Starting on a Shoestring gives you a wealth of vital information you'll find in no other book-it's your first step to entrepreneurial success.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471232882
• ISBN13: 9780471232889
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The confidence to move ahead

My husband and I been cultivating a business idea over the past 2 years, and have read numerous books on how to start your own business. We feel pretty ready to take the plunge, but always fall down on the $200K investment required. Can we justify risking our life savings for this one chance at success??? This book is phenomenal and the only book I've read which gets us over this hurdle. It has shown us that the reason we falter is that the risk vs reward is too high, and that the only way to get past it is to reduce our risk by reducing our investment. It shows you exactly why you shouldn't put all your money into a business venture, even if you have the money to spend. And it covers the basics of how to get the remaining investment and from whom. Excellent, excellent advice which I'll highly recommend to anyone considering starting their own business.

Starting with Wads of Money is Bad...

Starting a business with a lot of money is a bad idea and this book makes that case better than any other. Using your cash instead of your brains will get you in more trouble than you need. I teach Entrepreneurship at the University of Southern Mississippi and have found this book to be outstanding. It is not an academic textbook but more of a nuts-and-bolts primer to actually getting a business off the ground while conserving your cash. Making use of Other People's Money is the essence of intelligent business finance. People do not start businesses intending to fail and yet most businesses do fail and the number one reason is that they run out of cash. "Cash is King" and the longer you can make yours last the more likely you are to build a successful business. This book gives practical examples of how to do that as well as cautionary tales of believing that your business cannot fail. I cannot stress the importance of reading this book prior to building your business plan or embarking on a business venture.

Unique, comprehensive, motivational gem

"Starting on a Shoestring" is an entirely non-bs, straight-to-the-point primer on all the possibilities available to the entrepreneurial dreamer, many of which he or she would not even have imagined possible. In short, there's a lifetime's worth of knowledge and wisdom in here. You don't need to learn the hard way though;read this book, expand your horizons,and gain a new outlook on the world of business.There is no such thing as a how-to guide for business sucess, but this book is as close as you'll likely get to it.

An Indispensible Practical Gem!

This book was far beyond my expectation. It is not simply just a book on giving advice of how to start small, it is a book that teaches you all facets of how to build a business from the ground up! Not only that, it does so systematically, pointing out the advantages and disadvantages in a straight forward manner. No sound bytes, no big words, and no hype. This book is like having a no-nonsense advisor by your side every step of the way. Please browse through the table of contents. There aren't a lot of books that tell a beginner what to look out for if you are looking for a partner or what to look out for when you are paying your creditors, to name only a couple. For a budding entrepreneur who wants sound and practical advice, this book is a must read.

Finally, an author that takes a stand!

Unlike the reader from Alaska I was happy to finally find a small business book that took a stand and gave specific advice (i.e., incorporate! don't buy new fixtures! etc.) rather than just information on all the different ways one can do something.In addition to having much practical advice about how to start a business with limited funds, Starting on a Shoestring's matter-of-fact tone and plentitude of rags-to-riches examples make this a great motivational book as well.