With so many things to think about when starting a business, it is useful to have several business start-up books to guide you and answer your many questions.
This is both an exciting and scary time.
Exciting because you’re creating something that might have an impact on the rest of your life. Scary because you’ll be outside of the safety net provided by full time employment and regular wages or salaries.
Quite simply, as a business owner, the saying “you eat what you kill” applies. If you don’t earn it, you can’t spend it.. or at least not for long.
Three quick tips for you:
1 – Concentrate on getting customers. It’s often much harder than you expect.
2 – Conserve your cash. It is very easy to spend, much harder to earn and your cash reserves may be needed to tide you over until your business gets established.
3 – Be prepared to take advice when it’s offered and more importantly, ask for help when you need it.
You will only see the books I’ve rated at Four Stars (meaning good and well worth reading) and Five Stars (excellent and very highly recommended). Reviews of lower rated books appear on Amazon.co.uk but I haven’t brought the reviews across to my own website.
If you read my reviews, you’ll see I try to explain why I like them but also to identify any weaknesses. My job as a reviewer is to help you to find the most appropriate books rather than to help sell more books.
On that note, if you do decide to buy, I’d appreciate it if you could click through to Amazon on my links as (hopefully) I’ll earn a small referral commission.
Some of these books can be very expensive so, if you’re happy with a hard back or paperback book, take a look at the second hand options on Amazon. Personally I only buy if the condition is described as “As New” or “Very Good” unless I’m really keen and forced to drop down to “Good”.
The Five Star Business Start-Up Books featured are:
Will It Fly?: How to Test Your Next Business Idea So You Don’t Waste Your Time and Money by Pat Flynn
This book will help you “test drive” your business idea before you start spending much money and time. Useful for general businesses but mainly targeted at Internet businesses.
Crackerjack Positioning: Niche Marketing Strategy for the Entrepreneur by Don Reynolds
Start as you mean to go on by having your focus targeted on a clear and specific niche.
Loan Sharp: Get the business finance you deserve by Rob Warlow
An excellent book to read if you need to raise money to launch or expand your business.
Wake Up and Change Your Life by Duncan Bannatyne
43 Mistakes Businesses Make by Duncan Bannatyne
Start at the End by David Lavinsky
Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur
The Beermat Entrepreneur by Mike Southan and Chris West
All my four and five star reviews of business start-up books are listed further down the page.
Some times, the best books are those that specialise in your particular industry or trade. They can give you inside knowledge of what is needed to succeed although too often, they are cookie cutter books where the author cuts and pastes one industry for another. You can check this by clicking on the author’s name at Amazon.
Other categories of books that you might want to consider include:
Business Planning – Copywriting – Finance – Inner Game – Internet Marketing – Leading Your Team – Marketing – Pricing – Profit Improvement – Project Management – Retail Business – Sales Training – Social Media – Specific Niche Markets – Systems – Understanding Buyers
The full title of this book by Walker Deibel is
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a Four Stars rating. This means it is Good to Very Good.
Here is my book review.
Very well written guide to being an acquisition entrepreneur
Can you succeed by buying a business? [continue reading…]
The full title of this book by Robert Ashton is
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a 4 Stars rating. This means it is Good to Very Good.
Here is my book review.
Helpful and useful
This book brings two of my main business principles into potential conflict. These are: [continue reading…]
The full title of this book by Ivan Houston is
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a 4 Stars rating. This means it is Good to Very Good.
Here is my book review.
Helpful but I’m not sure it has the right title
I’ve been looking for a good book on financial management to recommend to clients. My all-time favourite is called “The Genghis Khan Guide to Business” but it’s been out of print for a long time. Occasionally second hand copies pop up for sale on Amazon.
For my purposes, this starts at too low a level but I think anyone thinking about starting a business will find it very helpful.
Reading the book, it is very clear that the author works in the accounting profession rather than as a financial manager/ director in industry and commerce. There is a surprisingly big difference in perspective.
I split it into three roles
1) book-keeping – that is recording financial transactions
2) accounting – the reporting of financial transactions and hopefully forecasting future results.
3) financial management – which for me is being involved or even making the decisions that directly contribute to the financial health of the business.
There isn’t enough content in that third category.
I like the book but it isn’t what I was looking for or expecting based on the title. I recommend it for new business owners.
You can buy the book from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
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The full title of this book by Eric Ries is
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a 5 Stars rating. This means it is Excellent.
Here is my book review.
I read this book years ago but never got around to reviewing it. I’ve just read it two more times in the last year. It is that good.
I see it as an essential book for start-up entrepreneurs. It is packed with important truths. [continue reading…]
The book that has been summarised this time is “Money Hunt: 27 New Rules for Creating and Growing a Breakaway Business” by Miles Spencer and Cliff Ennico.
In my review posted at Amazon.co.uk, I gave this summary Four Stars. This means it is Good and Well Worth Reading.
Here is my book review.
In this book summary, there are 27 rules for small business startup success.
I hadn’t heard of the original book but this came up on searches and after the third or fourth time, I was intrigued enough to look for it. Reading the reviews, it sounded very good but was expensive, even second hand. [continue reading…]
The full title of this book by Pat Flyinn is
In my review posted on Amazon.co,uk, I gave the book a rating of FIVE STARS. This means it is one of the few books I consider to be excellent.
Here is my book review.
This is a super book to help you assess your exciting idea for a new business before you fully commit to it.
Whilst many of the ideas can be carried across to the physical world, it’s particularly suitable for information marketing and app/software development. [continue reading…]
The full title of this book by Mike Southan and Chris West is
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I rated the book at the Four Stars level. This means I think it is Good and Well Worth Reading.
Here is my book review.
That last bit of the sentence is important. This is not a book for someone who wants to build a nice small business with a steady income. [continue reading…]
The full title of this book by Duncan Bannatyne is
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Four Stars. This means I think it is Good and Well Worth Reading.
Here is my book review.
In my opinion, this book is very much targeted at the business start-up market as a guide of what to look out for or what to think about before you start out.
Most people who have already started a business get rapid feedback if things aren’t right – potential customers don’t buy, staff don’t do things right and the bank balance shoots downwards at an alarming rate. [continue reading…]
In my review of
posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave this book Four Stars.
This means that I think it is Good and Well Worth Reading.
Here is my book review.
This book provides the inspiration for you to move from thinking and talking about starting your own business to actually making the commitment to literally change your life.
It’s a no nonsense guide to getting your idea developed and your business started. [continue reading…]
The full title of this book by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur is
In my review on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a rating of Four Stars. This means that it is Good and Well Worth Reading.
Here is my book review.
This is a remarkable triumph of visual design. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book like it before.
I have some criticisms about how easy it is to read and the fact that the content is more style over substance. For one thing, to create space for all the funky images, the words are in a small font. I was OK but I know that some people will struggle.
I really like the idea of the one page Business Model Canvas which is described as “a shared language for describing, visualising, assessing and changing business models.” It looks very useful to summarise your existing business model and for moving towards better ways to create, deliver and capture value. [continue reading…]
I was a consultant, small business coach and advisor based in Birmingham, with over 35 years business experience, including more than 20 years as self employed.
My main business qualifications are:
– Chartered Accountant
– MBA
– Certified Guerilla Marketing Coach
My main interests are in helping business owners who are stuck get unstuck by thinking more clearly about their issues and possible solutions.
I no longer provide professional business coaching but I will be sharing more ideas on my blog and will continue my popular business book reviews.
I can be contacted by email at Paul@BusinessDevelopmentAdvice.com
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