How to Start a Business from Scratch – an insider’s guide
I’ve had my ups and downs with How to Start a Business from Scratch by Stewart Jacobs. I’ve had moments of “that’s a good point, must remember that” and moments of utter bewilderment. My verdict is that the book has definite value … but it could definitely do with work in certain areas.
Shall I start with the good stuff or the bad stuff? Let’s start with the negatives so that I can end on a positive note.
One of the things that I found astounding is that there are practically no examples used throughout the book. Lots of statements of fact but no scenarios to back them up. A simple example is that he mentions you should get a domain name but doesn’t give an example of what a domain name is. I say “practically none” because there are a couple of instances that I can think of where the author mentions a couple of example businesses. Examples, real life or otherwise, would have helped with my understanding of the points made and with engaging me with the content of the book. As it was the style was easy but unexciting.
One area which I felt was strong (which I’ll touch on below) was financial information – in this case some example calculations were given (yay for examples!) but the figures were given as percentages which I found difficult to get my head round. Some made-up figures would have been much easier to grasp I think.
To round up the negatives, I’d say the book is more theoretical than practical, and one of the things I particularly look for in a business book is practical application.
That being said it does (as I mentioned above) have value. The author gives an overview of all the areas you need to consider when setting up a business. It might not give you all the detail you need but it is a good overall guide. What’s more the author has the courage to cover the less exciting areas of setting up and running a business. Although one of my criticisms is that the book is unexciting, the flip side of this is that it isn’t afraid to mention the areas (such as cash flow forecasts) that are less sexy. This is something to look out for in other startup books I think – I do like a book that is inspirational but do some of them run the risk of sexing it up a bit too much and missing some important info?
In particular I was particularly keen on the coverage of financial management. I picked up on this because it’s an area that I need to do some more work on myself. When talking about finances for startups it’s easy to get caught up in the ins and outs of bookkeeping – important but what about monitoring your finances so that you know exactly where your business is at? That’s what this book does well – the advice is to use a bookkeeper for the day-to-day bookkeeping but to have a system in place to oversee and monitor the business finances. Some of the techniques mentioned are exactly what I’ve been looking for (and haven’t found recommended elsewhere in other general business books) so I’ll definitely be going back over them and seeing how I can adopt them … using real figures of course not just percentages.
How to Start a Business from Scratch is not an in depth guide to starting a business but it does cover a lot of ground. You may find yourself crying out for more detail to clarify what the author means in certain areas, but if you use the book as a guide to what you need to cover you can fill in the detail from elsewhere.
So, not a particularly inspiring book but one which is worth keeping on your shelf as a reference.
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Brilliant Start-Up
The book takes you through the stages of setting up and running a business. It is an inspiring mix of practical information and entertaining writing style. If you’re toying with the idea of setting up a business then this is definitely the book for you. Our business has been going for a few years now but even though some of the book was covering old ground I still found it an interesting read, so I would say that it’s not necessarily just for start-ups. It’s given me a new perspective on parts of our business and I’ve set myself some homework to follow up on some ideas.
The only criticism I would have is the bias towards sales rather than marketing as a whole. There’s a whole chapter which is basically on telesales way before the whole marketing concept is covered, which I found offputting. However, the author began the book with explaining that it would be opinionated and this is an example of that. I can see the point he’s trying to make, I just don’t necessarily agree with it.
My previous book review was, I said, not one for lifting your motivation. This book is exactly that – whether you’re thinking of starting up a business, are in the process of doing so, or (like me) have been running a business for a few years, this book could provide you with the inspiration that you need.
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Preparing a Winning Business Plan
The book takes you step-by-step through the different sections of a business plan, explaining the information you need to compile and giving information about using resources. Each chapter also includes scenarios of different people setting up in business, which helps lift the dryness of the book a bit. However, I did feel that they could have been a bit more directly related to the subject matter of the chapter just covered to see how the advice could be practically applied.
The copy I have is the fourth edition, published in 2003, and it is therefore surprising that resources mentioned give postal addresses but not website details. If there is a more recent edition available I would hope that this has been rectified.
Overall a good information resource to have on your bookshelf but not a book to dip into when your motivation needs a lift.
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Start Your Business Week by Week
How does a book that takes you step by step through the process of setting up a business sound? How about an active online community to offer support along the way sound? Pretty good, eh?
Start Your Business Week by Week
Can you tell that this is one of my favourite business startup books?
What I really like about this book is the way it’s split into weeks, giving you specific tasks to do each week. By following the book you work through the process of setting up your business and writing the all-important business plan. It’s a very easy read and includes quotes from successful entrepreneurs along the way to keep you inspired.
The companion website, Flying Startups, is a great place to hang out. You can keep a log (Pilot’s Log) of your progress and ask for advice on the forums. If you need a bit of boost this is just the place to come – keeping track of what everyone else is up to can work wonders for your motivation.
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