So, You Want to Start a Business?: 8 Steps to Take Before Making the Leap

by Edward D. Hess

“Hess and Goetz present a roadmap for how to avoid the things that can cause you to stumble and how to build a business the right way.” –JEFF ZEIGLER, CEO, TechTurn.com, Austin, TX “When I started my graphic design business, I knew I had enough talent to impress and keep my clients, but I struggled with the day to day running of the business. So, You Want To Start A Business? is the blueprint I needed to get organized and put all the right things in place.” –KORY BAILEY, Owner, Creative Counterpart Build the Successful Company You’ve Always Wanted to Own! More than 5,000,000 new businesses are started each year…but 70% of them will fail. Now, two renowned experts on entrepreneurship identify the 8 “killer mistakes” that cause most business failures–and give you the knowledge, tools, and hands-on advice to avoid them, so you can build a business that thrives . Unlike other books on entrepreneurship, this book focuses on the crucial operational issues associated with consistent profitability. You’ll learn how to identify the right opportunities and customers; design winning products and services; set the right prices; overcome customer inertia; avoid common day-to-day management mistakes; find and keep good employees; and finally, smoothly manage growth. Throughout, the authors draw on real life entrepreneurial experiences, case studies, and leading-edge research. There’s nothing theoretical This is fast-paced, 100% practical advice you can use to make your business dreams and goals come true–starting right now . What really makes a successful entrepreneur? What they do, how they act...and how to find your best path to business success Get the 3 “Ws” right from the start What will you sell, who will buy it–and why will they buy it? 55 simple, indispensable rules for success What you must know about customers, competitors, and your employees The art and science of managing people, operations, and growth Create processes, set priorities, maximize quality, measure people– and improve every day

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Entrepreneurship, Ebooks

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 4, 2008

About the author

Professor Edward D. Hess spent more than 30 years in the business world. He began his career at Atlantic Richfield Corporation and was a senior executive at Warburg Paribas Becker, Boettcher & Company, the Robert M. Bass Group and Arthur Andersen. He is the author of ten books, over 60 practitioner articles, and over 60 Darden cases, etc. dealing with growth systems, managing growth and growth strategies. His books include Hess and Liedtka, The Physics of Business Growth: Mindsets, System and Processes (Stanford University Press, 2012); Grow to Greatness: Smart Growth for Entrepreneurial Businesses (Stanford University Press, 2012); Growing an Entrepreneurial Business: Concepts & Cases (Stanford University Press, February, 2011); Smart Growth: Building Enduring Businesses by Managing the Risks of Growth (Columbia Business School Publishing, 2010); Hess and Goetz, So You Want to Start A Business (FT Press, 2008); The Road To Organic Growth (McGraw-Hill, 2007); Hess and Cameron, eds., Leading with Values: Virtue, Positivity & High Performance (Cambridge University Press, 2006); Hess and Kazanjian, eds., The Search for Organic Growth (Cambridge University Press, 2006).

Smart Growth was named a Top 25 2010 business book for business owners by Inc. Magazine and was awarded the Wachovia Award for Research Excellence.

His current research focuses on the Darden Growth/Innovation Model, the challenges of managing private company growth, growth systems and behaviors. Hess has taught in Executive Education programs for Harris Corporation, Cigna, Timken, United Technologies, Genworth Financial, Pitney Bowes, Unilever Russia, Westinghouse Nuclear, Alpha Natural Resources, Alegco-Scotsman, FTI Consulting, Dover Corporation, Glen Raven Corporation as well as IESE (Barcelona) and the Indian School of Business.

Hess's work has appeared in Fortune magazine, JiJi Press, Washington Post, the Financial Times, Investor's Business Daily, CFO Review, Money magazine and in more than 300 other media publications as well as on CNBC, BusinessWeek.com, Fox Business News, Forbes.com, Big Think, Reuters.com., Inc.com, WSJ Radio, Bloomberg Radio, Dow Jones, MSNBC Radio, Huffington Post.com, Business Insider.com and Chief Learning Officer.com.

Prior to joining the faculty at Darden, he was Adjunct Professor and the Founder and Executive Director of both the Center for Entrepreneurship and Corporate Growth and the Values-Based Leadership Institute at Goizueta Business School, Emory University.

Reviews

[Ranjit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very practical and well structured knowledge. There are specific numbers and advices that you'll rarely find in other books on the topic. The only reason it doesn't get 5 stars is that the summary at the end of some chapters is redundant. As if it was a copy pasted summary of the whole chapter.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a solid business book for anyone who is thinking of starting a business or already owns or invests in small businesses. It devotes the first 6 chapters to giving practical and useful advice and rules for starting a business, such as making sure your business "pencils" (meaning that it will be profitable) and determining your "burn rate" (how much capital you have and how long you can go until you will run out of money). I found this first section to be the most interesting.

The next 2 chapters cover managing your business and your people. Obviously this is hugely important and a big reason why many businesses fail, but I found much of the rules and advice to be overly simplistic and trite. Suggestions such as making your employees feel like a family at work seem pretty obvious.

The final chapter covers managing growth of your business. This too is very important and the author notes that this is often when businesses cannot sustain themselves. However, it felt overloaded with too much information.

Overall the book was very solid with some helpful advice that I will definitely go back to if I decide to start a business. It was somewhat dry but I think that is to be expected.

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

This nook was a quick read. The layout was simple and the authors did a good job at summarizing. However, this book is strictly for people interested in starting a small business selling products. If you are interested in starting a service business or freelancing this is not the best book. It was loaded with math and all sorts of equations before it even got to the chapter on pricing your product.

[Nimish]

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