The Young Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Running a Business: Turn Your Ideas into Money!

by Steve Mariotti

Through stories of young entrepreneurs who have started businesses, this book illustrates how to turn hobbies, skills, and interests into profit-making ventures. Mariotti describes the characteristics of the successful entrepreneur and covers the nuts and bolts of getting a business up, running and successful.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Entrepreneurship, Self Help, Finance, Leadership, Reference

498 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 30, 1996

About the author

Steven John Mariotti was an American educator, activist, and businessman. He was the founder and president (1988–2005) of the nonprofit Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), and the author of books and textbooks related to entrepreneurship education. Mariotti was inspired to found NFTE by his early career as a special ed teacher in New York City, as chronicled in his 2019 memoir, Goodbye Homeboy: How My Students Drove Me Crazy and Inspired a Movement, BenBella Books, co-authored with Debra Devi, with a foreword by Wes Moore. After retiring as NFTE president in 2015, Mariotti served as Senior Fellow for Entrepreneurial Education at the PhilaU Center for Entrepreneurship at Philadelphia University (2016–2018), and Senior Research Fellow for Entrepreneurship at Rising Tide Capital in Jersey City, New Jersey (2018–2020). In 2020, Mariotti executive-produced the PBS docu-series Trauma to Triumph: The Rise of the Entrepreneur. In 2021, he founded the nonprofit Center for Financial Independence to provide social entrepreneurs with mentorship and fundraising training.

Reviews

[Pauline De Keyzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. For years I have been thinking about starting my own business. The young entrepreneur’s guide to starting & running a business written by Steve Mariotti really gave me a great overview with real-life examples of what I have to think of when starting a business and how to keep it successful. I highly recommend it.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely nuanced reference guide for entrepreneurship, this book covers all bases from the power of ownership, registering your business under all legal structure types with the pros and cons of each, writing a successful business plan, attracting investors, accounting, marketing, franchising and numerous methods to expand your business. The font in this book was very small and it oftentimes felt like I was reading a 400 page newspaper which made it a slightly less enjoyable read. There were a few chapters in this book where the title and subject felt muddled and somewhat lost their identity by the end as the information would sometimes branch off into different areas and I'd have to flip back to the start of the chapter to remind myself what I was reading about. Everything in this book makes it a must read for aspiring entrepreneurs and I'm certainly keeping this book within arms reach as my own business grows.

[Alex Vassilchenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teaches a lot about business and how the market works

[Ingrid · Rating 3 out of 5]

For months, the idea of starting my own summer business had been gnawing at me----partially due to the pressure of school and partially due to my piqued interest in attaining financial literacy. After reading from financial giant Robert Kiyosaki, I later stumbled through the book to launch my plan into action.

This book highlights, chapter by chapter, the essentials to launching and keeping an entrepreneurial business, in addition to success stories (and failures) from young entrepreneurs and world-renowned entrepreneurs we know today, such as Donald Trump, Russell Simmons, and the like. I liked the short snippet stories of how these people rose to entrepreneurial fame. If you already have a basic understanding of accounting terms, stocks, and mutual funds (like me) then the beginning of the book would have passed by VERY slowly. Honestly, for a better grasp on accounting concepts (with colorful visuals and intricate analogies), I'd HIGHLY RECOMMEND The Accounting Game: Basic Accounting Fresh From The Lemonade Stand over this. In that respect, I felt this book was trying to guide its young readers through too many concepts that bogged it down as a whole.

However, there were many positives of this book. Chapters 13-25 got to me, seeing as I have no legal or tax knowledge whatsoever. I'm glad this book helped break down the basics of filing taxes for businesses. What really took the cake were the last 20 helpful pages which was like the coloring book edition of business plans----ooh lala! Will definitely be using this to map out my business ideas. If not for this book, I wouldn't know who else to turn to!

[Dena McMurdie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you or your teen are interested in starting a business, you will definitely want to read this book. It's intended for high school students, college students, and anyone else that has has no entrepreneurial experience. It goes through just about everything involved in starting and running a business, illustrating the different topics with stories of successful entrepreneurs.

While most of the business books I've read cover only one type of business, this book was very comprehensive of all business types, financing options, marketing, investing, and so forth. It also has examples, a glossary, and concrete ideas. While it doesn't spend too long on any one topic, it gives a good overview. It's not the only business book you'll need to read, but it should be one of the first. It explains everything in easy to understand language and includes vocabulary definitions along the way.

Source: I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

My blog: Batch of Books

[Chara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great for a beginner to learn how to start a business.

[Douglass Gaking · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Young Entrepreneur's Guide is an excellent resource for anyone thinking about starting a business or trying to improve their small business. Whether you are trying to expand your side hustle, invent a new product, or launch a start-up, Mariotti covers everything you need to know.

The book's 22 chapters cover everything from the entrepreneurial lifestyle to legal structures and liability concerns to taxes and finance to writing a business plan. Concepts are covered in an accessible manner. No previous business knowledge is needed and esoteric topics are avoided. If you are excited about starting a business, you can breeze through this book. It is also organized in a way that makes it easy to go back to for reference.

I chose this as the textbook for my high school Introduction to Entrepreneurship class this year. It was very helpful for covering everything my students need to know. Many of the students enjoyed reading it because it is not written in a dry textbook style and each chapter shares at least one young entrepreneur's story. Mariotti set out to write a book that is engaging for young people who might be interested in business, and this book accomplishes that.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Packed with usable information

Excellent book. It's easy to follow. I loved the real life examples. It starts from the beginning, each chapter building on the last one. It lays out each of the pieces of a strong foundation for any business, from micro on up.

I'm not young, but definitely an entrepreneur. This book is very helpful to me. Anyone with an idea, and not much else, can learn a lot by reading it. It is not intimidating. It is realistic and encouraging.

[Hada Del Barrio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of great information to help someone looking to become an entrepreneur. Reading this in 2023, when its most recent update is 2014, it was bad for me at times. Good because the information is still factual, but bad because so much time has happened since this version, meaning A LOT, has changed even with some of the business and success stories mentioned. For instance some of the businesses and websites given for them no longer exist.

[Vincent Zhang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of boring and dry. The book covers a lot but also tries to make topics interesting by including real life stories but they’re not long enough to captivate readers. Also thought the author could have combined some of his opinions/personal experiences with a little more research in some areas give us a richer reading experience.

[Jerzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read parts of this ages ago for a business class in college. Seemed like a really solid workbook for getting started in business as a young person (as early as middle or high school?). Might try to find a copy again when my boys are old enough, if they have any interest in the topic.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top tier book for anyone starting a business. No fluff, no BS, just a detailed, step by step guide on every area of starting and running a business.

[Debbi Huntington · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad that I got this book. It has revived my dream of running my own shop, and with the step by step instrucions, I feel so empowered and rearing to go! If you dream of being your own boss, start with this book. It covers everything from writing a business plan, to looking for funding, to managing your money. A great asset to every business.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an amazing overview on everything from how to write a professional email to the nitty gritty details of accounting, legal structures and anything a brand new entrepreneur needs to know. It was easy to read and incredibly helpful, and included examples of small businesses started by women and people of color.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author writes for young people and teenagers to motivate and teach them about business. Using simple language and extensive examples, he demonstrates how to be successful in business. He explains business terms and concepts in an easy to read manner.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written for young people with no business background. Excellent business plan worksheet.

[Abiodun Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Both inspirational and self-help in practical terms. The book title was well worthy of the contents, read time and, of course, the investment.

[Susan Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book for any young person who is interested in starting a business.

[Julio Ludovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good introduction book for those who want to start his own business . A lot of information , may be some can be unuseful if you run your business outside USA