Blueprint to Business

Essential reading for any would-be entrepreneur

Blueprint to Business is the ultimate guide to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Bestselling author and CEO Mike Alden puts aside the rainbows and sunshine, gets real about what it takes to 'make it,' and gives you the real-world guidance you need to hear. Through anecdotes and advice, he shares his experiences along with those of other top founders and entrepreneurs to give you a realistic picture of what it takes to build a business. It's a bit of tough love, a healthy dose of reality, and a tremendously motivating guide to striking out on your own; from motivation and commitment to business licenses and the IRS, this guide is your personal handbook for the biggest adventure of your career.

So you want to start a business: how much are you willing to commit in terms of time, money, and energy? How do you plan to bring in customers? What will set you apart from the crowd? What will convince clients to come to you rather than your competitor with an established track record? These questions must be answered before you even begin planning--and then, you have to make that canyon-sized leap from planning to doing. This book guides you through the early stages with practical advice from a real-world perspective.

• Turn 'dreams' into goals, and goals into reality
• Discover just what it takes to build a successful business
• Dig into the paperwork and legal/regulatory requirements
• Adjust your expectations to reflect your abilities and willingness to commit

Starting a business could be the best thing you've ever done--or it could be the worst. Mitigate the risk by setting yourself up for success from the very beginning with the invaluable advice in Blueprint to Business.

Auteur

MICHAEL ALDEN is one of America's most popular direct response hosts and personalities and founder and CEO of Blue Vase(R) Marketing, a multimillion-dollar direct response company capable of creating strategic marketing road maps for products and services. He is the author of the bestselling 5% More and Ask More, Get More.

Texte du rabat

Essential reading for any would-be entrepreneur Blueprint to Business is the ultimate guide to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Bestselling author and CEO Mike Alden puts aside the rainbows and sunshine, gets real about what it takes to 'make it,' and gives you the real-world guidance you need to hear. Through anecdotes and advice, he shares his experiences along with those of other top founders and entrepreneurs to give you a realistic picture of what it takes to build a business. It's a bit of tough love, a healthy dose of reality, and a tremendously motivating guide to striking out on your own; from motivation and commitment to business licenses and the IRS, this guide is your personal handbook for the biggest adventure of your career. So you want to start a business: how much are you willing to commit in terms of time, money, and energy? How do you plan to bring in customers? What will set you apart from the crowd? What will convince clients to come to you rather than your competitor with an established track record? These questions must be answered before you even begin planning--and then, you have to make that canyon-sized leap from planning to doing. This book guides you through the early stages with practical advice from a real-world perspective. Turn 'dreams' into goals, and goals into reality Discover just what it takes to build a successful business Dig into the paperwork and legal/regulatory requirements Adjust your expectations to reflect your abilities and willingness to commit Starting a business could be the best thing you've ever done--or it could be the worst. Mitigate the risk by setting yourself up for success from the very beginning with the invaluable advice in Blueprint to Business.

Contenu

Introduction xi 1 The Reality of Being an Entrepreneur 1 2 Getting Started 11 3 Business Basics 23 4 Action 37 5 To Know and Not to Do 53 6 What Is Success? 59 7 Opportunity 69 8 Failure 81 9 Do What You Say 91 10 Making Money Doing Nothing 111 11 Stop Caring 127 12 Lying to Our Children 141 More Resources 153 Index 157