Starting a business is more than just a dream. It requires attention to the day-to-day details of running a business. This book eliminates the mysteries of starting and running any business. It shows how to launch a successful business by developing a step-by-step action plan. It covers business development, sales and marketing, client relationship management, budgeting and finance, technology, franchising, time management, productivity, people management, and more.

The Balanced Entrepreneur: A Guide to Creating a Purposeful Life and Living it Unapologetically is an inspirational manual for entrepreneurs, from beginners to seasoned business owners, on how to live their best lives without qualification. The Balanced Entrepreneur establishes a new paradigm for implementing balance in the lives of those who try to do it all: work, family, and the pursuit of wellness in the midst of life’s hiccups. Readers will learn practical tips, including everything from business application to the art of effective self-care. The Balanced Entrepreneur covers themes from spirituality to wealth management and everything in between. It is an essential guide for prospering as an entrepreneur in business and in life today.

The Mom Test is a quick, practical guide that will save you time, money, and heartbreak. They say you shouldn't ask your mom whether your business is a good idea, because she loves you and will lie to you. This is technically true, but it misses the point. You shouldn't ask anyone if your business is a good idea. It's a bad question and everyone will lie to you at least a little . As a matter of fact, it's not their responsibility to tell you the truth. It's your responsibility to find it and it's worth doing right . Talking to customers is one of the foundational skills of both Customer Development and Lean Startup. We all know we're supposed to do it, but nobody seems willing to admit that it's easy to screw up and hard to do right. This book is going to show you how customer conversations go wrong and how you can do better.

Now in its third edition, The Suitcase Entrepreneur teaches readers how to package and sell their skills to earn enough money to be able to work and live anywhere, build a profitable online business, and live life on their own terms. After eight years of working in the soul-crushing bureaucracy of the corporate world, Natalie Sisson quit her high-paying job and moved to Canada, started a blog, and cofounded a technology company. In just eighteen months she learned how to build an online platform from scratch, and then left to start her own business—which involved visiting Argentina to eat empanadas, play Ultimate Frisbee, and launch her first digital product. After five years, she now runs a six-figure business from her laptop, while living out of a suitcase and teaching entrepreneurs worldwide how to build a business and lifestyle they love. In The Suitcase Entrepreneur you’ll learn how to establish your business online, reach a global audience, and build a virtual team to give you more free time, money, and independence. With a new introduction, as well as updated resources and information, this practical guide uncovers the three key stages of creating a self-sufficient business and how to become a successful digital nomad and live life on your own terms.

A balanced and practical combination of entrepreneurial theory and cases from a Canadian perspective In the newly revised second Canadian edition of Entrepreneurship, a team of entrepreneurs, professors, researchers, and mentors delivers an accessible and insightful combination of business concepts and cases illustrating contemporary entrepreneurial theory. Exploring every stage of the entrepreneurial process, this comprehensive textbook covers everything aspiring Canadian founders and future entrepreneurs need to know, from ideation to funding, launch, marketing, and more. Throughout the introductory text, a wealth of engaging case studies and examples demonstrate the real-world application of business theory. Perfect for students of business administration, management, and entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship offers a hands-on learning experience that will appeal to learners who benefit from an abundance of contemporary real-world cases and practical examples.

Examines issues affecting entrepreneurship and productivity, looking at factors contributing to enhanced productivity, the future of US and world growth rates, and the role of entrepreneurship and quality in productivity and production decisions. Includes chapter problems. Useful as a text for undergraduate and graduate students of business administration, economics, and engineering, in courses emphasizing production and productivity. Material is accessible to students without previous courses in economics. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Innovative entrepreneurs are the prime movers of the economy. The innovative entrepreneur helps to overcome two types of institutional friction. First, existing firms may not innovate efficiently due to incumbent inertia resulting from adjustment costs, diversification costs, the replacement effect, and imperfect adjustment of expectations. The innovative entrepreneur compensates for incumbent inertia by embodying innovations in new firms that compete with incumbents. Second, markets for inventions may not operate efficiently due to transaction costs, imperfect intellectual property protections, costs of transferring tacit knowledge, and imperfect information about discoveries. The innovative entrepreneur addresses inefficiencies in markets for inventions through own-use of discoveries and adoption of innovative ideas. The Innovative Entrepreneur presents an economic framework that addresses the motivation of the innovative entrepreneur, the innovative advantage of entrepreneurs versus incumbent firms, the effects of competitive pressures on incentives to innovate, the consequences of creative destruction, and the contributions of the innovative entrepreneur to the wealth of nations.

Lead a life of adventure, meaning and purpose—and earn a good living. “Thoughtful, funny, and compulsively readable, this guide shows how ordinary people can build solid livings, with independence and purpose, on their own terms.”—Gretchen Rubin, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Happiness Project Still in his early thirties, Chris Guillebeau completed a tour of every country on earth and yet he’s never held a “real job” or earned a regular paycheck. Rather, he has a special genius for turning ideas into income, and he uses what he earns both to support his life of adventure and to give back. Chris identified 1,500 individuals who have built businesses earning $50,000 or more from a modest investment (in many cases, $100 or less), and focused on the 50 most intriguing case studies. In nearly all cases, people with no special skills discovered aspects of their personal passions that could be monetized, and were able to restructure their lives in ways that gave them greater freedom and fulfillment. Here, finally, distilled into one easy-to-use guide, are the most valuable lessons from those who’ve learned how to turn what they do into a gateway to self-fulfillment. It’s all about finding the intersection between your “expertise”—even if you don’t consider it such—and what other people will pay for. You don’t need an MBA, a business plan or even employees. All you need is a product or service that springs from what you love to do anyway, people willing to pay, and a way to get paid. Not content to talk in generalities, Chris tells you exactly how many dollars his group of unexpected entrepreneurs required to get their projects up and running; what these individuals did in the first weeks and months to generate significant cash; some of the key mistakes they made along the way, and the crucial insights that made the business stick. Among Chris’s key principles: If you’re good at one thing, you’re probably good at something else; never teach a man to fish—sell him the fish instead; and in the battle between planning and action, action wins. In ancient times, people who were dissatisfied with their lives dreamed of finding magic lamps, buried treasure, or streets paved with gold. Today, we know that it’s up to us to change our lives. And the best part is, if we change our own life, we can help others change theirs. This remarkable book will start you on your way.

Trying to start a business in this economy? Struggling with little or no cash? Have no experience, no baseline to judge your progress against? Whether you’re just starting out or have been at it for years, the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur's "get real", actionable approach to business is a much-needed swift kick in the pants.