Business start-up guide

Sample

Elmira Bayrasli

"Elmira Bayrasli's worldview was turned upside down when a woman in Bosnia told her, "thanks for the help. But we need work and jobs, not foreign aid." That prompted Bayrasli to embark on a worldwide quest to find how talented people have overcome insurmountable obstacles to build high-growth businesses that are driving wealth and building communities, regions and countries. Through seven remarkable stories, Elmira Bayrasli shows why the next Steve Jobs and the next Apple, Google or Facebook is as likely to come from Nigeria, Pakistan or Mexico as Silicon Valley. She discovers that what distinguishes techies in Silicon Valley from women selling bamboo stools in Bangladesh isn't their sophistication but simply the conditions that are necessary to sustain and scale business ideas. In the absence of these obstacles, global entrepreneurship can flourish. Bayrasli paints compelling stories of extraordinary entrepreneurs creatively battling corruption, lack of infrastructure, capital shortages and underdeveloped supplier and customer networks. She offers solutions that can be utilized by entrepreneurs everywhere, and shows why micro-finance, social entrepreneurship, and foreign aid are not enough. Most importantly, she shows how the key to building successful entrepreneurial ecosystems is to provide the framework that enables start-ups to scale. "--

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Ronald Cohen with Terry Ilott

"Everyone can see the first bounce of the ball. It is the second bounce that is uncertain. Ronald Cohen, one of the world's leading private-equity investors, argues that the entrepreneur's challenge is to take advantage of that uncertainty: for it is only in situations of uncertainty that substantial gain can be made." "The Second Bounce of the Ball is the distillation of Cohen's 33-year career building Apax Partners into the largest global private-equity firm based in Europe. When he stepped down in 2005, Apax had more than $20 billion under management and offices in eight countries. He draws upon Apax's experience of backing entrepreneurial businesses across the world, among them AOL, Apple, Computacenter, Tommy Hilfiger, Inmarsat, Kabel Deutschland, Calvin Klein, Molnlyke, Panrico, PPL Therapeutics, Q-Cell, Travelex, Waterstone's, Virgin Radio, Vueling and Yell." "The book is required reading for entrepreneurs and all those who are interested in entrepreneurship. It is the essential insider's guide to risk and opportunity."--BOOK JACKET.

Sample

Colin Barrow

This practical guide will tell you how to start up and run your own business from anywhere in the world. Starting a Business from Home will tell you everything you need to know about running a profitable and successful business from your own home with particular emphasis on opportunities provided by the internet.

Sample

David E. Rye, Craig R. Hickman

You've just made one of the most dramatic decisions of your life. After being "downsized" out of your executive-level position, you've decided to leave the corporate world for good and start your own company. Your mission: find a business venture under $250,000 that will replace your lost corporate income and provide for your retirement. If you succeed, your new startup could emerge as a huge success where you would stand to gain more job satisfaction than you've ever experienced in your working life. If you fail, your limited personal funds will be exhausted and you may have to go back to a dreaded corporate job - at a fraction of your former pay. Here's the book that challenges your savvy, your judgment, and your nerve. You'll hammer out the sequence of tough decisions that an entrepreneur must make - and face the often unforeseen consequences that each choice triggers. As you assume control of your new company, you meet clients, customers, and business associates who are determined to influence your every move. You must carefully weigh their advice and arguments. Whatever decisions you make, there will be consequences that demand further analysis and action. You will be required to make tough choices involving finance, the competition, strategic alliances, market share, and your own personal desires. Each decision can take you one step closer to triumphant success - or plunge you and your company into disaster. Whether you succeed or fail in your first attempts as entrepreneur and business owner, the best is yet to come. Starting Up's unique "what if" approach lets you replay your choices to explore different outcomes. In all, you'll find more than 100 decision points and 25 different outcomes, for hour after hour of provocative reading. Part razor-sharp business manual, part adventure novel, this always-entertaining book provides expert insight into the real-world problems and challenges faced by today's entrepreneurs. It gives you a fascinating way to sharpen your practical knowledge while giving you a real-life view into one of today's most exciting opportunities: starting and running your own business.