Starting Your Own Small Business
Business Ideas for Women Who Want to Work for Themselves
Starting your own business is an empowering feat, with images of being the boss and making your own hours running through your head. Resources for creating a business plan are often heavy on seriousness and lacking in appeal.
Lauren Bacon and Emira Mears have written a book that offers women, specifically, a quirky look at the mundane facts in The Boss of You: Everything a Woman Needs to Know to Start, Run, and Maintain Her Own Business (Seal Press, May 2008). It guides entrepreneurs step by step through building a business plan, budgeting, setting up shop, and marketing the product, without all the banality.
The authors are the founders of Raised Eyebrow Web Studio, Inc. and have collected what they’ve learned into this new guide. It’s not about making a billion dollars, although they hope you do if that’s what you're looking for, but about taking your ideas from just notes into a fully viable business.
The Business Plan
Lauren and Emira’s advice is structured and smart, but somehow leaves out the condescending tone sometimes offered by business gurus. They manage to get to the nitty gritty details, while still infusing some humour.
Budgeting and FinancesAfter talking about business plans for a chapter, the authors shift seamlessly into budgeting and finances without missing a beat. Their recommendations are solid, simple and easy to follow. Whether you want to start a small, home-based business or even a large corporation, this guide is a good place to start.
Developing and Testing the Business
Once your idea is fleshed out, it’s time to test the market. The process of focus groups is covered, with the emphasis on taking advantage of having friends over for an informal sit down to get feedback on the product, idea or service. This is the time to make any adjustments before setting up shop.
Marketing Your Business
Another chapter filled with solid advice is the one on marketing. Lauren and Emira are able to convey the importance of getting your business out there, whether through traditional advertising or public relations work, while realizing that you don’t need a billboard of yourself on every street corner to do it.
Expanding Your Business
Leaving off on a positive note, The Boss of You ends with a few chapters on expanding your business, hiring employees and celebrating your success. Although being successful is the goal of every businesswoman, thought still needs to be dedicated to making sure you can handle the new business and are equipped to continue growing over the years.
The Boss of You: Everything a Woman Needs to Know to Start, Run, and Maintain Her Own Business, by Lauren Bacon and Emira Mears (ISBN 978-1-58005-236-8, Seal Press).
