The startup garden

The Startup Garden walks you through the process of determining what type of business best fits your hopes, dreams, and experiences. Unique among books of its type, it helps you take an honest look at yourself to determine who you are, what you care about, and what you are good at—before you engage in the nuts-and-bolts tasks of starting your business and controlling your own destiny.

From there, each chapter focuses on a particular skill you will need to operate your enterprise, providing a step-by-step examination of the business, financial, managerial, and marketing skills required to make your dream business a reality. Dozens of interviews with now-successful entrepreneurs, along with case studies and examples, show you how others have set their businesses up—from financial reporting necessities to tips on handling employees to techniques for expansion—and illustrate how to handle the inevitable difficulties along the way.

Filled with worksheets and practical advice from those who came before you, and have made their way down the same path you're now considering, this no-nonsense guidebook discusses:

How to determine what truly matters to you and what you are good at, then combine the two into a career

Where to find the money to fuel your new business, from personal assets to investors to business loans

10 Classic Bootstrapping Tips—From using college interns to haggling, proven ways to stretch your limited cash

When you start an enterprise, you are the enterprise. As the enterprise grows and develops, so will you. Wherever you are in the process of launching a business, from the initial idea to the eventual need for growth and diversification, The Startup Garden will help you to ensure that your new business has the proper foundation for survival, success and growth—by first helping you ensure that the business is right for you.

Strategies to Launch and Grow the Business That's Right for You

It's never been easier for an individual to start a business. Ironically, it's never been more difficult for that enterprise to survive and thrive. Let The Startup Garden show you how to control your own destiny, first through learning exactly what kind of business will fit your skills and personality and then learning exactly what you need to do to make that business a success.

Any number of books will tell you how to start a business. The Startup Garden shows you how to start your business, one that matches your dreams, hopes, and aspirations with the skills and experience you have acquired throughout your career.

But more than just a "Do your own thing" self-help book, The Startup Garden provides you with concrete examples and strategies for the practical skills and disciplines required to make your enterprise a success. Leading small-business expert Tom Ehrenfeld provides proven, real-world methods to:

• Realize how your particular venture makes money
• Gather information and form relationships with potential customers
• Grow your business by leveraging existing resources and developing the outside support and capital you'll need
• Find great employees—then set the boundaries necessary to make them great for your business

Table of Contents

• Forward
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: finding your calling
• Chapter 2: planning as learning, learning as doing
• Chapter 3: the numbers that count
• Chapter 4: bootstrapping
• Chapter 5: walking the line
• Chapter 6: just managing
• Chapter 7: perpetual learning
• Appendix: final thoughts
• Index