Starting Up

A comprehensive guide to starting and maintaining a business, Starting Up synthesizes the vast world of business knowledge into a series of manageable, actionable steps, revealing the secrets to ensuring your venture's long and healthy life cycle.

Plan for success by avoiding the most common mistakes of new entrepreneurs. Thorough preparation and an analytical outlook are essential, and this handbook covers every stage of the process, beginning with a personal evaluation to determine your own strengths and current financial capabilities. Next, it explores various structural options, from taking on a franchise to starting a new venture from scratch to buying an existing business. With that decision made, it's time to pull together the necessary finances and make an operational plan-and this guide will help you move forward through assessing loan options, developing operating procedures, setting up accounting systems, and overseeing management. Over time, the notions of cash buildup, expansion planning, and ownership succession become the focus.

For the first-time entrepreneur or the business owner encountering unfamiliar obstacles, this thorough reference holds the key to a successful path forward-for you and for your business. From beginning to end, be prepared for every eventuality, and watch your beloved enterprise thrive

"A how to book for the budding entrepreneur and existing business owner...logical, readable and highly informative. Should be a ready reference for years to come." A.A. Milligan, President Emeritus, American Bankers Association.

"Can mean the difference between success and failure for any business--large or small." John V. Pera, President and CEO of American Restaurants Corporation.