Reviewer Manoj
Rengarajan holds a Master of Financial Engineering - University of
California, Berkeley and he works in the investment management
industry and specializes in providing economic and investment outlook
and strategy for global equity and government bond markets. He has an
educational background in financial engineering, business, and
engineering, and professional interests include business,
finance, economics, technology and related areas.
Author: Susan Urquhart Brown
Publisher:
American Management Association
ISBN: 978-0-8144-0167-5
The Accidental Entrepreneur is an invaluable resource for those interested in starting a new business as well as those who find themselves in such a position unexpectedly. The book carefully addresses the issues a budding entrepreneur needs to consider before trying self-employment, and the range of issues one has to face from creating, sustaining and growing a business, once started.
Author: Susan Urquhart Brown
Publisher:
American Management Association
ISBN: 978-0-8144-0167-5
The Accidental Entrepreneur is an invaluable resource for those interested in starting a new business as well as those who find themselves in such a position unexpectedly. The book carefully addresses the issues a budding entrepreneur needs to consider before trying self-employment, and the range of issues one has to face from creating, sustaining and growing a business, once started.
An aspiring entrepreneur should be able
to undertake a reality check before taking the plunge. The Accidental
Entrepreneur is a comprehensive guide to doing that. The book
provides not just a checklist but a framework for the entrepreneur to
think about issues that impact the business well beyond the time the
initial decision to start the new business is made. Helpful thought
exercises that help to build confidence in one's abilities are
provided.
A prospective entrepreneur should benefit from the
self analysis to check for the inclination towards risk taking and
the drive to start and build a new business. The book also explores
some of the myths of going on own. The reader also should benefit
from many of the fear busters that take the anxiety of starting a new
business.
The book helps in understanding the motivation of
going to business as well as explain in detail the key
characteristics of a successful entrepreneur such as drive,
confidence, decisiveness, and flexibility.
Susan Brown dwells
on fundamental motivations for entrepreneurs including creativity,
control, and challenge. In addition, she shows how an new
entrepreneur can handle issues such as accountability, setting
priorities, making supportive connections and how to prevent self
sabotage. The guidance on pitfalls to avoid should be invaluable to
any new business owner.
Apart from explaining some of the
fundamental motivations of starting a new business, the book covers
some of the nuts and bolts of establishing the business such as name,
license, insurance, business structure, tax structure, etc. Further,
the book explains a key decision in starting a new business
-partnership- including types of partnerships that work, roles,
surprises, and keys to success.
One of the most important function of a
new business is marketing. The book details marketing activities as
applicable to a new business including market research, innovative
ways to market, effective selling , networking, and cold
calling.
The book also looks at how to market a new
business on the web and to approach a target market effectively.
There are several examples of success stories of web based
entrepreneurship explaining how to promote a business through the
web.
Susan finishes the book with tips on how to make more
room for a newly established business. She emphasizes how to expand a
business not just in terms of size but also tips to thrill the
customer, work wisely and retain good employees.
The
Accidental Entrepreneur is a well recommended resource for both
aspiring and accidental entrepreneurs who don't want to caught by too
many surprises in starting a new business.