It's Your Biz : The Complete Guide to Becoming Your Own Boss

A "New York Times", "Wall Street Journal", and "USA Today" bestseller! Millions of employees parked in cubicles dream about starting their own businesses. And in today's economy, countless unemployed professionals are becoming entrepreneurs out of necessity. They may have good skills and ideas, but do they really understand what it takes to build a profitable venture? As owner and co-founder of the award-winning It'sYourBiz.com (formerly SBTV.com, or Small Business Television), Susan Solovic has years of experience in the small business trenches. In "It's Your Biz" she shows prospective entrepreneurs how to sidestep the pitfalls that doom more than half of all new businesses while dramatically improving their odds of success. The book strips away the usual dreamy calls to "pursue your passion," supplying the kind of candid, real-world advice readers truly need, such as how to: gauge whether you have the qualities required to succeed; prepare for drastic culture shock; build a business plan that works; focus on providing market solutions; choose partners, advisers, and employees wisely; promote your business on a shoestring budget; protect your company and yourself; and, make the most of bootstrap financing. From planning and funding to promotion and pricing, "It's Your Biz" is packed with the practical, honest, expert guidance that budding entrepreneurs need before they set out on their own

If you’re reading this, you’ve got high hopes and big plans. To be your own boss—with no one breathing down your neck, no more deadly meetings, no more nonsense. Just you, your good ideas, and your internal drive determining your destiny.

Does that sound liberating? It is! Does it sound scary? It’s that as well. Making the jump from employee to entrepreneur is an alluring prospect that millions pursue every year, yet the odds of success are daunting. More than half of all new businesses fail within three years—many because of avoidable mistakes.

But now you can get the honest, real-world information you need about what it takes to succeed. Owner and cofounder of the award-winning ItsYourBiz.com (formerly SBTV.com, or Small Business Television), Susan Wilson Solovic has years of experience in the small-business trenches. In It’s Your Biz, she delivers an unflinching account of the skills and attitudes prospective entrepreneurs need to get a business up and running, and a no-surprises game plan for making your venture profitable and sustainable.

From planning and funding to promotion and pricing, you’ll get practical advice that can ensure your success as you leave the safety net of being an employee to enter the high-risk, high-reward environment of business ownership. It includes how to:

• Gauge whether you have the qualities needed to succeed

• Prepare for drastic culture shock

• Build a business plan that works

• Focus on providing market solutions

• Choose partners, advisers, and employees wisely

• Promote your business on a shoestring budget

• Protect your company and yourself

• Make the most of bootstrap financing

• And much more!

Susan Wilson Solovic is owner and cofounder of ItsYourBiz.com, a highly successful video news and information site for entrepreneurs. She is a weekly small-business contributor on ABC’s Money Matters and a featured blogger on The Huffington Post, AllBusiness, Fast Company, Constant Contact, and other sites, as well as a monthly columnist on WSJ.com. The author of several books, including The Girls’ Guide to Building a Million-Dollar Business, Solovic has served on the National Women’s Business Council and the Women’s Leadership Board at Harvard University.

Ellen R. Kadin is Executive Editor at AMACOM Books, specializing in business books, and a part-time writer.

Contents......Page 10 Foreword......Page 12 Introduction......Page 14 PART I: So You Want to Own a Business: The Real Truth Behind What It Takes to Succeed......Page 22 1 Starting a Business Is Personal......Page 24 2 Make Smart Choices: Consider Your Options......Page 41 3 Beat the Odds: Get It Right from the Beginning......Page 50 4 Build a Powerful Business Strategy......Page 65 PART II: Open for Business: The Strategic and Tactical Keys to Business Success......Page 82 5 Purpose, Promise, and Principles: The Cornerstones of Your Business......Page 84 6 Marketing and Sales Strategy......Page 92 7 People Matter......Page 120 8 Protecting Your Business, Your Ideas, and Yourself......Page 147 9 Where Will You Locate Your Business?......Page 169 10 From Humble Beginnings to Great Enterprises......Page 178 11 Pricing and Process......Page 199 12 Words of Wisdom from the Trenches......Page 208 Appendix: Resources for Start-Ups and Expanding Businesses......Page 218 B......Page 230 D......Page 231 F......Page 232 L......Page 233 N......Page 234 R......Page 235 S......Page 236 Z......Page 237 About the Authors......Page 238 Starting a business is personal Make smart choices: consider your options Beating the odds: getting it right from the beginning Building a powerful business strategy Purpose, promise, and principles: the cornerstones of your business Marketing and sales strategy People matter Protecting your business, your ideas, and yourself Where will you locate your business? From humble beginnings to great enterprises Pricing and process More practical advice A bundle of resources. Presents tips and advice for creating a new business, utilizing the author's experience in creating her own successful business to guide readers in planning, funding, promotion, pricing, and self-evaluation.