Minding My Business : The Complete, No-Nonsense, Start-to-Finish Guide to Owning and Running Your Own Store

Taking a leap and making the choice to start a business can be hard, but all that comes after—the planning, loans, marketing—can be even harder. Every new business owner needs an easy, clear, and useful guide to follow when embarking on this venture, and __Minding My Business__ will make the process as simple as possible. With no previous business experience, Adeena Mignogna decided to open up her own retail store, a paint-your-own pottery studio. In this part memoir, part handbook, she details all the things she did right, and wrong, so that anyone following in her footsteps won't make the same mistakes. __Minding My Business__ explains how to:- Deal with leasing and landlords - Obtain loans and manage finances - Hire, retain, and treat employees - Market and advertise your business - Deal with stressful situations - Create an exit strategy if you decide to close - Sell your business - And everything in between Mignogna chronicles all that went into opening the doors to her store, successfully managing it for several years, and then finally deciding to close it. If you're ready to take the risk, you'll need this book to help you navigate through the tough and perplexing world of small business. Preface: why I wrote this book My, what a cute little store! Introduction The Pot & Bead : a new life You want to do what? : perceptions of retail Leasing, landlords, and opening late Safe and secure Employees Follow your gut (or how to lose a lot of money trying to buy Someone else's business) Customers Ya gotta love them Competition They gotta know you're there Putting the social in social media Hard work does not equal money in your pocket Other things that keep you up at night How to survive those first two years What ever happened to that cute little store? Introduction A double life Money mistakes we make Money in, money out More on employees The internet-it's for businesses now! Getting the business ready to sell At leases end Take my business, please! For sale, by owner Closing the business So you still want to do this The final word-why exactly are you in business? Appendix a: timeline Appendix b: business plan Appendix c: lease clauses Appendix d: the reading list Index. With no previous business experience, Mignogna decided to open up a paint-your-own pottery store. In this handbook, she details all the things she did right-- and wrong-- so that anyone following in her footsteps won't make the same mistakes.