How to Start Your Own Business for Entrepreneurs, 2nd Edition

Introduction to the second edition

For an author to be invited to write a second edition is a rare privilege. Few business books enjoy lasting popularity and only one or two have ever become timeless classics. That's because times, attitudes and the ways we do business are constantly changing. This book sold very well in its original form, but the time had come to refresh it.

The original introduction, below, compares starting and growing a business to conceiving and raising a child. That metaphor remains strong for me and cannot be improved upon.

However, a second edition is like a second child. The basic structure of the book and the advice and tips it provides are the same, but the context and detail are very different. The economic climate ...