Small Business For Dummies, 6th Edition

Small Business For Dummies, 6th Edition

by Eric Tyson, Jim Schell
Released April 2024
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9781394242764

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Book description

Easy-to-follow advice on launching, managing, and growing your business, and making it pay off

Small Business For Dummies is the essential guide you need to owning and operating a small business. You’re ready to add your name to the roster of business owners, and this book is here to give you the advice you’ll need at all stages of the game. Start off with insight on preparing to launch a small business, including picking the right business to pursue and getting all the paperwork in order. If you want to purchase an existing business, this book also has you covered. Plus, you’ll learn how to wear all the hats a small business owner must wear, including being your own HR manager, accountant, and marketer—and to make it all work.

  • Create a business plan and learn how to fund your business idea
  • Tackle the basics of small business bookkeeping so you can budget for success
  • Explore the idea of purchasing a business, and hire excellent employees
  • Avoid the most common mistakes that first-time business owners make

This jargon-free book meets small business owners wherever they are on the road to business success. Small Business For Dummies is great for those just toying with the idea of opening a business, and for those who already call themselves “boss” but need a few extra pointers on making things run smoothly.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Introduction
    1. About This Book
    2. Foolish Assumptions
    3. Icons Used in This Book
    4. Beyond the Book
    5. Where to Go from Here
  5. Part 1: Getting Started with Small Business
    1. Chapter 1: Is Small Business for You?
      1. Defining Small Business
      2. Do You Have the Right Stuff?
      3. Identifying the Pros and Cons of Owning a Small Business
      4. Exploring Alternatives to Starting a Business
    2. Chapter 2: Laying Your Personal Financial Foundation
      1. Getting Your Financial Ducks in a Row
      2. Creating Your Money To-Do List
      3. Assessing and Replacing Benefits
      4. Managing Your Personal Finances Post-Launch
    3. Chapter 3: Finding Your Niche
      1. Why You Don’t Need a New Idea to Be Successful
      2. Choosing Your Business
      3. Inventing Something New
      4. Recognizing Your Number One Asset — You
    4. Chapter 4: First Things First: Crafting Your Business Plan
      1. Your Mission: Impossible If You Fail to Define It
      2. Your Business Plan: Don’t Start Up without It
      3. Writing Your Business Plan
      4. Keeping Your Plan Current
    5. Chapter 5: Making Financing, Ownership, and Organizational Decisions
      1. Determining Your Start-Up Cash Needs
      2. Using Your Own Money: Bootstrapping
      3. Outsourcing Your Capital Needs
      4. Exploring Ownership Options
      5. Deciding Whether to Incorporate
  6. Part 2: Buying an Existing Business
    1. Chapter 6: Exploring Buying a Business
      1. Understanding Why to Buy a Business
      2. Knowing When You Shouldn’t Buy
      3. Recognizing Prepurchase Prerequisites
    2. Chapter 7: Finding the Right Business to Buy
      1. Defining Your Business-Buying Appetite
      2. Generating Leads
      3. Considering a Franchise
      4. Evaluating Multilevel Marketing (MLM) Firms
      5. Checking Out Work-from-Home Opportunities
    3. Chapter 8: Evaluating a Business to Buy
      1. Kicking the Tires: Doing Your Due Diligence
      2. Evaluating Special Franchise Issues
    4. Chapter 9: Negotiating Terms and Sealing the Deal
      1. Valuing the Business
      2. Developing Purchase Offer Contingencies
      3. Allocating the Purchase Price
      4. Doing Due Diligence
      5. Moving Into Your Business
  7. Part 3: Running a Successful Small Business
    1. Chapter 10: The Owner’s Responsibilities in the Start-Up and Beyond
      1. Dotting Your i’s and Crossing Your t’s: Start-Up Details
      2. Outsourcing: Focus on What You Do Best
      3. Simplifying Your Accounting
      4. Controlling Your Expenses
      5. Managing Vendor Relationships
      6. Dealing with Bankers, Lawyers, and Other Outsiders
    2. Chapter 11: Marketing: Products, Pricing, Distribution, Promotion, and Sales
      1. Marketing in a Nutshell
      2. Tackling Product and Service Development
      3. Pricing: Cost and Value
      4. Distribution: Channeling to Customers
      5. Promotion: Spreading the Word
      6. Sales: Where the Rubber Hits the Road
    3. Chapter 12: Tapping Technology
      1. Making the Decision: Cloud-Based versus Internal Server
      2. Technology’s Role in Managing Your Business
      3. AI as a Game Changer
      4. Helping Buy a Business or Franchise
    4. Chapter 13: Keeping Your Customers Loyal
      1. Retaining Your Customer Base
      2. Dealing with Dissatisfied Customers
    5. Chapter 14: Managing Profitability and Cash
      1. Cash Flow: The Fuel That Drives Your Business
      2. Making Sense of Financial Statements
      3. Turning the Numbers into Action
      4. Understanding Key Ratios and Percentages
      5. Managing Your Inventory
      6. Collecting Your Accounts Receivable
      7. Discovering Three Ways to Improve Profits
    6. Chapter 15: Learning from the Experiences of Others
      1. Utilizing Mentors
      2. Networking with Peers
      3. Forming a Board of Advisors
      4. Finding a Partner
      5. Joining a Trade Association
      6. Uncovering a Business Incubator
      7. Locating a Small Business Development Center
      8. Giving SCORE a Try
      9. Tapping into Small-Business Information
  8. Part 4: Keeping Your Business in Business
    1. Chapter 16: Finding and Keeping Superstar Employees
      1. Assembling a Top Team
      2. Training: An Investment, Not an Expense
      3. Motivating: Pay and Performance Issues
      4. Parting Company: Firing an Employee
      5. Designing Flexible Organization Charts
      6. Valuing Employee Manuals
      7. Turning the Tables: Characterizing Successful Employers
    2. Chapter 17: Providing Employee Benefits
      1. Seeing the Real Value in Retirement Plans
      2. Deciding Whether to Share Equity
      3. Including Insurance and Other Benefits
    3. Chapter 18: Handling Regulatory and Legal Issues
      1. Navigating Small-Business Laws
      2. Surviving Start-Up Regulations
      3. Laboring over Employee Costs and Laws
    4. Chapter 19: Mastering Small-Business Taxes
      1. Getting Smarter about Taxes
      2. Keeping Good Financial Records Leads to Tax Benefits
      3. Knowing (And Managing) Your Tax Bracket
      4. Staying on Top of Employment Taxes
      5. Spending Your Money Tax-Wisely
      6. Grasping the Tax Implications of Your Entity Selection
    5. Chapter 20: Cultivating a Growing Business
      1. Recognizing Growth Stages
      2. Resolving Human Resources Issues
      3. Addressing Time-Management Issues
      4. Choosing Your Management Tools
      5. Troubleshooting Your Business Challenges
      6. Redefining Your Role in an Evolving Business
  9. Part 5: The Part of Tens
    1. Chapter 21: Ten Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make
      1. Failing to Use Financial Statements to Manage Your Business
      2. Failing to Prepare an Annual Budget
      3. Failing to Utilize Your CPA
      4. Failing to Understand How Marketing Applies to Your Business
      5. Hiring Too Quickly
      6. Taking Too Long to Terminate Nonperforming Employees
      7. Assuming That Your Employees Are Motivated by the Same Things You Are
      8. Considering Training to Be an Expense and Not an Investment
      9. Failing to Take Advantage of Available Resources
      10. Failing to Maintain an Up-to-Date Organization Chart
    2. Chapter 22: Ten Tips for Small-Business Success
      1. Focus on the Execution
      2. Assemble a Team of Superstars in Game-Breaker Positions
      3. Work Hard, Get Lucky
      4. Realize the Difference between Profits and Cash
      5. Hire for Attitude, Teach Skills Later
      6. Create an Exit Strategy
      7. Grow or Die — There’s No In-Between
      8. Prepare for the Transition to Manager
      9. Develop an Insatiable Appetite to Learn
      10. Do What You Love
    3. Chapter 23: Ten Ways Recent Tax Reform Benefits Small Business
      1. Corporate Income Tax Rate Reduction …
      2. … and (Some) Simplification
      3. Individual Income Tax Rates Reduced
      4. Deduction of 20 Percent for Pass-Through Entities
      5. Better Equipment Expensing Rules
      6. Increased Maximum Depreciation Deduction for Automobiles
      7. Limited Interest Deductions
      8. Reduced Meal and Entertainment Deductions
      9. Elimination of Health Insurance Mandate
      10. Revised Rules for Using Net Operating Losses
  10. Index
  11. About the Authors
  12. Connect with Dummies
  13. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Small Business For Dummies, 6th Edition
  • Author(s): Eric Tyson, Jim Schell
  • Release date: April 2024
  • Publisher(s): For Dummies
  • ISBN: 9781394242764