Start Your Business Week by Week, 2nd Edition

Start Your Business Week by Week, 2nd Edition

by Steve Parks
Released February 2013
Publisher(s): Pearson International
ISBN: 9780273769934

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Book description

In 26 weekly steps, this unique and cleverly structured book will walk any budding entrepreneur through everything you need to know and do, in the exact order you need to do it, to get your new business up and running. Each step contains a to-do list, an explanation of what needs to be done, useful hints and shortcuts and the contact information you need.

 

Written by an experienced entrepreneur and updated for a new global economy, this book contains the most up to date, fresh thinking and ideas, so you can overcome the challenges of a new business start-up and turn your entrepreneurial dreams into reality.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Dedication
  5. Acknowledgements
  6. About the Author
  7. Introduction
    1. The Second Edition
  8. How to use this book
    1. Meet Emma
  9. The Website
    1. This is not the law
  10. A few warnings before you start…
    1. A word on ‘get rich quick’
    2. A word on integrity
    3. A word on ‘red tape’ and other excuses for business problems
    4. Have fun
  11. Week One: The Beginning
    1. Time
    2. Workspace
    3. Technology
    4. Support and advice
    5. Join the community
    6. Commitment
    7. Shared Experiences
    8. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    9. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
  12. Week Two: The Future
    1. The meaning of life
    2. Imagine the future
    3. Be true to yourself
    4. The daydream
    5. Bring it closer
    6. Turning mind pictures into real pictures
    7. More than pictures
    8. The point
    9. Making it happen
    10. To finish the week
    11. Shared Experiences
    12. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    13. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
  13. Week Three: Where Are You Now?
    1. The current reality
    2. Time
    3. Money
    4. Emma
    5. What do you know?
    6. Who do you know?
    7. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    8. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
    9. LIST OF CONTACTS
    10. GLOSSARY
    11. DOCUMENTS
  14. Week Four: Start Learning
    1. Sharpening your entrepreneurial skills
    2. Find out about local banks, accountants and lawyers
    3. Emma
    4. Shared Experiences
    5. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    6. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
    7. LIST OF CONTACTS
  15. Week Five: The Founders
    1. Deciding what’s right for you
    2. Choosing co-founders
    3. Decide on roles
    4. Agreeing terms
    5. Decide on pay
    6. Emma
    7. Remember
    8. Write about the founders
    9. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    10. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
  16. Week Six: The Idea
    1. You don’t need to be a beardy-weirdy inventor
    2. Adapting an existing idea: improving location, luxury or love
    3. Using your skills
    4. Spotting opportunities
    5. The brainstorm
    6. The end of the week
    7. Emma
    8. Following up from previous weeks
    9. Shared Experiences
    10. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    11. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
    12. LIST OF CONTACTS
  17. Week Seven: Idea to Opportunity
    1. What is an opportunity?
    2. Designing the experiment
    3. Emma
    4. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    5. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
  18. Week Eight: Testing and Refining the Opportunity
    1. Learning from your experiments
    2. Refining or rejecting your idea
    3. Devising the next experiment
    4. Your business: a living experiment
    5. Emma
    6. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    7. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
  19. Week Nine: Pitching your Opportunity
    1. Communicating your idea
    2. Test your pitch on yourself
    3. A word of caution
    4. Telling other people about your idea
    5. Improving the way you communicate your idea
    6. Shared Experiences
    7. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    8. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
  20. Week Ten: Customers
    1. Who are your customers?
    2. What type of business are you?
    3. Becoming an expert
    4. Looking for customers
    5. Look your customer in the eyes
    6. Your business plan
    7. Shared Experiences
    8. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    9. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
  21. Week Eleven: Competitors
    1. Try them out
    2. Key questions
    3. Comparing your businesses
    4. Emma
    5. Shared Experiences
    6. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
  22. Week Twelve: Branding
    1. The big vision
    2. Values
    3. Company name
    4. Deciding on a name
    5. Domain names
    6. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    7. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
    8. LIST OF CONTACTS
  23. Week Thirteen: Sales
    1. Emma
    2. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    3. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
  24. Week Fourteen: Premises and Equipment
    1. Premises
    2. Equipment
    3. Emma
    4. Shared Experiences
    5. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    6. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
    7. LIST OF CONTACTS
  25. Week Fifteen: People and Technology
    1. People
    2. Technology
    3. Online services
    4. Accounting
    5. CRM
    6. Point of sale
    7. General team and project management
    8. Other team communication tools
    9. Writing the ‘Resources’ section of your business plan
    10. Emma
    11. Shared Experiences
    12. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    13. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
    14. LIST OF CONTACTS
  26. Week Sixteen: Suppliers
    1. Getting information
    2. Understanding pricing
    3. Writing the ‘Suppliers’ section of your business plan
    4. Emma
    5. Shared Experiences
    6. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    7. LIST OF CONTACTS
    8. GLOSSARY
  27. Week Seventeen: Planning for Problems
    1. Challenges
    2. Trends
    3. Risks
    4. Planning for these challenges, trends and risks
    5. Don’t panic!
    6. Insurance
    7. Emma and Alan
    8. Opportunities
    9. Shared Experiences
    10. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
  28. Week Eighteen: Profit Forecast
    1. Setting your prices
    2. Forecasting your sales
    3. Emma
    4. The difficulty with forecasting
    5. The Profit Forecast
    6. The moment of truth
    7. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    8. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
  29. Week Nineteen: Cash Flow Forecast
    1. The Cash Flow Forecast
    2. How does it look?
    3. Funding your business
    4. Back to your forecasts
    5. Emma
    6. Shared Experiences
    7. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    8. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
    9. LIST OF CONTACTS
  30. Week Twenty: The Business Plan
    1. Reviewing the plan
    2. Executive Summary
    3. Test your plans on others
    4. Book meetings with banks and professional advisers
    5. Shared Experiences
    6. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    7. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
  31. Week Twenty-One: Banks and Advisers
    1. Meeting the bank managers
    2. Meeting the accountants
    3. Meeting the lawyers
    4. Company structure
    5. Will you register for VAT?
    6. Adapt your business plan
    7. Emma
    8. Shared Experiences
    9. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    10. LIST OF CONTACTS
    11. GLOSSARY
  32. Week Twenty-Two: Start Selling
    1. Time to reflect
    2. Funding
    3. Get selling
    4. Press coverage
    5. Plan your weekly cash flow
    6. Shared Experiences
    7. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    8. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
    9. DOCUMENTS
  33. Week Twenty-Three: Pitching for Funding
    1. Pitching to potential investors
    2. Registering your company
    3. Keep selling!
    4. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    5. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
    6. LIST OF CONTACTS
    7. DOCUMENTS
  34. Week Twenty-Four: The Big Leap
    1. Resigning!
    2. Start getting your other resources in place
    3. Keep selling!
    4. Opening the bank account
    5. Issuing shares to investors
    6. Keep selling!
    7. Shared Experiences
    8. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
  35. Week Twenty-Five: Making it Official
    1. Opening supplier accounts
    2. Registering with HMRC
    3. Who else do you need to register with?
    4. Keep selling!
    5. Emma
    6. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    7. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
    8. LIST OF CONTACTS
  36. Week Twenty-Six: Launch!
    1. Launching a business serving the public
    2. Launching a business serving other businesses
    3. Emma
    4. Shared Experiences
    5. THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST
    6. THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDED READING
    7. DOCUMENTS: INVOICE
    8. Keep going
  37. Epilogue
    1. Racing Greens
  38. Index
  39. Endorsement
  40. Imprint

Product information

  • Title: Start Your Business Week by Week, 2nd Edition
  • Author(s): Steve Parks
  • Release date: February 2013
  • Publisher(s): Pearson International
  • ISBN: 9780273769934