Starting a Business All-In-One For Dummies

Starting a Business All-In-One For Dummies

by Consumer Dummies
Released April 2015
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9781119049104

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Book description

All the practical advice you need for starting a business

Starting a business? Don't sweat it! Reflecting today's unique opportunities and challenges, Starting a Business All-In-One For Dummies is packed with everything you need to manage your personal and business risks and successfully navigate your first year in business. Written in plain English and packed with simple, step-by-step instructions, it shows you how to start up your dream business from scratch, write a winning business plan, secure financing, manage your risks successfully, navigate your first year of operation, and much more!

The information inside is amassed from 11 bestselling For Dummies books, covering everything from franchising and home-based businesses to bookkeeping, accounting, branding, and marketing. If you're a go-getter looking for a way to launch a great idea and be your own boss, Starting a Business All-In-One For Dummies prepares you to beat the odds and become successful in your sector.

  • Covers proven strategies on successfully branding and marketing your business

  • Includes step-by-step guidance on keeping on top of the books

  • Provides coverage of employee engagement and motivating employees

  • Offers helpful hints for overcoming obstacles in starting a business

    • Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or an expert looking to innovate, Starting a Business All-In-One For Dummies is the only reference you'll need to start a business from the ground up.

    Table of contents

    1. Cover Page
    2. Title Page
    3. Copyright
    4. Contents at a Glance
    5. Table of Contents
    6. Introduction
      1. About This Book
      2. Foolish Assumptions
      3. Icons Used in This Book
      4. Beyond the Book
      5. Where to Go from Here
    7. Book I: From Idea to Reality
      1. Chapter 1: Your Business in Context
        1. An Overview of Feasibility Analysis
        2. Understanding Your Industry
        3. Researching an Industry
        4. Defining Your Market Niche
        5. Zeroing-in on a Brand New Product
      2. Chapter 2: Refining and Defining Your Business Idea
        1. Recognizing the Power of a Good Idea
        2. Brainstorming New Business Ideas
        3. Identifying Business Opportunities
        4. Doing Your First Reality Check
      3. Chapter 3: Creating a Business Model
        1. Evolution of Business Models
        2. Business Models Are a Hot Topic
        3. Who Needs a Business Model?
        4. Common Aspects of All Business Models
        5. Business Models in Their Simplest Form
        6. Examples of Business Models
        7. Finding Success with a Business Model
      4. Chapter 4: Finding Your Target Market
        1. Gauging the Target Market
        2. Determining Industry Attractiveness
        3. Looking for Niche Attractiveness
        4. Checking Out Customer Attractiveness
        5. Finding Your Place on the Industry Value Chain
      5. Chapter 5: Considering a Franchise
        1. So What Is a Franchise, Anyway?
        2. What's the Deal with Brands in Franchising?
        3. The Two Types of Franchises
        4. The Roles and Goals of Franchisors and Franchisees
        5. Franchise Relationships
        6. Pros and Cons of Franchising
    8. Book II: Planning for Your Business
      1. Chapter 1: Writing a Business Plan
        1. Selling Yourself on the Importance of Planning
        2. The Anatomy of a Business Plan
        3. Understanding Your Starting Position
        4. Setting Out Your Planning Objectives
        5. Identifying Target Audiences and Key Messages
        6. Establishing Your Plan's Time Frame
        7. Preparing for the Real World
      2. Chapter 2: Finding the Funding
        1. Starting with a Plan
        2. Tapping Friends, Family, and Lovers
        3. Finding an Angel
        4. Daring to Use Venture Capital
        5. Selling Stock to the Public: An IPO
        6. Finding Other Ways to Finance Growth
        7. Guarding Your Interests
      3. Chapter 3: Setting Your Franchise's Wheels in Motion
        1. Surveying Your Options for Locale
        2. Setting Up Shop: Finding Your Franchise's Habitat
        3. Avoiding Encroachment
        4. Securing Your Space After Finding Your Piece of Heaven
        5. Getting the Goods: Merchandise and Supplies
        6. Receiving Merchandise
        7. Maintaining Inventory
        8. Getting Good Training Before and After You Open Your Franchise
      4. Chapter 4: Starting a Home-Based Business
        1. Looking at the Basics of Home-Based Business
        2. Examining the Good News and the Bad
        3. Taking the Home-Based Business Quiz
        4. Starting Something from Scratch
        5. Transitioning into Your Home-Based Business
      5. Chapter 5: Creating a Website for Your Business
        1. Feng Shui-ing Your Website
        2. Creating Content That Attracts Customers
        3. Nip and Tuck: Establishing a Visual Identity
        4. Inviting Comments from Customers
        5. Moving from Website to Web Presence
      6. Chapter 6: Starting with the Right Legal Structure
        1. Deciding on the Best Legal Form for Your Business
        2. Going It Alone: The Sole Proprietorship
        3. Choosing a Partner: The Partnership
        4. Going for the Gold: The Corporation
        5. Looking for Flexibility: The S Corporation, the LLC, and the Nonprofit Corporation
        6. Benchmarking Your Best Choice
    9. Book III: Managing Your Finances
      1. Chapter 1: Setting Up the Books
        1. Bookkeepers: The Record Keepers of the Business World
        2. Wading through Basic Bookkeeping Lingo
        3. Pedaling through the Accounting Cycle
        4. Tackling the Big Decision: Cash-Basis or Accrual Accounting
        5. Seeing Double with Double-Entry Bookkeeping
        6. Differentiating Debits and Credits
        7. Outlining Your Financial Roadmap with a Chart of Accounts
        8. Starting with the Balance Sheet Accounts
        9. Tracking the Income Statement Accounts
        10. Setting Up Your Chart of Accounts
      2. Chapter 2: Understanding Your P&L
        1. Getting Intimate with Your Profit and Loss Report
        2. Measuring and Reporting Profit and Loss
        3. Presenting the P&L Report for Your Business
        4. Breaking Through the Breakeven Barrier
        5. Improving Profit
      3. Chapter 3: Working with Cash Flow and Staying Solvent
        1. Sorting Out Your Sources of Cash
        2. Avoiding Confusion Between Profit and Its Cash Flow
        3. Deciding How to Have Cash Flow Information Reported to You
        4. Introducing the Statement of Cash Flows
        5. Summing Up the Critical Importance of Cash Flow from Profit
        6. Liquidity and Business Solvency
        7. Business Solvency Measurements Tools
        8. Liquidity Measurements Tools
        9. Liquidity Traps
        10. Untapped Sources of Liquidity
        11. Financial Leverage: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
      4. Chapter 4: Controlling Costs and Budgeting
        1. Getting in the Right Frame of Mind
        2. Getting Down to Business
        3. Looking into Cost of Goods Sold Expense
        4. Focusing on Profit Centers
        5. Reducing Your Costs
        6. Deciding Where the Budgeting Process Starts
        7. Honing In on Budgeting Tools
        8. Preparing an Actual Budget or Forecast
        9. Understanding Internal Versus External Budgets
        10. Creating a Living Budget
        11. Using the Budget as a Business-Management Tool
        12. Using Budgets in Other Ways
      5. Chapter 5: Satisfying the Tax Man
        1. Tax Reporting for Sole Proprietors
        2. Filing Tax Forms for Partnerships
        3. Paying Corporate Taxes
        4. Taking Care of Sales Taxes Obligations
    10. Book IV: Managing Your Business
      1. Chapter 1: Tackling the Hiring Process
        1. Starting with a Clear Job Description
        2. Defining the Characteristics of Desirable Candidates
        3. Finding Good People
        4. Becoming a Great Interviewer
        5. Evaluating Your Candidates
        6. Hiring the Best (and Leaving the Rest)
      2. Chapter 2: Setting Goals
        1. Knowing Where You're Going
        2. Identifying SMART Goals
        3. Setting Goals: Less Is More
        4. Communicating Your Vision and Goals to Your Team
        5. Juggling Priorities: Keeping Your Eye on the Ball
        6. Using Your Power for Good: Making Your Goals Reality
      3. Chapter 3: Embracing Corporate Social Responsibility
        1. Understanding Socially Responsible Practices
        2. Doing the Right Thing: Ethics and You
      4. Chapter 4: Managing with Technology
        1. Weighing the Benefits and Drawbacks of Technology in the Workplace
        2. Using Technology to Your Advantage
        3. Getting the Most Out of Company Networks
      5. Chapter 5: Developing Employees Through Coaching and Mentoring
        1. Why Help Develop Your Employees?
        2. Getting Down to Employee Development
        3. Coaching Employees to Career Growth and Success
        4. Finding a Mentor, Being a Mentor
      6. Chapter 6: Delegating to Get Things Done
        1. Delegating: The Manager's Best Tool
        2. Debunking Myths about Delegation
        3. Taking the Six Steps to Delegate
        4. Sorting Out What to Delegate and What to Do Yourself
    11. Book V: Marketing and Promotion
      1. Chapter 1: Optimizing Your Marketing Program
        1. Know Yourself, Know Your Customer
        2. Finding Your Marketing Formula
        3. Controlling Your Marketing Program
        4. Refining Your Marketing Expectations
        5. Revealing More Ways to Maximize Your Marketing Impact
      2. Chapter 2: Strengthening Your Marketing Strategy
        1. Finding and Riding a Growth Wave
        2. Growing with a Market Expansion Strategy
        3. Specializing with a Market Segmentation Strategy
        4. Developing a Market Share Strategy
        5. Designing a Positioning Strategy
        6. Considering Other Core Strategies
        7. Selling Innovative Products
        8. Writing Down and Regularly Reviewing Your Strategy
      3. Chapter 3: Taking Stock of Your Business Image
        1. Making First Impressions
        2. Auditing the Impressions Your Business Makes
      4. Chapter 4: Forging Your Brand
        1. What Brands Are and What They Do
        2. Building a Powerful Brand
        3. Your Market Position: The Birthplace of Your Brand
        4. Conveying Your Position and Brand through Taglines
        5. Balancing Personal and Business Brands
        6. Maintaining and Protecting Your Brand
      5. Chapter 5: Creating Marketing Communications That Work
        1. Starting with Good Objectives
        2. Developing Effective Marketing Communications
        3. Making Media Selections
        4. The Making of a Mass Media Schedule
        5. Evaluating Your Efforts
      6. Chapter 6: Social Marketing: Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Blogs
        1. Developing a Business Presence on Facebook
        2. Sharing Your Images with Pinterest
        3. Building a Fan Base with Twitter
        4. Using Your Blog for Profit … and Fun
    12. Index

    Product information

    • Title: Starting a Business All-In-One For Dummies
    • Author(s): Consumer Dummies
    • Release date: April 2015
    • Publisher(s): For Dummies
    • ISBN: 9781119049104