Published January 2004

Bedtime reading for budding entrepreneurs

Dear BizBest: My new college-grad nephew is planning to start his own business. Frankly, I think he’ll need all the help he can get. As a gift, I’d like to send him some good books to help get him going. Can you recommend some top titles for a new entrepreneur? — Concerned Aunt

Dear Concerned Aunt: Happy to help. There are many excellent books for budding entrepreneurs. We tend to avoid the big-business best-seller types (by celebrity CEOs, for example) in favor of those offering practical advice on how to get a business up and running, and profitable. These BizBest selections are either new or updated editions of successful books.

n “The Small Business Start-Up Kit,” second edition, by Peri Pakroo (Nolo; 2003) provides the kind of hands-on help we value at BizBest. “Start-Up Kit” shows how to set up a business in any state, quickly and easily, and deal with the legal hurdles, fees and forms along the way. The book comes with a CD that includes most of the forms you will need — a big timesaver. Nolo, a top business self-help publisher, specializes in putting legal stuff into plain language. “Start-Up Kit” helps you choose the best business structure, write an effective business plan, and decide how to price, bid and bill your products or services. Further info at www.nolo.com or call Nolo at 800-728-3555.

n “Full Frontal PR” by Richard Laermer (Bloomberg Press, 2003) offers savvy advice from public relations pros on how to make yours the “in” business with both customers and the media. There are dozens of books on how to get publicity for a business, but this new one by the founder of RLM Public Relations has a real tell-it-like-it-is quality. Laermer lets you in on the big secret of the PR field: You can create media attention for your business on your own, without the help of a PR firm and without a large budget. “Full Frontal PR” is brimming with big ideas for small business. Visit the publisher’s Web page, www.bloomberg.com/books.

n “Raising Capital for Dummies” by Joseph Bartlett and Peter Economy (Wiley Publishing) is one of the few books on business financing that won’t make your eyelids heavy in the first five minutes. As with other books in the successful “Dummies” series, this one cuts through the mumbo-jumbo and leads entrepreneurs through the different stages of financing a business in clear language, with “cheat sheets” and a dash of humor, too. The section on start-up financing is filled with excellent advice. Visit www.dummies.com.

n “The Entrepreneur’s Desk Reference” by Jane Applegate (Bloomberg Press, 2003) is a handy compendium of ideas and solutions for a start-up small business. Applegate has compiled an alphabetical reference featuring over 300 topics with definitions, checklists and strategies to help point entrepreneurs in the right direction. From audits, balance sheets and collections, to warranties, young entrepreneurs and zero tolerance, “The Entrepreneur’s Desk Reference” covers it all. Visit www.bloomberg.com/books.

n “You Need to Be a Little Crazy: The Truth About Starting and Growing Your Business” by Barry Moltz (Dearborn Trade Publishing, 2003) addresses a side of entrepreneurship that other books ignore. Moltz, a serial entrepreneur and angel investor himself, talks about all the things that come before the bottom line, like passion, relationships, failure and authenticity. It’s a sobering story, but a refreshing read. Visit www.dearborn.com.

n And we can’t leave out BizBest’s own 2004 edition of “The 100 Best Resources for Small Business” by Daniel Kehrer (BizBest Media, 2003). You’ll find the top resources and solutions for start-up, management, technology, sales and marketing, operations, financing, hiring, troubleshooting and more. “The BizBest100” saves hours of clicking through questionable Web search results, putting you immediately in touch with the best. Visit www.bizbest100.com for details and to request a free report, “Six Resources That Can Really Make a Difference (all free).”

BizBest (www.bizbest.com) publishes independent ratings and analyses of nearly 2,000 small-business resources in hundreds of subject categories. Daniel Kehrer is editor and publisher. E-mail questions to dan@bizbest.com.

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