Many people dream of starting their own business, chasing their dreams, and being their own boss, but how does someone get started? Where can a new entrepreneur turn to get solid, real-world advice? In this book, the authors outline the thinking and actions that they put into starting their own businesses in the fields of engineering and gift retail respectively. Identifying best practices and acknowledging the sacrifices and potential for missteps along the way, readers will learn about what worked for them to create two very different businesses functioning on a local or global scale. Focusing on the required dedication and principles, the book’s goal is to help the reader identify within themselves the person they need to be in order to handle the details of hiring, accounting, growth, and expansion.

Unlike a typical guide for starting a business, this book eschews giving out advice in bullet-point lists or step-by-step instructions, opting to teach by example. The majority of the chapters read like an autobiography of both the authors and their businesses, covering the history of their choices and process development in order to exemplify what decisions led to their ultimate success. Additional sections of the book deal with family life, how to balance the demands of family and business, and also how to apply the lessons from one part of life to the other. Far from a typical self-help business book, this is part biography, part life advice, and part compendium of best practices. People who are worried about starting their own business but prefer to figure out what works best for them will be put on the right path after reading this.

Return to USR Home