Review by Peter Hupalo:

“Small Business For Dummies” is a good book to introduce people to the world of small business. The book is filled with solid business advice and information which runs the gamut from managing employees to controlling inventory to building customer relationships. The book starts with a short chapter asking, “Is Small Business For You?” The authors discuss reasons to start a small business and reasons to remain an employee working for someone else. There is a short aptitude test to see if you have the characteristics to be successful as an entrepreneur.Tyson and Schell define a small-business owner as a person who owns a business with 100 or fewer employees. To reduce the risk of starting a business, the authors suggest you consider starting a part-time business. I especially like how “Small Business For Dummies” addresses the issue of risk in starting a small business. When an entrepreneur starts a larger company, the founder might collect 0,000 a year in salary, have a great severance package, and even if the company fails, there probably won’t be any personal stigma for the founder. On the other hand, small business failure is much more painful, carrying not only the stigma of personal failure, but also dire personal financial consequences.The second Chapter, “Laying Your Personal Financial Foundation,” gives new entrepreneurs a quick course in personal finance, Tyson’s specialty. Some entrepreneurs fail to get their personal finances into shape before launching their business. Tyson and Schell point out, the more financially sound you are, and the more fully aware you are of your spending and financial needs, the more likely you are to succeed in business. A common cause of business failure is running out of money while trying to establish your new company. Tyson and Schell suggest building up your cash reserves (or a “war chest”) of about three to six months of living expenses before starting your company. The authors also discuss the importance of disability, health, and term life insurance in protecting yourself and your family.Chapter 3, “Finding Your Niche,” dispels the common myth that your “niche” is the key to success. Tyson and Schell write: “[T]he niche or idea won’t ultimately make or break your business; the day-to-day running of the business itself is what ultimately determines success- or failure. Stated another way, you show us a crackerjack business person, and we’ll show you someone who can get rich in the cookie business whether or not he or she has the foggiest idea how to bake the darn things.”"Small Business For Dummies” gives us the valuable tip that trying to be a low-cost player is likely to lead to failure. Small businesses can’t compete on price. They must compete on quality and service. Tyson and Schell also unveil your most valuable business asset- you. After telling us a short story about Sam Walton (the founder of Wal-Mart) borrowing ,800 to buy an ice cream machine, Tyson and Schell write: “And so it will be with the rest of us who follow in Sam Walton’s footsteps- we alone will either make our company, or we will break it. Sure, the niche will be important but we will select it. And certainly our employees will be important, but we will choose the people we hire (and the people we fire). And, of course, our products (or services) will be important, but we will have the final word in defining them. Everything that happens within our business will have our own personal stamp on it. Nothing will be outside of our grasp.”One option to creating a company from scratch is buying an existing small business. Small Business For Dummies devotes two excellent chapters to buying a business. The book has an excellent discussion of due diligence and evaluating a business to buy. Some of the suggestions include:~ Examine the business’s tax returns. While many small business owners trying to sell a business will try to overstate earnings and the potential of the business to a potential buyer, the owner will likely try to minimize the profits reported to the IRS to save money in income taxes.~ Talk to key customers, employees, and other companies in the industry. Try to get a feel for the level of ethics and reputation of the company you consider buying. People of low ethics are more likely to try to sell you a bad business for an inflated price and not care about your future success or happiness with the business.~ Consider hiring a business appraiser, so that you have information about the prices for which comparable businesses are selling.~ Get proof showing that all business taxes are fully paid to date. And, make sure that the seller is liable for any existing, undisclosed liabilities. Many people can’t afford to purchase an existing business. How do the cash starved build a company? Bootstrap. The Book points out that one Inc. Magazine survey showed that about 79% of the fast-growing Inc. 500 companies relied upon the founder’s personal savings and 16% relied upon financing from family members for funding. In contrast, only 7% received bank loans, 5% received angel investments, and 3% received venture capital.Tyson and Schell write: “The fact that bootstrapping is so pervasive and works so well makes sense if you think about it. First, what better way to instill discipline and to make things work efficiently that to have a limited supply of funds? Second, because you care deeply about risking your own money or that of family or friends, you have a powerful incentive to work hard and smart at making your business succeed. … Bootstrapping is the unchallenged king of start-up financing.”Small Business For Dummies is worth reading. It is also available at many public libraries.Peter Hupalo, Author of “Thinking Like An Entrepreneur”

Review by :

First of all, Eric Tyson writes some other great books under the Dummies series, such as “Home Buying for Dummies”. This book, on the other hand, is good as a primer. There are a lot of chapters that aren’t critical to starting a business. Then the chapters that finally do touch at the core of starting a business, only cover the subject with a light, superficial touch. The best part about this book is that they refer you to read other books related to the subject, such as Nolo Press’ “The Small Business Start-up Kit.” If you can borrow “Small Business for Dummies” from a local library or friend, I recommend doing so. You can then save your money on other books that cover the various business start-up subjects in more depth. For example, there are a whole series of Nolo Press books about forming a LLC, corporation or limited partnership. They also have books dedicated to trademark registration, writing business plans, buying commercial insurance, negotiating contracts, financial management, hiring more staff, etc. And by the way, I don’t have anything to do with either company. Just a guy trying to get a head in business.

Review by Steven Cubbage:

This book covers the basics of running a small business better than any I’ve seen or read. It simply cuts to the chase and identifies resources that can actually help instead of filling pages with philosophy!

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone starting out or even seasoned small business professionals.

Review by David J. Lytle:

I read this book and felt more comfortable about starting a small business. The book is informative about the many tasks that one needs to pay attention to. The book gave me several ideas and helped me determine where I need to concentrate my efforts. For the price this book is an excellent resource for starting a business and I would highly recommend it.

Review by CryptKicker:

As a new small business owner, I’ve devoured several books written on the topic of starting a business. Most have a few good kernels of knowledge in them somewhere, but none are as consistently helpful as this book.

The author, Tom Gegax, has a great deal of personal experience starting and growing companies, most of which seem to be in the tire industry. If you’re business is not merchandise-based, but service-based, this book is still very pertinent. Topics like vision and values are discussed, as well as some interesting marketing ideas. Adapting the information into a business plan for a Web company was easy and enjoyable.

Be prepared for Mr. Gegax’s very zealous approach to business. It borders on fanatical at times. If you shy away from corporate structures due to their “you must believe” mindset, you’ll flinch a few times while reading, but it’s still excellent counsel.

From a tactile standpoint, this book is great. The binding is well constructed, and the print is slightly large and easy to read.

I cannot recommend this book enough if you’re starting your own business. Double that recommendation if you own your own business and need a shot of inspiration.

I also recommend Joe Kennedy’s Small Business Owner’s Manual available on Amazon.

Review by Maynard Howe, PhD:

The principles set forth in Tom Gegax’s book, The Big Book of Small Business, are sound and if applied to your business will have a significant impact on your bottom line – I know, because I have used them. Where most books on business are heavy on theory, this book provides practical solutions based on real-life experiences – solutions that can be applied to any business – solutions that will result in an immediate payoff. This book is for every leader interested in improving their personal performance and that of their company. It truly is a decision maker’s guide to best practices.

Review by Alyce In Wonderland:

I’ve looked up a lot of resources on the net. You can do so many things for free on your own, don’t pay the services on the web to do it for you. This book will help a lot. I’ve found answers to all of my questions here, in simple plain English:

Naming your business

Trademarks/servicemarks

Pricing your work or goods

Taxation (including some great ways to save money on your taxes)

Web domain registration

Choosing the type of business you want to own (sole proprietorship, LLC, etc.)

Web sites and e-business

Location (working from home, leasing a commercial site, etc.)

Writing contracts

Hiring workers if you choose to

Changing ownership in the future

Marketing

And a lot more…

The book also includes many of the legal forms you will need both in tear-out page form and on a CD-ROM so you can print out more copies on your computer. This book is easy to follow and thorough. I highly recommend it.

Review by Andrew Shaffer:

Skip the Small Business Administration or state small business websites. Forget the “For Dummies” or “Idiots” guides. This is the one book you need to read if you’re serious about starting a business.

From taxes to finances to planning entry into a market, Nolo’s book covers the gamut. Starting a business sounds intimidating, but it’s really not…if you have this book by your side. The CD-ROM has a couple of useful files, but to really get the most out of the book you may have to follow their recommendations for further reading. It’s a great place to start, however.

And be sure to order the latest edition, as laws change! [I reviewed the 5th edition.]

Review by Happy With My Purchase:

EXCELLENT book! This book is very reader friendly, and is loaded with easy to understand information, examples, plans-of-action, and descriptions of the different types of situations that a business owner might encounter. I especially liked the fact that the book, being as comprehensive as it is, still continuously holds the reader’s attention as he/she is working their way through it. The author has gone to great pains to make the book (and the examples he uses) relevant, timely, and appropriate to today’s small business marketplace.

I give the book my highest recommendation. I plan on giving it as as a gift to several friends that are small business owners.

Review by S. Sloan:

My husband and I are planning to start our own business. We’ve had some vague notions of what’s involved in the process, but a lot of the details were fuzzy. This book helped tremendously! It’s a great overview, with lots of helpful tips, advice, resources, and information. You may need to buy additional books later that have more in-depth information on specific topics, but this book will allow you to figure out just what it is you need to know more about, and is an excellent place to start. If you are thinking about, or planning to start your own business… GET THIS BOOK.

Review by William M. Burbank:

As a tax attorney I find this book, a great resource. My practice is very specialized and when I need an overview of areas outside of my specialty, I find Frederick W. Daily’s books to be a great first stop. Taxation of business entities (not my specialty)is arguably the most complex area of the Internal Revenue Code, This book makes these complex principals not only easy to understand, but offers invaluable tax strategies to save big tax $$$$. On more than one occasion I have loaned copies of this book to clients because it does a better job giving an overview of complex concepts in a clear and concise way.

Marty Burbank, Esq.

Estate Tax Planning & Asset Protection

marty@martyburbanklaw.com

Review by John Matlock:

Taxes related to a small business are complex and even a little bewildering if you haven’t gotten into them before. But as this book says, they’re not rocket science difficult.

Here in one book is a general introduction to the major business taxes that we all have to face. In addition there are comments based on experience such as: “Few people ever file form 5213 (Election to Postpone Determination that Activity is for Profit), and for good reason. It draws the IRS’s attention and may invite an audit.” This kind of advice is hard to find in real life, but here the author has enough experience in the area to make such statements.

Most of the book is on the standard kinds of accounting records you’ll need to keep, the limits and philosophies that the IRS follows, etc.

Review by K. Ruiz:

I bought this book for a Small Business Management class at Berkeley City College. It is completely full of information on how to build a small business the proven way the first time. There are plenty of testimonials and case studys and exercises to help us apply business fundamentals to real-world situations.

I also like the online component that has flashcards to help learn the keywords and videos, too.

It’s a heavy book. It’s very expensive, list price 0.00. I bought mine used (from a person who used it once for a test, so it’s practically brand new) for + shipping. Still expensive, but way cheaper by comparison.

Review by T. Lockwood:

I think this book is phenomenal! I was literally just thinking to myself earlier tonight that it is a very resourceful tool for school. I go to MSB college, and I needed to purchase the book for my small business management class. I think it’s a great book. I can find any word I’m looking for, and each chapter is detailed and easy to follow. I think the price was great for the condition of the book, I can tell I got a good deal.

Review by Jeffrey E. Heckler:

I operate a media-related business and let’s just say I like dealing with

people more than some of the nitty-gritty details of running a business.

Since my business is growing I needed advice in many different areas like

hiring employees or contractors, getting my accounting finished, finding an

attorney/partner and all of the different taxes that must be reported and

paid. Believe me all of this can be a headache to those who just want to

concentrate on a business they are passionate about, so I like this book

because it gets down to details without going through a lot of obvious or

useless information. The author (Joe Kennedy) also provides a lot of

comments on how these things really manifest in the real-world. For example

he explains about how some taxes should be reported and paid exactly on time

to avoid problems, but he gives examples of others where business owners can

fudge a little. This alone can pay for the book many times over.

I also like how the information is organized. Everything is explained in

macro terms as each section begins, but then heavy-duty details follow. So

you can open up to just about any section (for example payroll taxes or

medical savings accounts) and get right into it. Finally get ready because

the book is thick with information but the writing style makes it easy to

follow. I recommend reading one chapter per day over two weeks and this

will allow time to think about all of the new information overnight.

The only problem I saw with the book is that the chapters on Hiring/Firing

and Taxes were maybe a bit too long but who can complain for getting too

much information? This is not one of those “feel-good” cheerleader type

business books, but instead offers lots and lots of practical information

that you will need every day.

The web site [...] is also useful especially

as they add more and more documents to the document downloads section.

Readers get free access to the goodies on this site.

Jeff Heckler, The Solutions Group

Review by Roman Gregory:

When I signed up with an Internet company they sent me a copy of this book

as some kind of promotion but it’s well worth the full retail price.

Sometimes “sign up” gifts turn out to be not so good but I do get a lot of

mileage out of Kennedy’s new book. Many entrepreneurs (like me!) are very

good in one particular area, say e-commerce, but are not so aware of the

many other facets of running a business – and that’s why this book is great.

I am an Internet kind of guy but “The Small Business Owner’s Manual” or

“TSBOM” as they call it has a lot of relevant info on building and promoting

web sites and e-stores, however there are also has several chapters of very

solid material in the other dimensions of running a business – like forming

the entity and “hiring and firing” and minimizing taxes and my favorite part

is when the book explains a businesses’ “unique selling proposition.”

I keep it on the shelf just behind my desk and whenever something comes up

this is often the first place I look. Even though I am happy to jump to the

Internet, this book is better and faster than most searches, since it’s

focused on small business owners and not on selling something and it is

solid information and not a lot of obvious things you already knew.

PS The book also has an Internet site, [...], where you can ask the author questions – which he does answer – and there are free downloads of most commonly used business documents and agreements.

It’s nice to get a coffee cup as a promotional gift but this book is about

operating a serious business. If Kennedy ever writes a new version I’ll buy

it.