comments. David is probably the best SCORE counselor I know and having his help in developing this book is a real treat. His insights and comments were thoughtful, sometimes painful but always presented in a way that enabled me to develop a better product for the reader. Thank you, David, more than you will ever know.
I also want to thank Gary Hirsch, a fellow SCORE counselor and an attorney as he was very helpful in reviewing the legal chapters and providing useful suggestions for modifications.
I want to acknowledge the inputs from Judi Virgulak, President of Jumar Marketing, who always had excellent comments on the chapters on Social Media and Websites. Jumar Marketing is a Norwalk, CT based marketing that provides superior work in the areas of marketing strategy & execution, SEO and web development. I recommend her agency all the time because I believe they are a company composed of excellent, dedicated marketing professionals.
Finally, I want to express a very special thanks to my long- term friend and computer consultant Bruce Preston. Without his untiring efforts this book would never have happened. He is a unique individual and I am proud to be able to call him my friend and colleague.
Thomas L. Greenbaum
New York City, NY
Table of Contents
1.Should You Be an Entrepreneur
2.The Key Ingredient to Entrepreneurial Success – The Idea
6.Researching Your Business and Market
7.The Wheel of Small Business Marketing
12.Legal Structure of Your Business
13.Legal Requirements When Starting a Business
19.Developing a Trifold Brochure
21.Promotion for Small Business
22.Key Insights into More Effective Advertising
25.Brief Advertising & Promotion Legal Advice
26.Managing Day-to-Day Financial Operations
30.Summary – The Keys to Success in a Small Business
INTRODUCTION
Who would not like to be his or her own boss? To be able to run your own business and be in complete control of your destiny is the fantasy for a large percentage of people. They could be recent graduates of high school, college or grad school, or they are employees of a company who are tired of following the direction of their boss and would like to go out on their own. For so many people this is their lifelong wish, as it is viewed by many as a promise of freedom, income and complete control of your destiny.
The purpose of this book is to explore the options of entrepreneurship, with the objective of providing readers with guidance as to whether this is an appropriate route for them, and if so, what do they need to accomplish to maximize their chance of success. The book covers a wide variety of topics from the initial conceptualizing of the business idea to the development of the business plan, the planning for marketing the idea and the key considerations relative to pricing, marketing and sales. It is not intended to have all the answers, as almost every chapter of this book has already been developed as a full book by someone else.
The purpose is to expose the new entrepreneur to the topics they will need to address when starting a business, and to provide some sense of priority for the attention that is placed on each during the start-up phase of the business. It also intended to provide tools and information to help any small business
