The Girls Guide to Starting Your Own Business Candid Advice Frank Talk and True Stories for the Successful Entrepreneur
Geared toward the unique challenges faced by self-employed businesswomen, The Girl’s Guide to Starting Your Own Business offers solutions and advice for handling a range of issues, including how to write a business plan, how to secure funding, and how to hire (and fire) employees. Caitlin Friedman and Kimberly Yorio share practical information drawn from their own extensive experience in the public relations, marketing, and consulting industries. Their concise and engaging advice is explained through entertaining tips, lists, and quizzes that speak directly to women who are dreaming of starting, or have already started, their own businesses.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars A Good Place to Start
I bought this book almost a year ago and loved it. I was considering and I am now going into business for myself and found this book useful. It is a good place to start for women who are considering going into business for themselves. The case studies are good because it let’s you know other women who are successfull went through the same thing you are as you start this journey. Plus it is very easy to read a big plus.
3 Stars Good, basic guide for those yet to start a business
I enjoyed this book for the most part and found it really easy to read. I especially enjoyed the interviews with people already in business and the inspirational stories they told about their early years in business. I also appreciated the why the authors were happy to point out mistakes they had made in the course of starting their business. The cover of the book made it look like these were the ultimate career women, power suits, cocktails and basically Sex and the City starts a business. However the little stories the authors told about their own mistakes and battles humanised them and made me feel like I could relate to them.
If you have already started your business, or bought a pre-existing business, I do not recommend this book. It is very much based on being a start up in the USA. As someone in Australia, a lot of the tax and small business information is not relevant which was annoying, but not unexpected.
I also felt the book ended a little abruptly – I would have appreciated a final word encouraging word from the authors, even if it was brief and less than a page long.
4 Stars Great info for the beginner
I am in the pre-contemplation phase of starting my own business and this book has given me invaluable insight into the types of things I will need to prepare to deal with.
I would not say this is a technical manual that tells you precisely how to start your own business. But it does present sort of an outline of all the different aspects you need to consider before going there. And there are several great “mini-interviews” throughout the book from actual business owners highlighting working examples of each subject the book touches on.
I would recommend this book for non-MBA types, those who are in the “just thinking about it” phase of starting their own business but are unsure about what all is involved. For me this was a very illuminating read.
3 Stars Good on inspiration, low on the details
The Girl’s Guide is an inspirational how-to book for women entrepreneurs, sprinkled with stories of actual women business owners, self-quizes, and lists of movies/music/books. But in giving a big overview, it is short in details and specific how-to’s. And, by trying to be everything to everyone, it is not specific to any particular kind of business … traditional brick-and-mortar vs internet, service vs. product, solopreneur vs employee-based, etc.
Pros:
-Written for women, addressing unique issues, such as dressing for business meetings and the problems of being “nice”
-Give a big, high-level overview of the opening of a business
Cons:
-Assumes that to grow you will need employees (not true in the age of virtual assistants and outsourcing) and a long business plan (not true in the age of the one page business plan)
-Assumes your web designer will know about web/email marketing and sales (many web designers are graphic designers, not marketing gurus)
-Assumes you will want a brick-and-mortar type-business, not an internet-only home business (and that if you start out working from home, it’s a way to save money, not a business style)
-Gives some financial, legal, internet, and marketing advice that is out of date (i.e., states now permit one-person LLCs)
If you want a book specific to your new business, or that gives you a step by step, specific guide, this is not the book for you.
If you want a book to inspire you to open your own business (especially if you want a traditional, brick-and-mortar, employee-based, consulting business that you want to grow to be big), buy this book.
4 Stars Get it girl!
I think this book is a great guide to starting your business.
