Outskirts Press, INC.

Start Your Business – Build Your Future

The employment picture for many of us has changed considerably over the last few decades. A lifetime career with one employer has nearly become a dream of the past. The result has been shaky job security, a struggle for income sufficient to maintain a middle-class standard of living, a battle to provide a good education for our children, and little or no retirement income. The idea of owning a business has become more attractive in spite of the challenges. Greater control of our own destiny has become a more important goal than job security for many of us. There are millions of businesses in the United States. Most of them started out small with the ideas and hopes of one or more individuals - individuals who had little or no business experience and little or no financial resources. Many of them became successful middle-market sized companies. A few of them became behemoth corporations on the world stage. This book outlines in detail the steps to business ownership, the essential considerations that should be included in the decision-making process - planning, industry selection, product or service selection, site selection, staffing, funding, acquisition or start-up, management, marketing, promotion, expansion, and growth.