How to Run Your Business Like a Girl: Successful Strategies from Entrepreneurial Women Who Made It Happen

This was a nice book. It points out that women and men typically have different motivations for starting their own businesses. The author says men are usually starting a business for their healthy ego and to make money. And women instead start a business so they can have more control in their lives. There might actually be some truth to that - at least for the older generation of men and women who start businesses. I'm actually part of the younger generation of men and women born in 1962 or thereafter. And I don't think men and women (my peers) are all that different today when starting a business. Both sexes in my generation are faced with job opportunities that lack security, pension plans, and wages that can be lived on comfortably. Both sexes are faced with escalating gasoline prices without a commensurate jump in their salaries. And both sexes are competing for the same jobs. Both sexes are quitting the corporate world and starting their own businesses today because they see more opportunity AND CONTROL in doing that instead of collecting a W-2. This book talks about the unique strengths of women, and the author may have a point there. But I don't think (1) trusting intuition, (2) focusing on relationships, and (3) putting more emphasis on life balance are strengths that women have a lock on. But what men of my generation have an abundance of is male role models in business. And the wonderful thing about this book is that the author has interviewed a few successful women entrepreneurs and documented their stories so women in my generation can read the book and benefit by hearing from female role models in business. Female readers can gain words of wisdom from other women who have been there and done that. And that's what makes this book so good. 5 stars! PS. A nice companion book to this one is Small Business Big Life (ISBN: 140160336X). Consider giving it a read.

Elizabeth Cogswell Baskin has written an entertaining, useful book about launching and operating a business "like a girl." Actually, her book is filled with grown-up practical advice that women and men (as opposed to girls and boys) can use, though she hews to her gender-difference theme, particularly pointing out that women tend to rely more on intuition and relationship-building. She covers getting started, choosing your partner, opening your office, surviving slow times and marketing your product. Baskin recounts the stories of female sojourners in the entrepreneurial world and gives more than a third of the book to informative Q & A interviews with women business owners. If you seek a scholarly dissertation about how (or whether) women and men operate businesses differently, we suggest you look elsewhere. But, if you're looking for a fun read that feels like you're at a long lunch dishing with your more knowledgeable pals about getting your business going, then this is the book for you.

A down to earth, tell it like it is, get real guide. The author, herself an entrepreneur, uses a combination of in depth stories of several women-owned businesses and includes many sidebar profiles by other women entrepreneurs, in their own words. The title doesn't give it credit because for the women entrepreneurs in this book, its not only about running a business, but about running a life for all that its worth. Which is not easy in any case, what with balancing families, facing stereotypes, challenging expectations. But instead of fighting those things, the businesswomen profiled in this book show us ways to take aspects of womanhood and apply them to running a business. Not better nor worse than men, just different. I especially liked the honest, fresh stories by real people -- even when it has not all been a bed of roses -- its a real inspiration.

This book really helped me since I have only been out on my own for a year. To read that other women have gone through the same struggles and challenges, and also share the immense feeling of accomplishment and freedom that comes with it, was very comforting. Ms. Baskin's writing style is very frank and refreshing, as if she were talking to me. I laughed out loud at times, especially the part about "putting your big girl panties on" and dealing with problems that may arise. A wonderful resource in the midst of lots of very dry business books.

Although women are starting their own businesses at a blistering pace,too few successful women entrepreneurs have taken the time to thoughtfully chronicle their experiences and share with the rest of us what it's like to walk a mile in their manolos. Elizabeth Cogswell Baskin does that and more, giving us not only her experiences starting ad agencies -- she's on her second -- but the inspiring stories of other female entrepreneurs from around the country. One of the best things about the book is that Baskin and her subjects are open about the scary times and tough decisions they've had to make along the way. Although the tone of the book is breezy and fun, Baskin offers plenty of solid advice and cautionary tales. As the former editor-in-chief of Atlanta Woman magazine, I read many books geared to working women and women entrepreneurs. This one is the perfect read for women who are contemplating doing their own thing.