The Business Owner's Basic Toolkit for Success

This is a must read book for anybody starting a business or even thinking about starting a business! Joan Hartley delivers what she promises. Her book is a basic toolkit that will help every business owner.We all know that every business is only as strong as its weakest link. This book can help you prevent disaster and ensure success by helping you take a very clear and concise look at the essential activities in starting or developing a business. This book is written in simple language, yet the content is not simplified, as one would expect from a book with this ambitious a title. The author has successfully create a book that is basic, practical and precise.I will give this book to every friend I know who is starting a new business activity!

One strength of this book is how it helps you evaluate whether "doing" your own business is right for you. If it ISN'T for you, you have saved yourself way more than the price of the book by knowing not to start!If "doing" your own business IS for you, this book provides a systematic path to identifying your core values in a way that will enable you to integrate them into a mission statement and business plan. I saw this book while at a book signing by the author and was impressed with how "down to earth" her advice was to people chatting with her. I really like the way she approaches both task management and time management. She helps the reader define tasks clearly, in increments small enough to easily track progress without getting mired down by any single task.Her approach definitely encourages a potential business builder to stay on track and motivated, and her anecdotal inclusions illustrate material in a way that helps it "stick"! In retrospect, I see that this book covers a lot of ground in addressing the many areas in which the reader needs clear direction to develop and build a business. BUT it does not DWELL on details that could get in the way of the basics. (Maybe the author could write a sequel for those who use this book as a stepping stone to success!)Anyway, I especially liked that there is a lot of basic information but in the context of integrating values, vision, and vitality (Ooh!--maybe I should be a writer!) I recommend it to ANYONE thinking about starting business. It can definitely decrease your frustration while increasing your enjoyment of business life!