The best Small Business eBooks: Reddit reviews

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

Ah yes, part of the reason I'm out on the town is that I recently wrote a book that has thought experiments any entrepreneur can run to help them prepare for an eventual exit. This is the book I wish I would have read before our sale (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BN2KD1J/?__s=wigzaf6zfpg4zsyskigz) I can delete this if it's poor form to link.

We will have print on demand + Kindle. It will be free for the maximum days Amazon allows us (I think 5) starting Thursday.

I don't think you should abandon it - I think you're not doing enough marketing. I'm guilty of that as well - building features is fun and marketing is cryptic and confusing.

The developer of a product can be the absolute worst copy writer, because the entire product is in their head. It's been hell trying to find help on that front though.

I've gone through the site and I'm a little lost what this actually does. My test cases run as part of my build pipeline - why would I want a separate tool to manage that? Or is this a tracking tool for a separate test department?

I think the video needs a voice-over saying what it's doing. If you don't have a voice for radio that's fine - you can loop back to that later.

My gut says a cloud version would help, because it reduces the mental energy someone has to invest to try your product. Sure you offer a 90-day trial, but someone still has to invest the time to download an appliance. My goal was to have a running trial instance up in under 5 minutes and with no human interaction.

I'm completely with you on using containers for software delivery, but by delivering that way you're putting up another wall. I've met a lot of people that think docker is some kind of sorcery, plenty that don't have Linux experience. A lot of people can't just spin up servers because that has to go through a different department. Having an online trial lets you delay that whole question until they've decided if they need the product.

Start Small Stay Small has helped me.

Barriers to entry are there. But like a lot of boutiquey things, many people would like to run such a business and not strictly related to reasons linked to a good business plan.

May be easier to buy an existing firearms business rather than trying to start one.

This may be useful to you:

https://www.amazon.ca/HBR-Guide-Buying-Small-Business-ebook/dp/B01KP33K4Y

I know this is a YNAB sub, but I found YNAB to be a bit tough to deal with for my small business. I already categorize all of my transactions in QuickBooks, so to have to do it again in YNAB for budgeting seemed pretty rough. I did see they have some budgeting functionality in Quickbooks that might be worth looking into, but I have been using the Profit First method and doing it all through my checking accounts. Can check out the book here:

https://www.amazon.com/Profit-First-Transform-Cash-Eating-Money-Making-ebook/dp/B01HCGYTH4

It's still an envelope method like YNAB, but a little less detailed. I am pretty religious about my usage of YNAB for my personal life, but this feels like a much better fit for my business and the volume of transactions I'm going through.

Speaking about your business/niche specifically, you will learn more through experience than you ever will through reading or watching YouTube or taking online courses.

That said, there are a lot of skills you need as a business owner that don't have anything to do with the product or service you are selling. The one thing most new entrepreneurs don't realize is that you won't actually be spending all that much of your time doing the technical aspects of your business - or at least you shouldn't. As a business owner you also have to do the legal parts (setting up the business entity, getting insurance, navigating hiring/firing employees, etc), financial parts (setting up bank accounts, bookkeeping, reviewing financial reports, etc), advertising & marketing, customer service, even cleaning the toilets.

If you really want to change your mindset and start thinking more like an entrepreneur and less like an employee, read The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. On the financial side of things, read Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs.

Without knowing more about what type of business you want to start, I really can't offer much more advice than just get started.

I really enjoyed the book Traction by DuckDuckGo founder Gabriel Weinberg. He identified 19 traction (marketing) channel strategies, and a methodology for identifying the most promising channel for your company. Mainly startup focus.

https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Startup-Achieve-Explosive-Customer-ebook/dp/B00TY3ZOMS

Start Small Stay Small is a good book about running an independent software company. It's not specific to gaming but the advice still applies.

I ultimately decided to sell my business but before I did that, I hired some senior leadership so I could semi-retire. It was a great decision. Try checking out this short bit insightful book about selling vs holding your business with a CEO. You could even just read the chapter about hiring a CEO if you wanted.

Before The Exit: Thought Experiments For Entrepreneurs https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BN2KD1J

There is a lot of good advice here. Consider reading this book as well:

HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business: Think Big, Buy Small, Own Your Own Company (HBR Guide Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KP33K4Y/

Also consider that there are other opportunities out there. Maybe the best thing you can do is to just spend the time vetting this deal and understanding the risks and upsides, well eventually walking away. There are plenty of other businesses in a similar position, so it's hard to imagine that the very first one you are considering buying is the right one for you.

Its not clear to me if you just want to do an experiment and have fun or you really want to make a successfull app/business.

If it is the latter, Eric Ries "Lean Startup" was an eye opening for me and the development of my product. Stop what you are doing and go to read that book first, or at least watch some of his talks.

Get advice from an attorney who specializes in sales of companies of this size - and has done a lot of them. BEFORE you share anything with this person that is not already on your website. It's a tricky situation and what you don't know that you don't know can hurt you.

Since you weren't planning to sell, you have nothing to lose by saying no. Check out https://www.amazon.com/Before-Exit-Thought-Experiments-Entrepreneurs-ebook/dp/B07BN2KD1J

As for having too much to handle, if the deal doesn't go thru, raise your prices. You may sell less, but at a higher price and better profits.

Gino Wickman’s book is great. Profit First may also be useful

https://www.amazon.com/Profit-First-Transform-Cash-Eating-Money-Making-ebook/dp/B01HCGYTH4

Your business should serve your life. Sometimes the money you could get for selling or the time you could free up serves your life better.

Here's an interesting book for people contemplating selling - it's by a guy who sold his company and what he learned (and regretted) in doing so. https://www.amazon.com/Before-Exit-Thought-Experiments-Entrepreneurs-ebook/dp/B07BN2KD1J

Check out Lean Startup

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004J4XGN6/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Super helpful book that breaks it down. I think you can get it for free on Academia.

Thanks! I'll check it out.

Right now the business is going alright. It's been a side hussle and brings in around 3-5k a month, but only leaves me a paycheck of around 750-1,250/month.

Honestly the only thing holding us back is production size and logistics. Thing is I need to buy a bigger local and get it certified, which costs more mullah that I could possibly save in the short term. . .

Here is the book in Amazon for future reference

I want to give you a long answer, but I don't have a lot of time for that.

Here is the trick, Its never about the skill but the experience that you add to the skill. Python + No Experience = not a whole lot of value. Python + experience with ERP Systems = HUGE VALUE.

So consider going at this from the experience route. Find a problem domain that has people that is clamoring for help/support, dive into it, and learn the skill that is necessary in that domain. Then go from there.

Also learn how to plan your efforts/career/business with "profit first" Book: https://www.amazon.com/Profit-First-Transform-Cash-Eating-Money-Making-ebook/dp/B01HCGYTH4.

Find a number that you want to get out of your business "$X" ... then work out what you need to get there, like expenses, then billable hours. Then decide if that is the right route to get to that.

Good luck, I resonate hard with wanting to take care of younger family.

One, seperate your expenses. have a business bank account and a personal account. Send all business transactions money in and money out through your business bank account. At the end of the month, you can pay yourself out. Also read the book profit first https://www.amazon.com/Profit-First-Transform-Cash-Eating-Money-Making-ebook/dp/B01HCGYTH4

How many businesses generating 0.5-1.5M in annual FCF have you looked at already?

From this post, my guess is zero.

Buying an existing business is a huge topic that requires a lot of unpacking.

Start by reading the HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business.

It will frame many of the key pros and cons, as well as give you lots of direction on next steps and clarify many of the early questions you have.

Good luck!

Check out the book called Profit First, its a method I have been trying to implement and it has helped me a lot. https://www.amazon.com/Profit-First-Transform-Cash-Eating-Money-Making-ebook/dp/B01HCGYTH4

The book "Before the Exit" was very useful to me last year when I seriously considered selling my business. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BN2KD1J/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_8VvoFbC0Q012T

Only takes about an hour to read but can help clarify your thinking on what you want to achieve. The "lifestyle ladder" was my favorite thought experiment from the book.

Give this book a read (profit first by Mike Michalowicz) presents a guide to managing irregular income pretty well.
He actually recommends doing this (setting rules for use of each payment) manually at first so you can easily tweak the percentages as situation changes.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Profit-First-Transform-Cash-Eating-Money-Making-ebook/dp/B01HCGYTH4

Yes. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation-ebook/dp/B004J4XGN6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3DEO9E8L8GIKT&keywords=the+lean+startup+eric+ries&qid=1552506575&s=gateway&sprefix=The+lean+start%2Caps%2C236&sr=8-1

I did. I started with Traction (https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Startup-Achieve-Explosive-Customer-ebook/dp/B00TY3ZOMS/), been listening to podcasts on e-commerce marketing as of late since I've been commuting a lot.

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Really, I was just looking to explore the Reddit Ads platform. Making sales would have been great but ultimately I just wanted to learn. Pretty cheap lessons IMO.

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I haven't read any Robert Greene but I'll take a look. Thanks for the book recommendations!

Sorry, just have a minute and have not read the whole thread. I suggest this book that was just released about a situation looking similar to yours (and mine too actually). https://www.amazon.com/Before-Exit-Thought-Experiments-Entrepreneurs-ebook/dp/B07BN2KD1J

Quick read.

I always recommend the E-Myth Revisited. I think its critical to the proper mindset of being a business owner, but that's just me.

First mistake. Not everyone with an inspect problem will be your customer

You need to define your market: are you going to be the cheapest prices provider it will result in you going into low income dumpy houses and those customers are not going to pay as much and complain the most. Take up a lot of your time for lower margins and no money for marketing

Or to you shoot for the top 30% of the market and charge higher prices with better guarantees and work with income earners with 100-200k per year jobs and can afford to have you out 3 times a year like clockwork to keep the spiders away?

Every technician goes through this as an employee

The boss is getting rich off my back

Means while he’s working 70 hours a week keeping the schedule full to provide you with a stable income. Takes all the risk

When you go out and spray aware winning petunias

You boss is the one to fork over the settlement

Great ambition to want to start our own business. But don’t do it because you think your boss is getting rich. Because you will be sadly mistaken.

And what appears easy for him now was years of blood sweat and tears

Source : 20 year hvac technician turned business owner 9 years ago with 2 employee 1000s of customers and problems that nobody seems to want

Shit I can’t even give the business away. And yes it’s profitable but everyone wants to go home at 5pm

Go read the emyth by Micheal gerber

And then come back and I would be happy to answer anymore of your questions

https://www.amazon.ca/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About-ebook/dp/B000RO9VJK

It would be helpful if your bookkeeper uses Xero or Quickbooks online so you can see the numbers at any given point.

I highly suggest you have your books done once a year by a CPA if you don't already.

Make sure both the CPA and bookkeeper have restaurant experience as they can pay for themselves if they know what they are doing. The opposite is true as well.

Have you read The E-myth Revisited? I highly suggest you follow the advice herein. tl;dr systematize everything like you were trying to sell a franchise.

I started researching banks for checking and CC. I was starting to spend too much time on it, and I was reading 7 day start up. https://www.amazon.com/Day-Startup-Learn-Until-Launch-ebook/dp/B00NZFKB8S

Essentially I decided to just go with Chase so I can move on to other steps in getting started in my business.

Apply for a job at our company :) DM for details

Or, if you go solo, try to create a product that generates at least $10 a day in revenue. Like /u/enantiodromia said in another post:

> Software helps normal people get early wins, which keeps them motivated, which keeps them interested enough to keep trying.

It was in a different context, but the idea's the same. You need an early win. Mixed In Key was my early win. It gave me the strength to keep going. I recommend a book called Zero to One, it might be relevant for what you're asking about:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J6YBOFQ/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

The answer to your question is: Yes!

There are a lot of people who do freelance creative work. The key is to differentiate yourself from the $3/hr Fivvers.

Do you have a portfolio? What sort of things do you do?

The typical strategy would be:

1) Branding. You are a graphic artist, UI designer, etc., not just 'someone who has years of experience with Photoshop.' 2) Put together a portfolio that shows the different kinds of things you can do. Put this online somewhere so you can post links to it. 3) Google for remote work/freelance job sources. There are quite a few, and some have work for graphic artists. 4) Reach out to all the local graphic artist freelancers to see if they have overflow work. Do the same with some of the boutique creative shops. 5) Send emails to everyone - friends, previous employers, family - letting them know you're in business for yourself and would appreciate if they know of any work. (They might not employ you, but they might know of someone) 6) Start promoting yourself - blog post about things that demonstrate your expertise without being salesy. Your posts should be designed to help people.

Grab a copy of Stop Thinking Like a Freelancer: https://www.amazon.com/Stop-Thinking-Like-Freelancer-Evolution-ebook/dp/B00PJIDO9C

Check out some of the articles on: https://doubleyourfreelancing.com/ (it's not my site)

Check out r/freelancing