New Business Start-Up Guide

The Women's Small Business Start-Up Kit

A Step-By-Step Legal Guide [With CDROM]

By Peri Pakroo
(NOLO, Paperback, 9781413311884, 520pp.)

Publication Date: May 2010

Since I finally extended our wireless connection into the living area at Paragraphs, I though it would be a good time to catch up with reading some e-galleys that have been waiting to be downloaded and reviewed. I must admit I am still not totally sold on the net galley and catalog experience. I certainly appreciate the green aspects -- especially when I am buried in paper and books the idea of killing fewer trees for printing review copies makes sense -- yet when I spend so much of my day looking at a computer screen I long for the relaxing feel of print on paper as I curl up in my favorite chair.

But I digress. The galley I opened was a new edition of The Women's Small Business Start-Up Kit. I am about 2 years late in reading this but after the first few pages I have decided it is never too late to get some additional guidance. Before opening Paragraphs I worked through several business guides and had some great advice from the publications offered by and recommended by the American Booksellers Association and so far things are going well; we are able to pay our suppliers, our inventory is growing along with our customer base, and I am still excited about the future. But, there are places in my planning that were definitely left a little up in the air -- things I thought I would finish after we opened. The problem with that scenario was the lack of time available once we got our feet on the ground and needed to keep up with daily chores meant those areas I planned on cleaning up later are still clouds on my horizon a year and a half after opening. So, I am ordering a copy of this great little guide and looking for some help in those areas which I still need to address.

While I have made an effort not to forget why I moved to south Texas to live on a sandbar and make sure the bookends and I along with Griff, when he is in town, get to the beach at least once or twice a week, I have had much less time to devote to establishing friendships than I expected. Pakroo identifies this as one of the topics she covers in her book.

Another important aspect of running a business that the book addresses is the development of organizational skills and systems. Now, this is what I need.

Anyway, I think this looks like a helpful and informative tool for any woman who is wanting to take the plunge into running a business. And even a year into this experiment I am looking forward to ordering the book so I can refer to it and get some ideas on making this madhouse run a little more smoothly.