When I was starting up my business and hitting the library for resources (thank you, library!), amid the shelves filled with titles on getting rich quick and lessons from CEOs-who-know, I discovered three books that I recommend to every person who asks me how I did it: Michelle Goodman’s The Anti 9-to-5 Guide and My So-Called Freelance Life and Lauren Bacon and Emira Mears’s The Boss of You.
Sure I waded through the many available (and free!) online resources that helped me through the process of choosing a business structure, registering with my local chamber, paying zoning fees for a home office and so forth, but these ladies’ books gave me the guidance and chutzpah to make my business happen and have a good time doing it.
Though they’re writing for women and, yes, most if not all of their examples are women-owned businesses, I recommend these books to my guy friends for the same reasons I recommend them to my ladies. First off, they’re fun reads. The authors have great senses of humor – a necessity for anyone who’s starting their own business – and they offer invaluable advice based on their and fellow business owners’ experiences.
Secondly, they offer something very different from those other books on the topic. They speak to doing business because you want something more than just money or fame or power over the universe. Of course, we all want to make money at the end of the day and I’ll admit sometimes I’d like that power over the universe part, but the point is that money is just one of many reasons most people start their own gig, myself included. As a result, their advice seems so much more honest and authentic than the shallow posturing I find in most other start-up guides.
If you’re green on the business startup process, I recommend reading the books in the order I listed above. Goodman starts from the beginning – she even walks you through finding what you want your business to be if you don’t have any idea yet – then takes you through the logistics of everything from self-discipline to healthcare to taxes. Mears and Bacon are a bit more ambitious and go so far as discussing how to grow your business, find and hire employees, and be a good boss.
Though they started as library loans, I have since purchased all three. Their resource guides and well organized chapters make them go-to references for me even now. Plus I can freely mark the margins, and we all know how I love margins.
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