Recommended Home Based Business Reading

It can be extremely daunting knowing where to start, and how to find clients. The following general books are worth considering. Unless otherwise specified, all can be ordered from Amazon over the Internet by clicking on the book title, usually at a big discount.

The “Which?” Guide to Starting Your Own Business – Amazon Price: £8.24
Paperback – 288 pages Reissued Revised Ed (27 March, 2003)
Which? Books; ISBN: 0852029306

Synopsis
A companion for anyone planning to start a business, warning of the pitfalls and explaining the best way to tackle each stage. When starting your own business, it pays to be as well informed as possible to give your enterprise the best chance of success. This updated and expanded handbook offers advice on how to choose the right business venture, raise the necessary finance, whether to set up as a sole trader, partnerships, buying an established business, VAT and taxation. The guide points you in the right direction for buying insurance, finding premises, equippping an office, seting up a computer system and selling abroad. Also included are changes in employment law that may affect owners of small business and ways of encouraging clients to pay their bills promptly. This new edition includes all the latest Budget changes and covers the latest employment and business legislation, together with the new regulations from the EU; advises on the impact of the euro on selling abroad; shows how to advertise and sell via the Internet; and discusses some of the popular small-business choices of today.

Start Your Own Home-based Business – Nick Daws. Amazon Price: £10.95
Paperback – 304 pages (30 April, 2001)

This book is a reference for all budding entrepreneurs. Divided into two parts, part A takes you through everything you need to consider before starting a home-based business – from requirements for success, through drawing up a business plan and cash flow forecast, to matters such as marketing, financial planning and credit control. Practical, detailed advice is given, with contacts for further information. Part B of the book contains concise profiles of over 50 different home-based business opportunities that could be started. Some of these require specific skills, training or experience (e.g. book-keeping, website design), while others are open to almost anybody (e.g. window cleaning, house-sitting). Each profile includes concise answers to the following six questions: what the work entails; what you need to get started; who your customers will be?; how much you can make; how to sell your services; where you can get more help?

Lloyds TSB Small Business Guide – Sara Williams Amazon Price: £9.09
Paperback – 464 pages 17th Ed (September, 2003) Penguin Books;

The Lloyds TSB Small Business Guide
is a financial advisor, tax adviser, management consultant and property agent rolled into one. Now in its 16th edition, the book has been expanded to include information on selling goods and services online, together with the latest information on the UK economy and small business tax regulations. Divided into 31 chapters, the Small Business Guide covers most of the issues you’ll face in the first years of running a business, from setting up partnerships to finding offices and staff, filing taxes and dealing with customers. Each chapter has a series of exercises to help you apply the information to your own situation, and also includes links to other relevant sections of the book. The book also clearly states when specialist advice will be needed.

The Best Home Businesses for the 21st Century : The Inside Information You Need to Know to Select a Home-Based Business That’s Right for You — Paul Edwards, Sarah Edwards. Paperback.
Amazon Price: £8.71

Based on the top-selling Best Home Businesses for the 90s, here is a completely updated, comprehensive look at the leading businesses for small and home-based entrepreneurs in the 21st century.

This guide provides comprehensive profiles of more than one hundred hot new businesses that promise the top opportunities for small-business people in the future.
Paul and Sarah Edwards explore the best opportunities for self-employment in the new century – ranging from being a business-network organizer to running a transcript-digesting service – and provide expert, step-by-step advice on:

• the skills and knowledge needed to startup;
• the start-up costs, pricing, and potential earning;
• the best ways to get new business;
• the advantages and disadvantages of each business;
• the hands-on advice of those already in the field.