Markup & profit: a contractor's guide. This is sort of old but I found it very helpful and it was given by a mentor. I'm in construction but I think it is relevant to any service or consulting type businesses.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely look into it.

Traction by Gino Smith

Thanks for the leads. Will take a look at them. All guidance is appreciated

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Traction by Gino Smith

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Big fan of this book and his other stuff but better suited to a company with at least a couple of employees - at least my recollection of it. Good for providing a structure for running a business rather than just jumping from one fire to the next.

I don't know the op's work background or education, but if you're not pretty familiar with financials and how to read financial statements, I would get a basic book on that to start. You have to know your numbers and what they mean. Focus on understanding cash flow - it is everything in the early years.

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I don't know the op's work background or education, but if you're not pretty familiar with financials and how to read financial statements, I would get a basic book on that to start. You have to know your numbers and what they mean. Focus on understanding cash flow - it is everything in the early years.

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Absolutely. capital and cash flow are the number one crusher of small businesses.

"Rework" is really good.

And for the advertising side "contagious" is one of my favorite books. This book explains the science of word of mouth and what makes things go viral. I don't run a business but I just really enjoyed the writing style and behavioral science making it one of my favorite books.

To start with, read this article on how to effectivelly implement your business ideas - https://www.ogscapital.com/blog/implementing-business-startup-ideas . You'll find tons of useful recommendations there. Always stay creative and pursue your ambition!

As everyone has said, get proper capital/loans/lines of credit in place before you even move forward. Under-capitalization is the number one killer of small businesses.

Talk to other like-minded small business owners in your area and/or specialty as well.

Thanks for all of the replies. This is going to be a hobby of mine that I am picking back up. Wanting to sell the items instead of just making them for gifts etc. My plan is to start really small and first grow into a web based business. From there my hope is to grow into a retail shop. But I am wanting to get started on the background reading so that I have the basis to grow from. My work right now is pricing analysis and billing manager. I work for a smaller company out of Dallas. But have a strong background in retail as well.

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This is going to be a hobby of mine

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Most successful businesses aren't secret. What exactly are you talking about here?

And congrats and good luck!

I appreciate the offer. Will take you up on that sometime in September October.

I will let everyone know when the time comes. Right now I am in research mode, exploring what I will offer to start with and am sourcing material etc. I'm just not ready yet. Thank you for the encouragement!

91... any chance you're ever in Houston? I'll be happy to buy the lunch for your time.

Rare, but I get to BCS some. Possibly the week of Thanksgiving this year.

We ever find out what this was?

First-time entrepreneurs have a lot on their minds. You have to build your brand, hire your staff, coordinate operations etc. The first thing to do is to prepare a solid business plan with clear goals. The second thing to do is to build a website. Use WordPress theme is you're a non-technical person. Also I encourage you to hire a marketer to promote your products (check out http://thecmoclub.com/ for this purpose ). Good luck!

I would recommend three books in particular:

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink
The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki

Good luck!

AgSoccer2007 said:

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We ever find out what this was?

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Stripclub/Bingo parlor.