Be Your Best Boss: Reinvent Yourself from Employee to Entrepreneur

by William R Seagraves, Perry Marshall (Foreword by)

Overview

A guide to help make the most of your mid-career entrepreneurial pursuits...whether they were originally planned for or not.

Employee to Entrepreneur is the book to help entrepreneurially minded professionals seize the opportunity offered by the current economic environment to begin a "second act" in their careers. This complete guide explores the full range of questions and concerns voiced by mid-career entrepreneurs, including: how to get started after a lifetime of having other bosses, risks and rewards of making the entrepreneurial leap, and the drawbacks to starting a business under the constraints of traditional start-up costs. 

Aspiring entrepreneurs will learn to:  
- Recognize why the right business fit is so important.
- Understand the impact that proper funding can have on the future success of a business.
- Assess the financial risks and potential rewards of funding their business using a self-directed 401(k).
- Avoid common mistakes by learning through the experiences of others.  
- Gain the needed confidence to act on making their dreams a reality.

William Seagraves, a seasoned and serial entrepreneur himself, carefully deconstructs each part of the process so that the reader is able to honestly evaluate first themselves and second the unique mid-career business opportunity at hand. The book includes wide-ranging advice from a financial professional who has helped hundreds of clients navigate the tricky waters of this mid-career change. This book will be the go-to resource for the rapidly growing number of mid-career entrepreneurs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780399175640
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/09/2016
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

WILLIAM R. SEAGRAVES specializes in helping aspiring business owners make the leap from the restraints of corporate America to discover the freedom that small business and franchise ownership can provide. With more than twenty years of experience as an entrepreneur and financial funding guru, he is expertly positioned to offer sound advice that has seen hundreds of small business owners not only succeed but flourish during the midlife entrepreneur stage of their lives. Seagraves's company Catchfire Funding specializes in sharing information about wealth building with funding and financing strategies and educating clients on the best practices for building their own businesses.

Table of Contents

Foreword Perry Marshall ix

Introduction xi

Part I Are You Ready For a New Boss?

Chapter 1 The American Dream Gone Awry 3

Chapter 2 Don't Sell Yourself Short 21

Chapter 3 How Entrepreneurially Ready Are You? 33

Part II Size Matters! 39

Chapter 4 Company of One 41

Chapter 5 Boss of a Few 49

Chapter 6 Business of Many 59

Part III To Build Or Buy? That is the Question 65

Chapter 7 Buying a Franchise 67

Chapter 8 Buying an Existing Business 77

Chapter 9 Building Your Own Business 87

Chapter 10 To Partner or Not? 95

Part IV Start Your Engines! 105

Chapter 11 The Road Map: Business Planning 107

Chapter 12 Fuel Up: Finding the Funds 117

Chapter 13 Gaining Traction: The First Six Months 137

Chapter 14 Acceleration: Six Months to Two Years 147

Chapter 15 Full Speed: Two-Plus Years 155

Part V Where to Next, Boss? 163

Chapter 16 When and How to Exit 165

Chapter 17 The New American Dream 175

Epilogue Entrepreneurship on Steroids 185

Additional Resources 191

Notes for My Business Plan 191

Relevant Reading and Research Material 197

Take This Myth-Busting Quiz 199

The Full Picture of 401(k) Funding 201

Acknowledgments 205

About the Author 207

Editorial Reviews

02/15/2016
This brief guide to planning, funding, starting, growing, and selling a small business is also padded with checklists and quizzes, so Seagraves, founder of business advice company Catchfire Funding, does not have the page space to offer any in-depth information. Aimed at midcareer, upper middle-class professionals, each point in the book is illustrated with a short example from the career of a business or franchise owner. Even though most of the ideas are not new, they are sensible and down to earth. The author's advice on funding a start-up with a self-directed 401(k) is an unusual topic for a business book. This would be a solid choice for readers who picked up Starting a Business All-in-One for Dummies and found it too dense. VERDICT This decent, very short work is recommended for midcareer readers who are beginning the process of starting a business.—Jessica Spears, Brooklyn P.L.

Library Journal