Hello again! I’m working on finishing three different books and it’s been taking a while to slog through them. Anyway, I have an idea for a business and I wanted to write a business plan for it before seeking funding, so I picked up some books on the topic. Three were specifically about writing business plans (I’ll review those soon), and this one from Entrepreneur Press is a general book about starting on in Washington State.
I have to say I’m generally not too impressed with this book, though it is useful. First, very little of it is tailored to Washington State. Second, there’s lots of information in it, but very little in the way of a plan. And I don’t mean a business plan. I mean that there’s no step-by-step guide to what you need to investigate and do. I imagine most of what needs to be done is covered in the various chapters, but it’s informational rather than how-to. And the editors present the information in an atrocious order. For instance, they first discuss the legal forms of businesses, which is probably not the first thing needing accomplished. In addition, the discussion of the pros and cons is very general and there definitely is not enough information to make a sound decision or to start a business of each form.
On the other hand, there is some very useful information on funding a business through the Small Business Administration. Now, I already knew I could use the S.B.A. loan guarantee program, but I had no idea how it worked. The book explains the various programs generally. It also has some good references to find more information. I also found the chapter on business plans to be decent, though I’m hoping that the books specifically about business plans will be better.
The short version though is don’t buy this book. It’s not worth the $25 list price. Though if you do want to buy it anyway cause you think I am too negative in my reviews, buy it through the Amazon advertisement that accompanies this review. Thanks!
Title: How to start a business in Washington
Imprint / publisher: Entrepreneur Press
Format: Paperback
ISBN-10: 1-932156-37-2
Subject: New business enterprises — Law and legislation — Washington (State)
Subject: New business enterprises — Washington (State)
Subject: New business enterprises — Washington (State) — Management
Subject: Incorporation — Washington (State)
Subject: Business law — Washington (State)
Subject: Business enterprises — Law and legislation — Washington (State) — Forms
LC classification: HD62.5 .H685637 2003
