Reader's Place: June 1, 2020
Start Up
This just might be the time to re-invent yourself or start your own business. Here are some titles in e-format to help you get started.
Mastering Etsy--The Entrepreneurs Guide to Creating a Thriving Etsy Business, by Adidas Wilson.
Etsy is an online retail community just like eBay only that it focuses on vintage or handcrafted commodities. Most of the goods sold there are in the jewelry, arts, crafts, housewares, artisan candies, baked goods, or paper-goods categories. For an item to qualify as vintage it has to be at least 20 years old and can be anything from photos, costumes, housewares, jewelry, and clothing. Etsy provides a great avenue for you to sell your homemade goods…
Startups in Action: The Critical Year One Choices That Built Etsy, HotelTonight, Fiverr, and More, by JP Silva.
The growing pains of a startup's initial year in business require a keen awareness of uncertainties and a willingness to adapt in order to survive. Today's new founders greatly benefit from taking a behind-the-scenes look at successful companies such as Etsy, HotelTonight, Fiverr, and more in regards to how they overcame the challenges of their first year.
This Is Marketing: You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn to See, by Seth Godin.
Great marketers don't use consumers to solve their company's problem; they use marketing to solve other people's problems. Their tactics rely on empathy, connection, and emotional labor instead of attention-stealing ads and spammy email funnels.
No matter what your product or service, this book will help you reframe how it's presented to the world, in order to meaningfully connect with people who want it.
Company of One: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business , by Paul Jarvis.
What if the real key to a richer and more fulfilling career was not to create and scale a new start-up, but rather, to be able to work for yourself, determine your own hours, and become a (highly profitable) and sustainable company of one? Suppose the better—and smarter—solution is simply to remain small? This book explains how to do just that.
Do It Yourself Business Plan: How To Write A Business Plan, by Rhys Reed, Kayleigh Lees.
There are two important reasons for writing a business plan. Firstly, to serve as a planning tool during the life-cycle of your business. If you spend the time to plan, you will circumvent many mistakes, and future frustrations will be eliminated. Secondly, the business plan is a requirement for seeking loan funds. It will provide potential lenders with detailed information on all aspects of the company's past and current operations and provide future projections.
Included in the additional resources section of this book is the Cashflow statement spreadsheet and a Break-even point calculator (in MS Excel format) is available.
Compiled by Ina Rimpau