INTRODUCTION

Private enterprise is an expedition, and you have taken the first step – enrolling in this course. This may be the smartest thing you ever done. OK, I may be up overstating, but I’m serious about the impact this book “Management In Focus: Start, Develop, Manage And Grow Your Own Business” can have on your life. You will surely come up to testify how it changed your life.

I can honestly say you will never regret taking the jump into business ownership. Most people who tried succeeded (though not necessarily at the business they initially started); few may return to life as employees. But almost, no one regrets the expedition.

Management In Focus: Start, Develop, Manage And Grow Your Own Business is designed to help you pilot your own personal adventure to business ownership. We are here to instruct and inspire you. To tell you the things you don’t know and remind you of the things you do. Some will tell you that the part you are about to embark on is a hazardous one, but it is not. However, it is not without its bends, hustle bumps and diversions. Management In Focus: Start, Develop, Manage And Grow Your Own Business helps prepare you as you go. You will learn what to expect at each step along the way. It is like a map pointing out the best routes to take.

So consider this course part of your resource.

I would have asked whether you are ready to become a business owner. If you aren’t ready you won’t have enrolled in this course. Some people mistakenly believe you have to be born a business person to succeed, or that it is for a few privileged people – it isn’t true. You can learn what it takes. That’s what this course is all about.

Management In Focus: Start, Develop, Manage And Grow Your Own Business takes you step-by-step through the start-up Journey, from how to get an idea for a business to finally opening the door to your new venture. The contents of the course are designed to make sure you are on the right track.

Since business ideas, developments and approaches constantly change, we have made a number of inputs in Management In Focus: Start, Develop, Manage And Grow Your Own Business as well. Since I believe the start-up phase of a business lasts about three years, we take you beyond just opening your business doors.

Why you should choose this course? Perhaps your intention is to be an entrepreneur and take charge of your own business. You have already gotten idea of a great business you are sure will be a market leader. Or perhaps you often find yourself reflecting on it that may be you want to start your own business but you are not sure what venture to start. Or what business ownership is just like and whether it is right for you. Whichever categories of these you fall you have made a right choice for the course.

In Part One, “Think Well: Steps To Starting A Business,” we will show you what it means to be a business owner and help you to decide whether entrepreneurship is right for you – even if you do not have a business idea, or sure if your idea will be successful. You will learn the secret to spotting developments before they happen and coming up with many reliable business ideas.

Planning is key to every successful business, and in Part 2 “Planning: Choose Your Target Market,” you will learn what you need to do to lay the foundation for success. Find out how to identify your target market, plus dozens of ways to do market research.

Speaking of money, every businessperson knows that adequate startup capital is crucial to business success. But where do you find the essential cash? In Part three, “Funding: Sourcing Finance For Your Business,” we give you the inside revelation on getting the money you need. Discover lots of sources to capital. We show you secrets to financing your business yourself and how to tap into the most common source of startup financing (family and friends), plus places you may never have thought of to look for money.

You have a great idea, a perfect plan to make it work. What is the next step? Part four, “Getting Yourself Prepared,” First, we will show you how to get you way out of every deal, negotiating tips that will put you in the forefront in any situation. Learn how to get a major location that will get customers come in and come back. Or may be how to start your business from home is the way out you seeks. And other important things that will make you get prepared.

Now you are ready to launch your business. To make sure the takeoff is successful, Part five, “Marketing Your Business: Act Of Selling,” shows you how to spread the word about your company. First, you will learn how to create brand identity that will get your new business noticed. Then, you will find out how to create a marketing and advertising campaign that works, within your budget. You will also learn about the single best way to promote your business through public relations.