Unprepared to Entrepreneur: A Method to the Madness of Starting Your Own Business

Length: 248 pages
Edition: 1
Language: English
Publisher: Kogan Page
Publication Date: 2021-10-26
ISBN-10: 1398601462
ISBN-13: 9781398601468
Sales Rank: #1023269 (See Top 100 Books)

Times have changed: you can launch a successful enterprise with your phone, sell through social media and tap into a whole world of opportunities.

Unprepared to Entrepreneur is an honest guide to launching your own business, sharing real stories from real people who have tested, failed and won at business. It profiles the underdogs, those who brainstormed ideas whilst travelling on the bus, started a business from their phone and managed to create three income streams whilst maintaining a full-time job in the city to show you that you can do it too. From a working Google doc as your business plan, to ideation strategies that live and die off Instagram engagement; they won’t teach you this at business school.

Sonya Barlow takes a look at the resilience needed to make it in business, the incredible tax on mental health and the non-negotiable steps to creating a viable business. This is the ultimate guide to side hustling, freelancing and entrepreneurial freedom of the future.

About the author
Foreword by Abadesi Osunsade
Acknowledgements
1 Are you prepared to be an entrepreneur?
    Welcome to entrepreneurship
    Failures and grey areas: if the demand is there, what is holding you back?
    Who are you?
    My year of strategically winging it (SWI)
    What’s the worst that can happen?
2 Entrepreneurship – nature or nurture?
    Are you unlocking your entrepreneurial style?
    Styles of entrepreneurship
    When did you last have a business idea?
    I don’t have a business idea
    A method to the entrepreneurial madness!
    How do you articulate your idea?
    Turning your idea into an action plan
    The Lean Canvas model
    The LMF Lean Canvas model
    Own your madness with a method
    Afterthoughts
3 Does your customer understand who you are?
    Value yourself
    Evolve to meet your customer’s needs
    Let’s find your customer
    How do you validate your customer?
    What do I do once the data is collected?
    Making your brand a reality
    Afterthoughts
4 Social media for your business
    Should I believe the social media hype?
    What is the purpose of being online?
    The social five
    Making social media work for your business and your brand
    What is the marketing mix?
    The content road map
    Data analytics
    Afterthoughts
5 Converting your network into your net worth
    Using the internet to find your community
    Is your network really your net worth?
    Personal branding and networking work hand in hand
    The internet is a wonderful network of things and people
    Building your net worth using templates
    Afterthoughts
6 Does teamwork make the dream work?
    Time to grow your team
    The future of work: functional and flexible
    Seven ways to grow your team
    My experience of growing the team
    Let’s grow your team!
    Can your team find you?
    Why is diverse and inclusive recruitment important to growing your business and team?
    Five things to consider when growing your business and team
    Afterthoughts
7 The three Ps of leadership: people, power and purpose
    What is leadership?
    What type of leader are you?
    Are leaders born or made?
    Get to know your team members
    Do you ever feel like you don’t deserve the gold star?
    What is imposter syndrome?
    Building your boss brand online
    How to succeed with LinkedIn
    Afterthoughts
8  Mind over matter
    What is mental health?
    Working cultures
    Having a healthy relationship with social media
    Dealing with loneliness
    How to deal with your mental health as an entrepreneur
    Afterthoughts
9 Shifting your money mindset
    Why do we need to discuss finances?
    Spend time understanding your costs
    Shifting your money mindset
    What is a budget?
    Managing expenses
    I have my finances in order, what next?
    Five ways to reinvest financial revenue to grow your business
    Afterthoughts
10 How to influence people and win clients
    What does it mean to influence people?
    What is a pitch?
    What are the five types of pitches?
    The pitch deck
    The written pitch
    In-person pitching
    How do you convert prospects into clients?
    Five ways to secure new business
    The reality of being ghosted
    What is your measure of success?
    Afterthoughts
11 Eleven methods to the madness of starting your own business
    1 Small wins give you the confidence to try something bigger
    2 You don’t need the title or accolades
    3 Productive procrastination is the key to productivity
    4 Becoming a boss can be stressful for relationships, romance and love
    5 If you stop enjoying entrepreneurship, you’re exhausted
    6 Define your measure of success, not somebody else’s
    7 Prepare to practise, not to perfect
    8 Not all passion projects need to become a multi-million-pound business
    9 Let your personal brand do the talking
    10 If entrepreneurship doesn’t work, at least you’re employable
    11 Always ask why and what’s next
    Afterthoughts
References
Index