Starting From Scratch: Secrets from 22 Ordinary People Who Made the Entrepreneurial Leap - Hardcover

Moss, Wes

3.09

43 ratings by Goodreads

9781427798282: Starting From Scratch: Secrets from 22 Ordinary People Who Made the Entrepreneurial Leap

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1427798281 ISBN 13: 9781427798282

Publisher: Kaplan Publishing, 2008

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Do you ever get that sick feeling on Sunday night as you think about the daily grind awaiting you on Monday? Do you daydream about the joys of being your own boss? Do you sketch out plans for your own business, one that actually excites and inspires you? If so, congratulations! You've reached the tipping point—that critical moment when you know you're ready to flee your job for the freedom of your own enterprise.

In Starting from Scratch, Wes Moss shares with you the passion, values, and inspiration that led people just like you to exit Corporate Street and merge onto Entrepreneurial Avenue. Successful entrepreneurs from 21 different industries and business concepts—a lawyer turned gourmet baker, a paralegal turned yoga studio owner, a saleswoman turned designer shoe retailer, to name a few—reveal secrets guaranteed to put you on the road to independence.

In this fully updated and revised edition, Wes Moss offers the latest on the entrepreneurs featured and lessons from those who didn't make it. Plus, a new introduction features the latest trends in entrepreneurship and discusses how he's applied the book's advice to his own business and watched his business grow four times its original size.

Whether you're new to the workforce or in the midst of a major midlife career change, Starting from Scratch will leave you with hefty doses of practical advice and inspiration—everything you need to turn a passion into a viable, fulfilling business.

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From the Publisher:

In 2004, Americans established more than one million small businesses. Many of these enterprising individuals simply grew tired of working for other people and decided to launch their own businesses.

In Starting from Scratch, author Wes Moss has assembled an eclectic group of 21 entrepreneurs from different industries and businesses who tell you exactly how and why they transformed their careers. Meet Warren, a government employee with a big idea about homemade cakes that became Cake Love Bakery; Dany, a former editor who turned her passion for fashion into the bestselling publication Daily Candy; and Sara, a disenchanted salesperson whose company Spanx now supplies the high-end ladies’ undergarments to the stars.

Moss has identified four common steps that all 21 entrepreneurs mastered on their way to entrepreneurial success. He calls these steps the HUNT:

Harness what you have. Identify your inherent skills and figure out something tangible you love—a product or trade you are proud to be associated with. Underestimate your obstacles. Define a vision and mentally bypass the multitude of things that can go wrong or stand in your way. Notice your network. Find those around you who can assist you in realizing your vision and utilize the leverage that others provide in reaching your goal. Take the first step. Develop a bias toward action.

What’s more, he shows you how each individual courted investors, developed new products, found partners, and struggled with finances in their drive to create self-sustaining businesses. These aren’t billionaires with get-rich-quick schemes but rather ordinary people who once had mediocre salaries and now have net worths between $5 and $20 million.

Vital statistics about each industry—the size, demographics, and ages of entrepreneurs entering the field and their backgrounds—complement the unique voices of these wise and successful businesspeople. Their tales from the trenches will empower you to get out of a rut, build wealth and security through your own business, and find a career that you love.

If you’re thinking about changing careers or working for yourself, learn from the counsel of these savvy mentors, then turn your entrepreneurial dream into reality.

About the Author:

Wes Moss bootstrapped his first ventures when he was in his teens, turning his businesses into award-winning, prosperous enterprises. He is now a practicing Certified Financial Planner in Atlanta, Georgia. He and his partners manage more than a quarter of a billion dollars for people from all walks of life with one common goal—to make the most of every penny they have saved. Featured on CNBC, The Today Show, MSNBC, Fox and Friends, Live with Regis and Kelly, Good Day New York, Good Day Dallas, and National Public Radio's ""Market Place,"" and host of the weekly “The Wes Moss Show” on WGST in Atlanta, Moss was a contestant on The Apprentice with Donald Trump. He is also the author of Make More, Worry Less: Secrets from 18 Extraordinary People who Created a Bigger Income and a Better Life.

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