Eileen Hirst

Starting a business, self-employment or freelancing - whether full-time or part-time - is easy when you know how and I work as an adviser, a trainer and mentor to start-ups and growth businesses. In presenting workshops and delivering training to start-ups looking for help and support with the legal, financial and marketing aspects for one of the major U.K. Banks, I was inspired to write a series of business books available to a wider audience of people who want to know the 'ins and outs'.

People primarily want to know about tax, National Insurance, registering their business, becoming a Limited Company and so forth - because they are frightened of getting into trouble with Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC), or of being sued. Often they are also looking for finance; they need money to set up their business and they want to know about grants, overdrafts and loans, and where to find them.

'Start Up Stay Up' covers all the financial and legal rules and regulations. It then takes the reader through the components of a business plan - which they have to have if they are to approach lenders or Government Agencies in an attempt to raise finance.

And then there's the marketing of the business, often confused with advertising and promotion.

Strategic marketing, as explained in 'Marketing: Of Course YOU Can!', is a planned approach directed towards a specific target market. It's only when we have a clear understanding of our market and its potential customers that advertising and promotional messages work.

Research proves that people with a great business idea, do not always succeed. Without knowing the legal implications, or checking out the market and knowing the demand and exactly what potential customers want, you are likely to be amongst those that fail in the first year.

My books simplify jargon and enable the reader to adopt a planned and focussed approach to a start-up or self-employment. They are short and easy to read and the principles can be applied to any business idea.

There are Case Studies of start-ups included. All of them are still in business more than ten years on - stories of builders, hairdressers, beauty therapists, consultants, and there's also a digital media company included. This breaks up the theory and gives practical examples of how people have managed the problems they encountered - and overcome them.

Also there's information about banking, as those attending the seminars are always interested in business bank accounts, bank charges and funding for their enterprise.

If you want to know a little bit about me - I'm sure you don't want to waste your money buying a book by someone who has no real life experience of business - I have been self-employed in a variety of roles over the past twenty+ years. As an Accountant and Chartered Marketer I have worked with many small and growing businesses, including a relatively long stint in the Management Team of a leading bathroom brassware company that went from strength to strength through strategic planning.

As well as business advice, training, coaching and mentoring, I have had several business ventures of my own. My most recent ones have been more successful than my earlier ones; I think that's because I have become much more customer focussed myself, and I continually learn from other successful business people.

Teaching has been a large part of my life, I have become accustomed to breaking things down simply and clearly, so that every person in a group understands what I am trying to get across to them. This is why my books are brief, easy to understand, and practical. I hope they will inspire you to start up and stay up in your own successful enterprise.