Over the last five years, the number of women-owned businesses has grown at twice the rate of all U.S. firms; in the next few years, the number is expected to surpass the six million mark. Kitchen Table Entrepreneurs tells the inspirational stories of eleven low-income women who have marshaled the creative energy, confidence, and capital necessary to start their own small businesses. These women, who have used their entrepreneurial skills as a route out of poverty, give an American face to an economic empowerment tool that has enjoyed great success in developing countries. By becoming their own bosses, they not only provide for their children but also inspire them. Though each of their businesses is unique, all eleven of these women have discovered previously unknown strengths as they've struggled to overcome personal and bureaucratic obstacles. All received important assistance from nonprofit organizations supported by the Ms. Foundation for Women, the pioneer funding entity of microenterprise programs in the United States. Updated with a new epilogue.
Kitchen Table Entrepreneurs make the best of what they have in terms of their personal skills, and their financial resources, which means they start their businesses from where they are standing right now. Rather than moan about what they could achieve if only they had enough money, the right premises or the right people - KTE's start their businesses with however much or little they have at the time.
Anyone Can Do It chronicles the start and evolution of a successfulbusiness dream. Beginning with the Hashemi siblings' firstconversations (when the seed of the idea was planted) it followsthe progress of Coffee Republic from business plan to the presentday. Coffee Republic is now worth around £50m with 90 outletsaround the UK. This is a start-up business book for real people. Sahar andBobby take the reader step by step through every aspect of startingand growing a business from asking 'why?' and writing the plan tohiring staff and letting go. The book is illustrated throughoutwith inspirational anecdotes from their own experience. It is avery personal story of dreaming, acting and succeeding offering amyriad of lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs and blowing apart themyth that only 'special' people start successful businesses.
Inspired by the author's rags-to-riches business story, this book explains how to combine passion with innovation to start a business. Practical tools, expert advice and innovative ideas to help you create a successful business that reflects your values, supports your lifestyle and creates real fulfilment. In 2014, in her farmhouse kitchen in Wales, Shann Nix Jones started to manufacture a relatively unknown probiotic goat's milk called kefir. It was a powerful healing remedy that cured her son's eczema and even saved her husband from a life-threatening MRSA infection. Today, the business she started on her kitchen table has 300,000 customers and an annual turnover of £4.5 million. In this book, Shann shares the innovative methods that helped her turn her passion into a sustainable business. Following these steps, you'll learn how to: develop an idea into a viable business that supports any lifestyle operate with meaningful values and stand out from the competition convert every obstacle into a launch pad balance work and family - and even weave both together to enhance your family life Shann believes that anyone can start a business following her 13 steps, and that doing so can bring you closer to creating a life in which you are the CEO of your business and your destiny.
A great introductory book for aspiring entrepreneurs, this user-friendly and down-to-earth guide offers preparation tips for starting and running a business and gives suggestions on the best types of home-based businesses to operate.
Trying to start a business in this economy? Struggling with little or no cash? Have no experience, no baseline to judge your progress against? Whether you’re just starting out or have been at it for years, the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur's "get real", actionable approach to business is a much-needed swift kick in the pants.
At a time of unprecedented change in the way we work, the editors of Monocle are here to help us envision, create, and make a success of a new business or reboot an existing one. As we face a world that is undergoing unparalleled change, no area is more dynamic than business. To help us understand, navigate, and succeed in this new world, the team at Monocle brings together its unique knowledge of culture, politics, economics, and business. Featuring stories of people running enterprises on every scale, the inspirational tales in this book provide readers with insights into the challenges and joys of creativity and entrepreneurship. These unmatched case studies reveal, among many success stories, how leaders choose branding, hire teams, and design workspaces for today’s needs. Whether you are planning to make a life change, start a new business, or reinvigorate an existing one, The Monocle Book of Entrepreneurs is a resource for anyone who wants to make a difference in their work and life.
At age seventeen Fred Deluca borrowed $1,000 from a a friend-and srarted SUBWAY(R). Today, with more than 38,000 stores in one hundred countries and annual sales exceeding $16.6 billion, Fred DeLuca's SUBWAY is a success story with a message... START SMALL FINISH BIG Publishers Weekly Review: DeLuca was only 17 when he started what is now the Subway restaurant chain in 1965; he needed money to attend college and a friend offered to back him with $1,000 to start a sandwich shop in Bridgeport, Conn. That beginning led DeLuca to an enormously successful career: in addition to being president of the chain, he runs MILE, a nonprofit organization that offers loans to entrepreneurs. According to DeLuca, there are 15 essential principles for anyone starting a small business, some of which, DeLuca confesses, he learned the hard way (he had never made a submarine sandwich before opening day of his first shop). Among these pillars: Believe in Your People; Never Run Out of Money; Keep the Faith; and Profit or Perish. DeLuca uses his own business experience as well as that of other successful entrepreneursAe.g., the founders of Kinko's and Little Caesar'sAin addition to those of less well-known business people. Written in a conversational style, the advice isn't especially original or creative. However, would-be millionaires who are sitting at their kitchen table wondering if they should take that big step and start a business will find the book both instructive and inspirational. Agent, Bob Diforio. Library Journal DeLuca, co-founder in 1965 of SUBWAY Restaurants and founder in 1996 of the Micro Investment Lending Enterprise (MILE), a nonprofit organization making microloans to entrepreneurs/microentrepreneurs, has written this humorous, down-to-earth guide to success as a small business owner. Coauthor Hayes is a writer (Computer Architecture and Organization, 1998), public speaker, and business trainer. Each chapter describes one of DeLuca's 15 key lessons and is illustrated with a real-life case study. None of the people in these cases is a household name, but businesses such as Kinkos, Little Caesars, and SUBWAY are. DeLuca doesn't claim that his guides form a master plan for success, but he optimistically believes that anyone can become Bill Gates, Lillian Vernon, or Henry Lay and that his lessons will increase the chances. His book also promotes and supports MILE, and the last chapter and appendix are devoted to information about it and its programs. Recommended for most small business collections. Susan C. Awe, Univ. of New Mexico Lib., Albuquerque
This inspiring and yet eminently practical guide shows entrepreneurs how to steer a company to enduring greatness. Leadership style, vision, corporate strategy, innovation, tactical excellence and other key elements are all explored in depth.
Whether they are cooking, baking, brewing, making chocolate, or rescuing heirloom varieties of apples, young creatives are increasingly turning their love of quality foodstuffs into ways of life and lucrative business ideas. In addition to introducing the aforementioned personalities, A Delicious Life also showcases the changing visual culture of today's foodists, including a selection of packaging design. The book also features a broad spectrum of locations for cooking, eating, and shopping, as well as kitchen utensils and surprising events that encourage readers to become a part of this new food movement themselves.
