Executive Reading: February

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The Girl's Guide to Starting Your Own Business

By Caitlin Friedman and Kimberly Yorio

Reviewed by Margaret Teichert and Oleg Kanganovich

"The Girl’s Guide to Starting Your Own Business” (HarperResource, 2004ISBN: 0060521570) does have a few positive elements. It’s a quick read (“Business for Dummies” comes to mind). It presents some good questions, includes useful templates and offers interesting and informative anecdotes by successful women business owners. 
    Unfortunately, the “you go, girl” tone Friedman and Yorio use is so distracting that the book reads more like a slumber party transcript than a business book. There’s so much drivel mixed in with valuable advice, that “The Girl’s Guide”doesn’t do women any favors.
    The book begins with the question, “Are you the girl to run the show?” Among the cheeky list of pros and cons and tough questions ("Could you negotiate a reasonable rent with an unreasonable landlord?”) are challenges encountered in a hectic new entrepreneurial life.“Those days of sitting at your desk, staring out the window, fantasizing about running off with Russell Crowe are over.” (Really? Are we still in sixth grade?)
    “The Girl’s Guide” does contain some good self-assessment advice for determining whether readers are ready to launch a business. The dose of practical counseling on selecting attorneys and accountants, as well as hiring, firing and managing employees is useful, too. Also included are some good pointers on performing due diligence and learning about your industry. The basic 30,000 foot view on licenses, permits, and liability is fine. No details, but good big picture coverage.
    However, the authors’ lack of financial knowledge is a defining flaw, and their small scale thinking and lack of vision fail to inspire. By the time the book gets to valuable advice on marketing, networking, and public relations, the authors’ actual core competency, it’s difficult to take anything they say seriously. 
Continued...

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