The Essential Business Guide

About this guide

From cover to cover, the award-winning Essential Business Guide is packed with practical business information, making it the perfect reference manual to keep on your desk and refer to time and again.

Practical information for you and your business

Each page in the Guide is clearly written and easy to follow. It assumes no prior knowledge of business or business terms, so it’s an ideal reference guide whether you’re just starting out, or if you’ve been in business for many years.

280 pages, full-colour, tabbed sections, wirobound

£24.95 including free delivery

We think your guide is a superb idea. I have rarely come across such a readable and attractive business book. Somehow, Julie, you and your team have managed to make even the driest information really quite palatable!  Jeremy Spiller, Managing Director, White Hat Media

Showing just a sample of its 280 pages, here’s what makes the book different from other business books:

Your book is so great to have around. Especially for those silly little questions you have about things and those that you feel you should already know and perhaps a little too shy to ask about. Every time I dip into it I find out something new. It’s a book that makes you feel a bit a more confident about stepping out into the very big world of business.  Emma Nicol, Managing Director, Door22 Design Collective

Find what you need, quickly and easily

The Essential Business Guide has eight tabbed sections full of small business information. These cover:

• Plan for success – how to decide where you want to take your business and making sure you get there.
• Marketing and sales – making the right kind of sales and building on your successes.
• Money talk – from cash flow to capital, how to make a profit and control your finances.
• People power – how to hire the right people, train them and keep them happy.
• Keeping it legal – making sure you understand the main legal issues your business will face.
• IT matters – learn from the experts how to make technology an asset, with IT at the heart of your business.
• Managing your business – good practice and tried-and-tested solutions for day-to-day efficiency.
• Resources for your business – a round-up of organisations, books and websites to help support you in your business. Each section contains expert guidance, jargon-busters and signposting to further useful information and practical support.

From small business start-up to mature business

No matter where your business is in its lifespan, as it grows The Essential Business Guide supports you all the way — from small business start-up to mature business. We’ve included eight case studies to show you how it’s done, and how successful business people have negotiated the ups and downs. And, as your business expands, you’ll find the guide is great for training your staff.

The Essential Business Guide is now a part of my business tool kit, as an advisor and mentor, it has been invaluable in terms of being able to respond with speed and accuracy to my clients needs. The relevancy of business information, guides and tips to help those starting up as well as the more established has been priceless. I have also handed out many copies to the delight of recipients who are impressed with the quality both in content, style and function…people’s faces actually light up! Bunty Dann, Director, BroughDann

Take a look inside

In the sample pages below, you’ll find the contents list for each of the eight colour-coded sections and a few pages from each. (Hover over the page edges to flip through the guide example pages, or click on the pages to read full screen.)

Award-winning content

In 2007, The Essential Business Guide won the coveted Plain English Award (and is still the only business book ever to win it).

It has also been awarded Business Book of the Year and an honorary endorsement from the Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative (SFEDI).

And if you’re just starting out, when you order The Essential Business Guide, we’ll also include a free copy of The Essential Start-up Guide.

Don’t take our word for it – here’s what the business editors say

The Essential Business Guide may well be the book that turns the average day-dreamer into the exceptional businessperson. The uncluttered, easy-to-read copy is peppered with pertinent advice and measured comment — adopting the tone of a kindly mentor.  Business Edge magazine

Within the stack of books that are normally sent to me, one in particular clearly stood out from the rest … The Essential Business Guide from its very outer cover, represents branding at its best. The Essential Business Guide is comparable to the Bible, where a business owner should religiously read each section and refer to it on a regular basis when troubled.  Start Your Business magazine

This book is a welcome title in an area that has been poorly served by business books. Written by a team of people with an intimate knowledge of small business, this book is a reassuring, trustworthy resource full of practical advice.  The Marketer magazine

Easy to read, easy to handle and is packed with all of the information you could possibly want.  Your Entrepreneur magazine

The book’s strength is that it is so easy to navigate, letting you find the information you need quickly. It’s also very practical, providing checklists to make sure you’ve met obligations as well as details for virtually any organisation a small business might need.  EN magazine

The Guide … provides information from a host of subjects, while the tales and case studies from successful entrepreneurs will inspire and help you succeed in setting up your own business. [The Guide] is ring-bound for easy access and has eight colourful sections, which makes navigating a breeze. This Guide perfectly suits our chaotic age and is one book you are likely to refer to again and again.  New Business magazine