RESOURCE CENTRE

Business Start ups

20/20 Hindsight - From Starting Up to Successful Entrepreneur, by Those Who've Been There

Rachelle Thackray's columns in the Independent are a fascinating exploration of what makes an entrepreneur - what drives them, what inspires and discourages them, the obstacles they've overcome and the mistakes they've made. 20/20 Hindsight is a compilation of her interviews with successful business starters, and is a source of tips, ideas to think over and hard-earned wisdom.

A Good Hard Kick in the Ass: the Real Rules for Business, by Rob Adams

Written by an ex-marine, this book bills itself as an "entrepreneurial boot camp", providing practical advice and explanations that aim to contradict the various myths and misunderstandings about starting a business. Each chapter breaks down one such myth into a series of useful suggestions that anyone can implement, and the book covers topics such as deciding whether an idea is really viable, understanding your customers and the reasons why start ups fail.

Authentic Business: How to Create and Run Your Perfect Business, by Neil Crofts

This newly published book explores the reasons why people decide to set up their own businesses, looking at how to find a business idea that is profitable while also being meaningful. It provides case studies and examples of firms that have developed a particularly unusual culture or strong ethical values, and examines how to motivate staff to care about your business as well as just work for it.

Bear Hunt: Earning Your Living by Doing What You Love, by Malcolm McClean

Aiming to provide the inspiration, advice and support to encourage aspiring entrepreneurs to make the leap from employment to self-employment, this book focuses on changing your life and your work to do something that you really care about or have a personal interest in. The book offers a practical structure and suggestions for making these changes that are both tangible and achievable.

Business Research Methods, by Alan Bryman and Emma Bell

Aimed at business students, but useful for any aspiring start up who's getting to grips with researching a new market, this book explains both quantitative and qualitative research methods in practical detail, and is packed examples of how to apply research in a business context.

eBay Hacks: 100 Industrial Strength Tips and Tools, by David A Karp

This book is a great starting point for entrepreneurs considering trying their luck as eBay traders. With a section specifically for sellers that's packed full of tips for promoting your items, strategies for getting high bids and advice on what to sell, it's a great resource for anyone interested in getting a slice of eBay's $30 billion-a-year pie.

From Acorns...How To Build Your Brilliant Business from Scratch, by Caspian Woods

This is a really inspirational read for budding entrepreneurs. A how-to guide for starting a business that steers clear of complex financial terminology and gloomy warnings about your tax commitments, the book covers how to tell if your business idea is really as good as you think it is and how to price your product or service.

Guide to Bidding, by Jenny Middleton

One of the biggest challenges faced by start ups is navigating the complicated and often drawn out process of applying for funding - particularly when they're planning to bid for a highly competitive Government grant or funding from a charitable resource like the National Lottery. This book takes you through the bid writing process, setting out the steps in a straightforward and readable style and providing practical exercises to help you assess how fundable your business or project actually is.

High Tech Start Up: Creating Successful New High Tech Companies, by John L Nesheim

This book looks in detail at the practicalities and realities involved with setting up a high tech business. It includes more than two dozen case studies, identifies and explains the critical stages of the start up process, and offers practical strategies for getting things done that aim to boost chances of success.

Make Your First Million: Ditch the 9-5 and Start the Business of Your Dreams, by Martin Webb

This book for budding start ups is a practical guide to starting up in business, from your initial business plan through to growing your business and branching out. The book is written by Martin Webb, serial practitioner and presenter of TV programme Risking It All. Nobody, says Martin, grows rich lining the boss's pockets. Instead, he uses tips and insider secrets designed to help readers make the break and go it alone.

Maximum Diner, by Chris Nye

This laugh-out-loud account of the process of setting up a diner in a small market town provides practical information and hidden lessons for budding entrepreneurs about the perils and pitfalls of setting up a small business, from sourcing premises and equipment to dealing with the tax man and the local thugs. It's also great fun to read, with astute character observations and a fast pace that will keep you turning the pages.

Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 million in No Time Flat, by Michael Masterson

This book is designed to help readers get their business idea off the ground as soon as possible and remain focused on the business, not the obstacles. It helps the reader to figure out what they can do on their own without the help of a team, and looks at other business issues such as communication and selling.

Setting Up a Limited Company: Creating Your Own Business, Step by Step (You Need This Book First), by Mark Fairweather and Rosy Border

This book offers a plain English introduction and guide to setting up a limited company. It includes information and samples of the relevant paperwork, letters and documents you will need to become familiar with.

Spare Room Start Up: How to Start a Business from Home, by Emma Jones

This book covers the issues affecting home-based start ups and is from Emma Jones, creator of the Enterprise Nation website. Emma uses her own experiences and lessons learned to guide the reader through the basics of running a home-based business. The book is organised into three themes covering business, lifestyle, and technology and provides tips, case studies and illustrations.

Start Your Business: Week by Week, by Steve Parks

Written in a refreshingly clear and friendly way, this book really manages to capture the excitement of the early stages of starting up a new business. It breaks the key processes down into weekly steps, providing a practical, checklist-style approach that is easy to follow and enjoyable to read. It covers the first six months in the life of a new venture, and is packed with useful glossaries, reading lists and case studies.

Start Your Own Home-based Business, by Nick Daws

If you're thinking about starting up a home-based business or are looking for some new ideas about the type of business you could run from home, this book is worth checking out. Reviewers consider this to be the best book of its type, as its specifically written for people based in the UK, and includes over 50 home-based business ideas.

Successful Franchising: Expert Advice on Buying, Selling and Creating Winning Franchises, by Bradley J. Sugars

This book is part of the practical 'Instant Success' series, and offers a no-nonsense, jargon-free guide to franchising, both in terms of franchising your venture and taking up a franchise. It's packed with useful tips and advice, and covers every aspect of the process, from sales and marketing to understanding franchise fees. All of this is written in refreshingly concise language, making the book easy to follow even for beginners to the franchise process.

The Art of the Start, by Guy Kawasaki

This free, downloadable booklet aims to address the fears and concerns of those of you who've suffered moments of doubt during your journeys into entrepreneurship. Listing the top 'frequently avoided questions' and aiming to give you the inspiration to identify and use your business mantra everyday, it tells you how to find meaning in your business idea even when everything seems to be going wrong.

The Bootstrapper's Bible, by Seth Godin

Looking at how to start up a business on a shoestring budget, this bestselling book is packed full of tips for finding customers, researching competitors, planning your cash flow and deciding on a business structure - all explained without jargon, and with an emphasis on need-to-know, practical information.

The Definitive Business Plan: The Fast-track to Intelligent Business Planning for Executives and Entrepreneurs, by Richard Stutely

Whether you need to write a business plan to raise finance for your venture or simply to explain your idea to yourself and your staff, this book offers practical, step-by-step advice on how to go about it. It explains how to tailor your plan for different readers and objectives, and is written in conversational, jargon-free language.

The Entrepreneur's Book of Checklists, by Robert Ashton

A guide for people who have just started up a business and for those still thinking about it, this book takes a checklist approach to help entrepreneurs get started up, grow their business and achieve their ambitions. Author Robert Ashton has asked real business owners to contribute to this book with their own tips and stories about setting up in business. It is designed to be picked up whenever a reader needs inspiration or information, as readers can use the index and chapter summaries to select a checklist that will help them.

The Good Small Business Guide, by Bloomsbury

This practical 500+ page manual is the ultimate resource for anyone thinking about starting or already running a small business. It includes a directory of essential information for small businesses, as well as step-by-step practical advice covering hundreds of small business topics.

The Internet Start-Up Bible, by Chace and Rowe Read, Calum Chace, Simon Rowe

For those of you trying to get to grips with the ins and outs of trading online, this book offers practical advice that separates the Internet hype from the reality.

The Small Business Start Up Workbook, by Cheryl D. Rickman

Practical and interactive, this book is packed full of checklists, tests, worksheets and exercises to help make your start up dream a reality. It covers everything from researching your idea to getting finance and managing staff, and is peppered with genuinely engaging case studies and comments about people who've set up successful businesses, including some well-known names.

The Start Up Survival Guide, by Chris Lilly

This practical manual is aimed at reducing the number of start ups that fail within the first three years - a figure which currently stands at 66%. It sets out the minimum basics that new business owners must address to ensure that they survive, covering how to avoid common pitfalls and analysing what usually trips new ventures up. Despite its serious subject matter, the book is written in an upbeat and pithy way, and addresses topics such as getting funding, managing money, developing quality products, pricing properly, dealing with customers and motivating staff.

Turn Your Talents Into Profits, by Darcie Sanders and Martha M. Bullen

This book, which is accompanied by a useful Q&A from the author on the Amazon site, is written by two people who have both run part-time home-based businesses. It explores the emerging trend of running a business in this way, providing inspiration, tips and advice on all aspects of getting your at-home venture up and running.

Entrepreneurship

Anyone Can Do It: Building Coffee Republic From Our Kitchen Table: 57 Real-life laws on entrepreneurship, by Sahar Hashemi and Bobby Hashemi

Aimed at aspiring entrepreneurs at the beginning of their quest to run their own venture, this book tells the story of how one of the world's most successful businesses, Coffee Republic, was developed from the homes of its founders. The authors provide a candid account of their problems, setbacks and frustrations, and provide checklist-style tips and hints for others facing similar hurdles

Bottled for Business: The Less Gassy Guide to Entrepreneurship, by Karan Bilimoria

This book, billed as part biography, part business guide, is written by Lord Karan Bilimoria, founder of Cobra Beer. Not only does it tell the story of how he built the Cobra Beer business from scratch, it also contains useful hints and tips on marketing and growing a business.

Business Genius: A More Inspired Approach to Business Growth, by Peter Fisk

This book combines the passion of start up businesses with that of larger enterprises to help entrepreneurs grow their own ventures. It presents the reader with insights from all kinds of businesses from around the world, and looks at strategies for innovation, change and leadership.

Business Nightmares: When Entrepreneurs Reach Crisis Point, by Rachel Elnaugh

This book by ex-dragon Rachel Elnaugh looks at the dark days experienced by entrepreneurs when their businesses take a bad turn. She interviews entrepreneurs and unveils her own experiences of when she lost her successful business, Red Letter Days. The book analyses high-profile business disasters, how the business owners involved handled the outcomes, and what they learned from their experiences.

Developing New Business Ideas: A Step-by-step Guide to Creating New Business Ideas Worth Backing, by Mary and Andrew Bragg

Billed as 'essential reading for all would-be entrepreneurs', this book addresses the difficult subject of finding and developing a viable business idea that, as well as being unusual and interesting to the entrepreneur, is also likely to convince financial backers. The step-by-step approach makes the book easy to follow and digest, and the use of case studies provides a practical and realistic flavour.

Do It Tomorrow and Other Secrets of Time Management, by Mark Forster

This book's author claims to be one of the top ten life coaches in the UK, and the practical ideas put forward in this manual reflect his refreshing and enthusiastic style. Packed with easy to achieve ideas for improving your personal efficiency and productivity, including some unusual suggestions, the book claims to provide a complete system that will enable anyone to complete "one day's work in one day".

Drop Dead Brilliant - Dazzle in the Workplace with Confidence and Panache, by Lesley Everett

This book promises to help you get ahead by creating your own personal brand to help you stand out from the crowd, with 'drop-dead brilliant' advice on those all-important first impressions, appearances and everything else you need to create the right image. Author Lesley Everett has put together a seven-point plan for creating your personal brand, ranging from deciding on who you really are, to your body language and voice.

Gripes of Wrath: This Book is Guaranteed to Make Your Blood Boil!, by Simon Carr

A great, light-hearted Christmas read for any entrepreneur who is frustrated and baffled by the volume of red tape present in today's UK. The book takes a humorous approach to describing the boggling array of absurd legal rules, claims and red tape, from unusual health and safety claims to strange compensation cases. It's based on local newspaper stores and parliamentary reports, and makes for an amusing - if disturbing - festive read.

How I Made It: 40 Successful Entrepreneurs Reveal All, by Rachel Bridge

Taking a fascinating look into what makes the difference between new businesses that fail and those that succeed, this book offers an inspirational chronicle of success stories where dreams have been turned into profitable business reality. The entrepreneurs interviewed in the book speak candidly about issues such as how they decided on their business idea and how they got funding, as well as revealing their doubts, frustrations and mistakes.

How She Does It: How Women Entrepreneurs Are Changing the Rules of Business Success, by Margaret Heffernan

Although written for the US market, there are plenty of tips in here for female business owners in the UK. Author Margaret Heffernan interviewed hundreds of women business owners, and found many had gone it alone after working for firms that didn't listen to them or respect their views. She discovered the key qualities successful female business start ups tend to share and why they consider running their own business to be about more than simply making profits.

How to Be a Complete and Utter Failure in Life, Work and Everything: 39 Steps to Lasting Underachievement, by Steve McDermott

If you are sick and tired of self-improvement or motivational books, courses and advice from people that you've never met or are dead, then you'll love this book. It turns the whole subject area on its head, and is written in an intelligent, humorous style as a 'how not to' guide to personal and business success.

How To Get Rich, by Felix Dennis

Self-made publishing tycoon Felix Dennis, whose publishing empire includes Auto Express and Maxim magazines, says making money is a knack that anyone can acquire - as long as they are properly motivated and prepared to put the work in. His book gives step-by-step instructions to "collecting money which already has your name on it", and looks closely at start ups and why so many don't get off the ground.

How to Make Millions With Your Ideas: an Entrepreneur's Guide, by Dan Kennedy

If you're just starting out, this book is packed with unique and unusual ideas to inspire you to develop your business. And if you've been running your business for a while, the examples of how other entrepreneurs reinvented their businesses or approached challenges might be just the motivation you need to tackle your own problems from a new perspective.

How They Started: How 30 Good Ideas Became Great Businesses, by David Lester

This book describes the entrepreneurial journeys of 30 people, who each turned their ideas into successful businesses. Questions such as 'what happened first?' and 'where did you find your suppliers?' are put to the entrepreneurs. Their answers could inspire you to turn your idea into a reality.

It's a Long Way from Penny Apples, by Bill Cullen

Reading more like an amusing novel than a business manual, this book tells the story of how Irishman Bill Cullen went from market stall trader to millionaire. The tone is down to earth and practical, with plenty of insights and analogies that anyone can understand. There's plenty of detail but the book is so easy to read that you'll absorb it in no time - a great choice for summer.

Lucky or Smart? Secrets of an Entrepreneurial Life, by Bo Peabody

This is the first book by Internet billionaire Bo Peabody, who left college at 23 and set up his first business, Tripod, after attracting $3 million in investment, using his DIY business plan. He sold the company, which helped people create their own homepages, to Lycos for $58 million, getting his money just before the Internet bubble burst. Since his initial success, Peabody has started a number of other businesses. This book is a first-person account of his life as an entrepreneur, written in a fast-paced, spirited style. Peabody's philosophy is "I'm not going to get bogged down in the details".

Millionaire MBA Ltd provides audio mentoring materials for aspiring entrepreneurs. It has launched a free e-book entitled '37 Winning Tips and Strategies of Self-Made Millionaire Entrepreneurs'. Based on the advice of renowned UK businesspeople, the e-book aims to provide both inspiration and practical tips to small business owners keen to grow their enterprises - without forking out a penny.

Millionaire Upgrade: Lessons in Success from Those Who Travel at the Sharp End of the Plane, by Richard Parkes Cordock

This book claims to blow out of the water the Dragons' Den nonsense about entrepreneurs being a special or magical breed of being. It combines the wisdom and advice of 50 successful entrepreneurs, and bases its 'plot' around a frustrated employee who is upgraded on a long-haul flight and learns the secrets of business success while sitting in first class. The unusual concept provides an engaging read, and the book is jam-packed with practical tips.

My Big Idea: 30 Successful Entrepreneurs Reveal How They Found Inspiration, by Rachel Bridge

This book aims to tell the stories of how 30 inspirational entrepreneurs got their eureka moment. It covers ideas that became reality against all the odds, as well as those that seemed buzzworthy at the time but lacked staying power. Each entrepreneur is profiled in-depth, and you can even benefit from reading some of their personal philosophies. Even Sir Richard Branson reckons this book is "essential reading for every budding entrepreneur".

No Cash, No Fear: Entrepreneurial Secrets to Starting Any Business with No Money, by Terry F Allen

There are literally hundreds of books on the market offering advice and tips about starting a business, most telling you more or less the same thing. But this one offers a totally compelling and practical account by an entrepreneur author who has started up over 20 businesses with little or no capital.

Screw it, Let's do it: Lessons in Life, by Richard Branson

In this short read, Richard Branson brings together some of the lessons he's learnt in his business and personal life. With advice including love what you do and keep trying until you achieve your goal, this is an inspiring read for any 'entrepreneur', however that might be defined.

Small Business Ideas: 400 Latest and Greatest Small Business Ideas, by Terry J. Kyle

This book helps those thinking of becoming their own boss to get inspired and think creatively about the type of business they could run. It covers a range of niche business ideas and fads from around the globe and includes advice and information on how to make your own small business succeed.

Start Up! How to start a successful business from absolutely nothing - what to do and how it feels, by Liz Jackson and Michael Spain

This book follows Liz Jackson's real life experience of starting her enterprise from deciding to leave her job, to where she is now - owning a £2 million business with 100 employees. Start Up! is full of practical hints and tips and aims to inspire wannabe entrepreneurs to follow their dreams.

Sun Tzu: The Art of War for Managers - 50 Strategic Rules, by Gerald A. Michaelson

This easy to read manual explains the complex subject of strategic thinking in simple, jargon free language. It's aimed at business directors and managers responsible for steering the direction of an enterprise, and looks at issues such as developing a marketing strategy, improving and streamlining business processes, providing practical examples that any business owner can understand.

The Age of Speed: Learning to Thrive in a More-Faster-Now World, by Vince Poscente

This book aims to persuade businesses that the current speed of contemporary life is a good thing - and why they should grasp the opportunities it offers. Written by a former competitive skier, the book will be a useful addition to the libraries of entrepreneurs seeking to understand new and emerging social tends.

The Entrepreneur's Book of Checklists: 1,000 Tips to Help you Start and Grow your Business, by Robert Ashton

Taking as its aim the concept of reducing the fear factor involved in starting up a business by breaking all the different aspects down into manageable chunks, this book is perfect for aspiring entrepreneurs who are keen to start their own ventures but unsure where to begin. It's packed with endless lists and tables to help you plan your enterprise, as well as using practical examples to explain the more complicated issues.

The New Alchemists, by Charles and Elizabeth Handy

Consisting of a series of illuminating interviews with successful entrepreneurs, from well-known millionaires like Richard Branson and Terence Conran to lesser-known but no less inspirational small business owners, this book asks each candidate to define the key 'make or break' moments they encountered on their route into business. It also contains insightful summary chapters which discuss success, management and motivation in more general terms.

The New Business Road Test: What Entrepreneurs and Executives Should Do Before Writing a Business Plan, by John Mullins

This book is a practical guide to testing whether your idea will work in the real world before you sit down to write a business plan. Author John Mullins looks at how successful entrepreneurs and investors operate, and has put the lessons he has learned together in this book. He has identified seven areas you should look at to see if your idea has a realistic chance of succeeding. This, he says, will help you to invest your time wisely and have the confidence to pitch your ideas to potential investors.

The One Minute Entrepreneur: The Secret to Creating and Sustaining a Successful Business, by Ken Blanchard, Don Hutson and Ethan Willis

This book provides would-be entrepreneurs and small business owners with essential advice on how to start and sustain a successful business. The book - part of the One Minute Manager series - focuses on three areas of business: Finance and how to manage your money effectively; people and the importance of empowerment; and customers and how to take care of them.

The Seven-Day Weekend : A Better Way to Work in the 21st Century, by Ricardo Semler

This is a case study of how a Brazilian entrepreneur turned his small family business into a profitable, fast-growing, high-tech company. It explores the author's revolutionary management style, and encourages readers to use the case study to ask questions about the performance of their own enterprises. Most importantly, it's crammed with practical, easy to implement examples of how doing things differently can help you to grow your business.

They Made America : From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine, by Harold Evans

This fascinating insight into entrepreneurship is packed with interesting illustrated portraits of groundbreaking US entrepreneurs and innovators like Thomas Edison, George Doriot (a venture capital pioneer), and the inventors of the bra, the computer operating system and modern banking.

Tikka Look At Me Now, by Charan Gill

This book is the rags to riches story of 'Curry King' Charan Gill, who arrived in Glasgow from India when he was nine, unable to speak English. He's now a multi-millionaire after earning £8 million from the sale of his Harlequin Restaurant Group. The group sprang from just one restaurant, which was the foundation of the biggest chain of Indian restaurants in Europe. With his humorous touch, Charan explains how he rose from humble beginnings, why it's OK to leave school without qualifications, and what the future may hold.

Upstart Start-Ups! : How 34 Young Entrepreneurs Overcame Youth, Inexperience and Lack of Money to Create Thriving Businesses, by Ron Lieber

If you are looking for inspiring and confidence-building ideas with examples of real-life start up success stories from new and existing entrepreneurs, then this book is definitely work checking out. It offers a jargon-free guide to what it takes to start a business.

What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School, by Mark H McCormack

The title speaks for itself in this brilliant business book. The author tells you that 'What they don't teach you at Harvard Business School', or on any other MBA programme for that matter, is that business schools CAN'T teach you what you really need to know to run a business. You should definitely check this one out.

Where's Your Wow? 16 Ways to Make Your Competitors Wish They Were You! by Robyn Freedman-Spizman and Rick Frishman

This book aims to help entrepreneurs discover their own 'wow factor'. It has 16 short chapters, so the information is delivered in bitesize chunks, and is divided into three parts. Part one helps you to identify a personal brand; part two helps you follow a plan, and part three helps you to stay hungry for success.

Why You're Dumb, Sick, and Broke and How to Get Smart, Well, and Rich! by Randy Gage

This straight-talking manual tells you exactly how to overcome your negative beliefs in order to achieve success, both at work and at home. It's packed with no-nonsense, practical tips on how to get ahead in a competitive world, explaining how to develop a powerful personal action plan that'll get you smart, healthy and rich. It's not a book for the fainthearted, as the author takes a no-holds-barred approach to the subject matter he covers, but for a motivational - and entertaining - kick in the teeth, you could do a lot worse.

Will Work For Fun: Three Simple Steps for Turning Any Hobby or Interest into Cash, by Alan R. Bechtold

This book gives the reader pointers on how to turn their hobbies or interests into a source of extra income that also enables them to do what they love doing most.

Winning: the Ultimate Business How-To Book, by Jack and Suzy Welch

Billed as a book for entrepreneurs who "sweat, get their nails dirty, hire, fire, make hard decisions, and pay the price when those decisions are wrong", this handbook is written by the former chief executive of General Electric. It focuses on three key areas: working in a team, dealing with competitors and balancing work and life.

Your Idea Can Make You Rich, by Evan Davies and the Dragons' Den crew

It was inevitable that the people behind Dragons' Den would shortly publish a book, but this offering is actually better than we expected. Its foreword by the eminently sensible and likeable presenter Evan Davies summarises what the book is about: essentially, it aims to give aspiring entrepreneurs the confidence, along with some practical tips, to turn their ideas into reality. The candid summaries of why some entrepreneurs failed on the show provide useful reading, and the case studies about previous applicants to the show are helpful, too.

Finance

30 Minutes to Understand the Financial Pages, by Donald Waters

This book offers an at-a-glance guide to the jargon in the financial sections of the daily papers, allowing you to make a better-informed judgement about your industry, your market and your customers. Like the rest of the '30 minutes' series, this is very much a guide for busy people, but it claims it will give you just enough information to gain confidence in interpreting financial information.

Book-Keeping and Accounting for the Small Business, by Peter Taylor

This practical manual covers all you need to know about balancing your books, from VAT to payroll.

EBoys: The First Inside Account of Venture Capitalists at Work, by Randall E Stross

This is an insightful and often amusing look at how the venture capital process actually works, aiming to debunk some of the myths that can confuse budding entrepreneurs looking for this type of funding. It also offers a series of ideas and tips on what to look for in a venture capitalist.

Financial Troubleshooting: An Action Plan for Money Management in the Small Business, by David H Bangs

Looking at how to identify and tackle financial problems before they become crises, this book explains the financial processes involved in running a small firm, such as cash flow forecasting, budgeting and investing.

Good Finance Guide for Small Businesses: How to Raise, Manage and Grow Your Company's Cash, by A & C Black

This book is an up-to-date and practical one-stop guide for people thinking about raising finance to start or grow a business, or manage the finances of a business they already run. It covers fives sections - getting off the ground, growing the business, coping in a crisis, pricing, and good cash management.

How to Fund your Business: The essential guide to raising finance to start and grow your business, by Steve Parks

This book promises to remove the pain from finding the finance for your new enterprise. It examines the pros and cons of various types of funding, from the well known to less publicised techniques, then helps you decide how much money you need and the best way to find it. The book also looks at the worst case scenario - what to do if it all goes wrong and where you stand financially.

Raising Finance for your Business, by Mark Blayney

This plain English manual aims to demystify finance and financial jargon for small business owners. It covers how to work out how much money your venture needs, identifying options for raising cash, and choosing the best method of financing your business. It also includes detailed briefings covering how to finance a particular type of start up.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That The Poor And Middle Class Do Not, by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon L Lechter

This book provides a genuine insight into the principles, attitude and understanding needed to attain financial literacy, control and success.

Taxation: Simple and Practical Business Skills, by Keith Kirkland and Stuart Howard

Written in refreshingly non-technical language, this book covers the basics of taxation, including income tax, employees' PAYE contributions, and National Insurance.

The Best Small Business Accounts Book, by Peter Hingston

This simple and accessible how-to guide takes small businesses that aren't registered for VAT through the complexities of bookkeeping and accounting. It's ideal for micro, 'cash' enterprises, from gardeners to taxi drivers, and focuses on the key requirements of these businesses, omitting the jargon and complex accounting requirements associated with larger ventures.

The Crunch: The Scandal of Northern Rock and the Escalating Credit Crisis, by Alex Brummer

Not a day goes by without more stories spilling out from media machines about the credit crunch. This book by journalist Alex Brummer traces the origins of the credit crunch back to its sub-prime roots and fills in the gaps that non-financiers and journalists may have.

The Money Secret, by Rob Parsons

Useful for everyone from small businesses to students, this book focuses on effective money management and provides real examples and practical tips on handling your finances and dealing with debt. It's packed full of useful contacts and gives its advice in the form of a series of tips which can immediately be put into practice.

The Richest Man In Babylon, by George S Clason

This book about personal finance is a series of tales set in ancient Babylon, where people who are extremely rich and extremely poor live side by side. You read it as a 'fly on the wall' story, as those who seek wealth ask for advice and are taught valuable lessons from those who have already made it.

The Rules of Wealth: A Personal Code for Prosperity, by Richard Templar

If you're looking to make real money, author Richard Templar claims to have the rules to teach you how to do so. The 100 rules are split into five sections - thinking wealthy, getting wealthy, get even wealthier, staying wealthy and sharing your wealth.

The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: A Guide to Growing More Profitably, by Thomas Nagle

Practical, tip-based and written in a lively tone, this manual provides a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to pricing analysis and strategy development. As well as tackling the theory, the book also covers the psychological aspects of price sensitivity.

Venture Capital Handbook: an Entrepreneur's Guide, Gladstone

If you are hoping to raise venture capital and would like practical information to help you understand how to prepare a proposal, answer investment and due diligence questions, handle exit negotiations etc then this book is worth a look.

General Small Business

100 Great Business Ideas: From leading companies around the world, by Jeremy Kourdi

This book suggests over 100 ideas to help businesses to add value and achieve results which have been gathered from some of the leading companies throughout the world. Concise explanations of the ideas are supplemented by suggestions as to how they can be applied in a business context.

201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business, by Jane Applegate

Relevant whether you have an established business, have just started up or are simply thinking about running your own business, this practical manual is jam-packed with hundreds of sensible, easy to implement ideas for making your venture a success. Topics covered include money management, marketing, using technology and excelling at customer service. The book also contains step-by-step guidance on putting the ideas into practice, as well as inspiring real-life case studies about existing entrepreneurs.

30 Minutes to Improve Your Networking Skills, by Hilton Catt & Patricia Scudamore

Part of a useful series of short, snapshot books looking at how you can address key business problems in 30 minutes or less, this book focuses on improving your networking skills, and looks at issues such as boosting your confidence and attracting new business.

50 Management Ideas You Really Need to Know, by Edward Russell-Walling

This book gives the reader an overview of management concepts, handily delivered in 50 bite-sized topics. It summarises key topics such as branding, outsourcing, the long tail, supply and demand and includes quotes from key businesspeople.

A number of useful booklets have been produced since the July bombings in London which explain what business continuity means in practical terms. The Business Continuity Institute's booklet, 'Expecting the unexpected: Business continuity in an uncertain world', looks at how to assess and analyse the risks to your business.

And AXA Insurance publishes a practical business continuity guide for small firms, covering how to analyse risks, case studies to highlight key issues, and a sample continuity plan.

A Dream with a Deadline: Turning Strategy into Action, by Jacques Horovitz and Anne-Valerie Ohlsson-Corboz

This book is all about vision and your ability to turn it into a reality. The author takes the example "Let's put a man on the moon in ten years" and uses it as a platform to help business owners formulate their visions and make them actionable. The author claims that by the time you've read the book, you'll have a three-page written summary about where your business is headed.

Alpha Male Syndrome, by Kate Ludeman

Alpha males - charged with testosterone and a desire to over-achieve - make up three-quarters of the world's top business executives, according to this new book. It identifies four types of alpha males: commanders, executors, strategists and visionaries. There is guidance on how to behave like successful alpha males such as Michael Dell of computer fame, and how to avoid the 'rogue' elements of the species, who often bring their businesses down with them when they fail.

A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder, by Eric Abrahamson and David H Freedman

This book, which is written by an academic and a journalist, subverts the theory that having a clear, tidy desk is the only way to be effective in business. Rather than being totally tidy or totally messy, the book argues that most people are most productive somewhere between the two extremes. Full of anecdotes and case studies, the book looks at examples of how a little bit of mess proved successful in the world of business, parenting, cooking, the war on terror...and even the career of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Bag the Elephant: How to Win and Keep BIG Customers, by Steve Kaplan

This newly published book covers the holy grail for every small business owner: how to win a big client. Written in a practical and detailed how-to style, the book explains that securing the business of a major customer is not beyond the grasp of small firms, despite what they may think. Packed with valuable advice and useful case studies, you can find out more about the author's other work at his website, www.differencemaker.com. The site includes a newsletter and free toolbox covering the same subject considered in the book.

Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell

This book explores the subject of how some people can make important decisions in the blink of an eye, while others find the process much more difficult. It offers practical tips on honing your natural instinct and intuition in order to improve your ability to think on your feet, solve problems and make confident decisions.

Brilliant presentations: What the Best Presenters Know, Say and Do, by Richard Hall

No doubt some of you reading this bulletin will have baulked at the thought of having to deliver an effective presentation - perhaps to your investors or to prospective buyers. This book, through its five-point check list, helps you to hone your presentation skills and present with confidence.

Consumer Behaviour, by Michael Solomon, Gary Bamossy and Soren Askegaard

Billing itself as the most comprehensive guide to consumer behaviour, attitudes and habits, this book explores European consumer values, popular culture, lifestyles and consumption trends. It also explains how to relate this information to your market research and customer profiling. A section on marketing opportunities and pitfalls illustrate examples of where consumer behaviour issues have been applied to business marketing strategies, and the book also contains information about e-marketing and e-business.

Dealing with Difficult People, by Roberta Cava

Covering how to tackle awkward situations involving complaining customers, rebellious employees or difficult partners, this practical manual offers step-by-step guidance on tackling tricky or sensitive problems in your business. Together with Lifescripts, which we featured last week and which includes actual scripted conversations to try in these situations, it offers a useful combination for beating just about any problem.

Dealing with the Customer From Hell: A Survival Guide, by Shaun Belding

This book intends to help the reader deal with difficult customers and achieve an outcome that works for everyone. It provides strategies to help you listen and sympathise with the 'customer from hell', then come up with a win-win solution. The guidance relates to problems encountered on the telephone, face-to-face, in the office and on the sales floor.

Did You Spot the Gorilla? How to Recognise the Hidden Opportunities in Your Life, by Richard Wiseman

Based on a recent series of psychological experiments, this book explores how to spot, and then make the most of, business opportunities that crop up in everyday life. It explains the scientific evidence behind the experiments in layman's terms, and goes on to offer practical advice on how to exploit opportunities that you find. All in all, an entertaining and unusual read that will boost your creative thinking powers.

Director's Handbook, by Institute of Directors

The Institute of Directors (IoD) has published what it reckons is an 'essential toolkit' for modern company directors. The 'Director's Handbook', produced in association with law firm Pinsent Masons, takes the form of a practical manual and reference tool that aims to act as a one-stop shop for all sorts of different issues, duties, responsibilities and liabilities associated with being a director. The handbook costs £25.

Do You Matter? How Great Design Will Make People Love Your Company, by Robert Brunner and Stewart Emery

This book tells the reader how to build up a design-driven business which in turn could help to create more products and services that customers want or need. The authors discuss how to use design research and how to incorporate design values into a business.

Dreams with a Deadline: How to Turn a Strategy for Tomorrow into a Plan for Today, by Jacques Horovitz and Anne-Valerie Ohlsson-Corboz

This book explains how to transform an idea, dream or vision into reality, action or results. It aims to equip you with the practical tools to develop a one-page representation of how your vision will be achieved, together with a three-page summary of your strategy. There are exercises to help you determine where to focus time and resources, and guidance on meeting deadlines, staying focused and tracking progress.

Eat That Frog!: Get More of the Important Things Done, Today!, by Brian Tracy

This book uses the principle that you should eat a frog first thing in the morning, so you get the hardest part of the day over and done with. It aims to help you stop procrastinating over whatever you need to do and motivates you to take action. The book helps you to focus on important tasks and apply the rules of decision, discipline and determination in order to achieve your goals.

Edison on Innovation: 102 Lessons in Creativity for Business and Beyond, by Alan Axelrod

This book explores how you can develop habits for generating new ideas and facilitate creative thinking. The author reveals the thought processes that Thomas Edison used to come up with his ideas, and writes about principles that can help even the most seemingly uncreative people become more creative.

E-writing: 21st-century Tools for Effective Communication, by Dianna Booher

Business communication in a digital age is covered in this book, from writing effective e-mails to recording to-the-point voicemails. It's full of straightforward advice on how to sound authoritative, improve your clarity and avoid common grammatical errors and style mishaps.

Family Wars: Classic conflicts in family business and how to deal with them, by Grant Gordon and Nigel Nicholson

This book will provide an insight into the world of family-run businesses and will be a useful read for anyone involved in one. It covers the ups and downs of running a family business and how to avoid family feuds.

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

This book looks at the motivation behind everyday events, from eating to cheating, sitting in traffic jams and feeling afraid. The authors see economics as the root of everything we do, and try to dig deeper to find out our motivations. The book also explores the role of the Internet, which - because it makes so much information available to everyone - lessens the gap between 'experts' and the general public.

Free Lunch, by David Smith

Free Lunch manages to take the 'dismal science' of economics and make it interesting and understandable. It's full of examples from recent British business events and politics, and will leave you with a good picture of how and why large and small firms behave the way they do. And according to the reviews even Gordon Brown thinks it's a good book.

Funky Business Forever: How to Enjoy Capitalism, by Kjell Nordstrom and Jonas Ridderstrale

Rather than doing 'business as usual' this book teaches the reader about 'funky business' - using new thinking and new developments to approach business differently. It includes chapters with titles like Funky Times, the Forces of Funk and Feeling Funky.

Getting Things Done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity, by David Allen

If you spend more time writing and worrying about a to-do list than actually doing the things on the list, this book could help you. It provides practical tips, techniques and solutions to productivity problems, exploring how to make better use of time, keep cool under pressure and handle unexpected demands. Advice is given on when and how to delegate and the book is packed with tips on improving efficiency across your business.

Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance, by Marcus Buckingham

This is the latest personal performance-improving manual from the author of the bestselling First, Break All the Rules. The new title focuses on how to put your core strengths to practical use in six key steps that will aim to help you build your confidence and improve your performance both professionally and personally.

Health & Safety Guide 2007, by the FPB

This annually updated book is produced by the Forum of Private Business (FPB) to guide firms through the maze of health and safety legislation. It explains businesses' responsibilities and is split into easy to follow sections with sector-specific guidance. It's pricey (£90 for FSB members, £190 for non-members) but has been fully updated to include the smoke-free regulations.

Health and Safety for Small Businesses, by Tom O'Reilly

This book offers comprehensive guidance for small business owners and contains information on the exemptions and provisions made to small firms. The book also offers short cuts and practical solutions to help you stay within the laws of health and safety.

Health and Safety in Brief, by John Ridley

This book reviews health and safety legislation in jargon-free language and explains how to comply with it in practical terms. It takes a clear and plain-English approach, featuring bulleted summaries of business owners' duties under the law.

How People Tick: A Guide to Difficult People and How to Handle Them, by Mike Leibling

Everyone in business comes across a sticky customer or colleague now and then. This practical guide aims to help you deal with every type of awkward person, with insights and solutions that can be applied to all sorts of difficult situations. The book aims to teach you how to address disruptive behaviour patterns at the root, so you don't have to revisit the same problem again and again.

How to Be Brilliant, by Michael Heppell

This book starts off by providing a series of practical assessment tools to help you gauge how brilliant you already are. It then uses realistic examples and clear strategies to explain how you can get to where you want to be. It covers topics such as improving communication, getting motivated to succeed and prioritising your goals.

How to Get More Done: Seven Days to Achieving More, by Fergus O'Connell

This book helps you to learn a new set of skills that will help you achieve more, establish your working patterns and help you create extra time. It is based on a seven-day week and you will learn one principle per day.

How to Lead: What You Actually Need to Do to Manage, Lead and Succeed, by Jo Owen

This practical book bills itself as an essential guide to the theory and practice of leadership and management. It provides useful tips and guidance on effective management skills, but retains an entertaining approach throughout, covering how to avoid foul-ups, and summarising the types of effective behaviour demonstrated by good managers.

How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie

Despite first being published in 1937, this book is still in the top 100 business bestsellers lists, having sold 16 million copies along the way. In it, the grandfather of people skills shows that financial success is more down to ideas, leadership and creating enthusiasm than technical or professional knowledge.

If You Want to Write: Releasing the Creative Spirit, by Brenda Ueland

This motivational coaching manifesto is aimed primarily at writers and those in the creative industries, but any aspiring entrepreneur could benefit from its approachable style and inspirational tips and strategies for turning dreams into reality.

Inevitable Surprises: Thinking Ahead in a Time of Turbulence, by Peter Schwartz

This book coaches business owners in how to be prepared for changing circumstances, disturbances and disruptions. It looks at trends that could eventually have dramatic consequences for businesses, such as climate change, and explores how to be prepared today for what might happen tomorrow by placing these events into a practical, easy to follow, everyday context.

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, by Robert Cialdini

This book helps you to understand the science behind persuasion and why people say yes. By reading it you will learn six principles to help you persuade people more effectively in all sorts of situations and how to protect yourself against being drawn in by others who are skilled in persuading.

Instant Creativity: Simple Techniques to Ignite Innovation and Problem Solving, by Brian Clegg and Paul Birch

This newly published manual is a collection of tried and tested techniques to encourage you to make the most of your creativity. It's packed with over 70 quick and easy exercises to help you tackle problems in new ways, guiding you through the process of brainstorming fresh ideas for a new project as well as breaking down stubborn issues into manageable chunks. The book claims to be particularly relevant for people engaged in creative disciplines like marketing, advertising and product design.

Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands: Europe - How to do Business in 25 European Countries, by Terri Morrison and Wayne A Conaway

This book contains invaluable information if you're travelling to Europe on business. It includes information to help you through business meetings across Europe, with hints and tips, cultural IQ tests, a 'know before you go' section, and alerts on international security issues.

Know-How: The 8 Skills That Separate People Who Perform from Those Who Don't, by Ram Charan

This book focuses on eight practical skills that will help you bring success to your business if you master them. The skills reviewed are: positioning, detecting patterns, managing the social system, selecting people, management leadership, setting goals, setting priorities, and dealing with external parties.

Lead well and prosper: 15 successful strategies for becoming a good manager, by Nick McCormick

Author Nick McCormick wrote this book out of "frustration", after seeing the negative effects poor management had on the places where he had worked in IT. Each of the 15 chapters covers a tip for success from a commonsense approach, including treating staff like human beings, and doing what you say you'll do when you say you'll do it. It also includes a list of dos and don'ts, plus a quiz to see whether you would make the 'right' decisions in given situations.

Letting Go of Your Bananas, How to Become More Successful by Getting Rid of Everything Rotten in Your Life, by Daniel T Drubin

This book takes its title from the fable of the monkey who couldn't get his hand out of a jar because he was holding too many bananas. The author says that people often grab too many 'bananas' and don't realise they're being held back by them. He's put together a 12-point plan on how you can drop your expendable bananas, to benefit both your business and personal life.

Life's a Game So Fix the Odds: How to Be More Persuasive and Influential in Your Personal and Business Life, by Philip Hesketh

This book bills itself as the definitive guide to being more persuasive and influential, in both your personal and business life. It explores the most powerful influencing and persuading techniques in a readable and entertaining way, and aims to help readers improve their ability to deal with a vast array of daily challenges, from negotiating a business deal to getting a table at a busy restaurant.

Life's a Pitch: How to be business-like with your emotional life and emotional with your business life, by Stephen Bayley and Roger Mavity

Described as the 'ultimate how-to book', the authors use this guide to show how the skills of pitching business ideas can be applied to life at all levels when handling 'human transactions'. It brings together market research, mentoring and anthropology in an attempt to change the way the reader thinks about the art of persuasion. The authors say the pitch is a drama, rather than a meeting - with money and power the ultimate prize for all successful pitches.

Lifescripts: What to Say to Get What You Want in Life's Toughest Situations, by Stephen M. Pollan and Mark Levine

Packed with role-plays and scenarios for what to say in hundreds of difficult situations, this book is a useful tool for business owners who are inexperienced at managing staff or dealing with customers. From how to handle a disciplinary problem at work to tackling a customer complaint and making a cold call, the book documents how to get through all these problems, using practical scripts and flow charts to highlight the points it makes.

Little Green Book of Getting Your Way: How to Speak, Write, Present, Persuade, Influence, and Sell your Point of View to Others, by Jeffrey Gitomer

This book aims to help the reader become more persuasive in all sorts of situations but places a special emphasis on business occasions. The ability to sell and write in a persuasive manner is covered and the importance of preparation before presentations is brought to the fore, to encourage readers to perform better.

Living Leadership: A Practical guide for Ordinary Heroes, by Colin Williams, Gerhard Wilke and George Binney

If you've ever questioned your leadership qualities, this book is just the inspirational pep talk you need. It's based on a four-year experiment which tracked the leaders of leading European companies in order to discover the challenges they faced, their daily routines, their behaviour, strategy and vision and how they dealt with problems. The results are presented in the form of a list of proven principles and practical advice for business owners.

Amazon is currently offering a free four-week subscription to the Financial Times for customers who buy this book.

Living Toad Free, by Dan Bobinski and Dennis Rader

This book aims to help you meet your potential by beating the 'toads' - the obstacles that are holding you back. It contains more than a dozen tried and tested techniques to get rid of these self-defeating behaviours that stop you reaching your full potential. The book also gives you guidance on preventing other people from standing in your way.

Managing Business Risk: A Practical Guide to Protecting Your Business, by Jonathan Reuvid

The fully-updated fourth edition of this guide looks at change and continuity, governance and control, as well as financial risk, catastrophe and loss. It considers how you can structure your enterprise to manage risk effectively in the modern world, with advice drawn from a range of experts, including lawyers, regulators and risk management specialists.

Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation, by James M Utterback

Subtitled 'How companies can seize opportunities in the face of technological change', this book explores technological innovation and transformation through history, and looks at the lessons to be learned and the opportunities to be exploited by each development.

Masters of Networking, Building Relationships for your Pocketbook and Soul, by Ivan R. Misner and Don Morgan

There are quite a few books on the market about how to build your business network, but this one details success stories from people that have actually done it.

Mine's bigger than yours, by Susan Debnam

This book looks at egos at work and the harm they can do if left unchecked. It challenges the reader to look at the egos working around them, and reveals how businesses can work better when they exercise self-awareness and self-esteem. The book is also packed with exercises and real-life case studies.

Music Distribution and the Internet - A Legal Guide for the Music Industry, by Andrew Sparrow

Negotiating the law surrounding online music and mobile phone music downloads can be something of a minefield for small businesses. Part of the problem is the sheer number of people who have to be kept happy - from the artists to the music publishers and record companies. Birmingham lawyer Andrew Sparrow has produced this book to help businesses find their way through the legal maze. He says there are real opportunities for new ventures connected with music distribution - but you need to be aware of copyright issues.

Results: Keep What's Good, Fix What's Wrong and Unlock Great Performance, by Gary Neilson and Bruce Pasternack

This newly published book features a practical 'personality test' for your business, enabling you to assess the traits and attributes specific to your venture that may be helping or hindering its progress. The book features solid, achievable and practical suggestions for making your business more resilient, as well as straight-talking tips for tackling flaws and 'personality problems' in your enterprise.

Small is the New Big: And 183 Other Riffs, Rants and Remarkable Business Ideas, by Seth Godin

This book from marketing guru Seth Godin packages the best bits from his blog, his magazine columns and some of his e-books. As with many of Godin's books, it's packed with inspiring ideas and tips that could help you overcome any blips in your business.

Strategies of the Serengeti, by Stephen Berry

Strategies of the Serengeti is an interactive website, with a quiz to find out which animal you or your enterprise is most like. When you've found out which creature you are, you can view that animal's pros and cons when it comes to survival. For example, if you're like the rhinoceros, you are "persistent and consistent", and keep ploughing ahead in the face of adversity.

The website offers a taster of the book of the same name, which contains assessments of each of the animals of the Serengeti and how they apply in the business world.

Strategy and the Fat Smoker: Doing What's Obvious But Not Easy, by David H. Maister

In this book the author tells you how to become more efficient at strategies that everyone knows they should do or follow, but for one reason or another don't. The author explains in 18 chapters what managers and businesses can do to implement the strategies they know they should be following.

Taming the Lion, 100 Secret Strategies for Investing, by Richard Farleigh

Written by one of the most successful private equity investors in high technology start ups, this book reveals the underlying principles governing business investment. It's written in refreshingly easy to understand language, steering clear of the financial jargon present in many other books on this subject. It's useful for investors, but it's also an important read for any small business thinking of seeking this type of funding.

The 33 Strategies of War, by Robert Greene

Far from the sweetness and light of many books on decision-making, this somewhat controversial guide takes a hyper-practical approach, portraying the course of your business and life as a "war". Like Machiavelli before him Robert Greene recommends how to win by learning from the past, and not caring too much about who loses. A strategy book with a difference.

The Art of Speedreading People: How to Size People Up and Speak Their Language, by Rob Yeung

The Myers-Briggs system for working out the personality type of different people, and adjusting the way you deal with them accordingly, is fairly well-known in terms of both selling to people and employing them. This book explores the principles behind sizing up people's personality traits in more depth. Its aim is to help you improve how you communicate, and help you tackle difficult situations in the workplace - whether involving customers, staff or colleagues.

The Best Book on the Market: How to Stop Worrying and Love the Free Economy, by Eamonn Butler

Author Eamonn Butler looks at the concept of the 'free' market and argues against Government attempts to regulate and control existing markets. The book also touches on the subjects of competition, cartels and monopolies.

The Confidence Plan, by Sarah Litvinoff

Entrepreneurs and business owners need to project a confident image at all times. This book aims to help readers understand confidence and how they can improve their own confidence levels. It's set out in ten steps so readers can follow the book easily and identify where they want their confidence levels to be.

The Copywriter's Handbook, by Robert Bly

This book is about how to write sales copy precisely and persuasively, get your USP across, and understand that good copywriting is about selling. Its written by one of the true masters of the craft.

The Dip: The Extraordinary Benefits of Knowing When to Quit (and When to Stick), by Seth Godin

This book is packed with information on how to stay motivated when you hit a low point in your business. According to author Seth Godin, you can either hit a dip or a cul-de-sac during difficult times in your business. Dips can be overcome, cul-de-sacs are hard to get out of. Seth's book aims to educate you on when to give up on something and when to focus on improving during the dips you encounter.

The Go Point, by Michael Useem

This book is all about learning to be decisive, with the author placing you into a situation where you have to make a decision, and where your decision will have consequences for others. The book examines the repercussions of those decisions and helps you learn how to make the right calls in real-life situations.

The Jelly Effect: How to Make Your Communication Stick, by Andy Bounds

This book focuses on effective business communication. It argues that most forms of communication - from meetings, pitches, presentations and networking sessions to flyers, brochures and sales letters - contain too much detail and not enough relevance. This, says the author, is like "filling a bucket with jelly, flinging it at your audience, and hoping some of it sticks". The book covers simple, memorable and free techniques for improving your communication. It's packed with practical exercises, quizzes, tips and case studies.

The Licensee's Guide to the Licensing Act 2003, by Ian Webster

This book offers a summary of the implications of the Licensing Act 2003, and is specifically aimed at making it understandable for licensees. It provides practical hints and tips on how to manage the changes.

The Little Book of Management Bollocks, by Alistair Beaton

Sick of management gurus, inspirational jargon and performance enhancing double speak? This little book provides a hilarious parody of the higher management bollocks we've all been bombarded with over the past few years.

The Long Tail: How Endless Choice Is Creating Unlimited Demand, by Chris Anderson

This excellent, insightful book offers an explanation of the 'long tail' business model - the combined value offered by millions of items that sell in only small quantities, as opposed to the value of a handful of bestsellers. The term 'the long tail' was coined in an article in Wired magazine, and has since become a widely used business term.

The Myth of Work-Life Balance: The Challenge of Our Time for Men, Women and Societies, by Richenda Gambles, Suzan Lewis and Rhona Rapoport

This book challenges many commonly held perceptions about the different ways to balance your work and personal life, and looks at innovative, practical and unusual strategies for achieving this in a number of contexts - from the smallest home business to a limited company employing a number of staff.

The Psychology of Everyday Things, by Donald A Norman

This fascinating book provides a startling insight into how many designers and manufacturers ignore the needs and wants of their potential customers when creating new products. It looks into the psychology of how we use everyday items from computers to kettles, and outlines the basic rules of clear, effective design to help designers make their inventions easier to use and understand.

The Riddle: Where Ideas Come From and How to Have Better Ones, by Andrew Razeghi

This book explores the possibility of creating conditions which favour creative thinking. It is aimed at managers and business leaders to help them boost creativity in the workplace or office and come up with the next big idea. It combines research and science with interviews from innovative and creative people and offers a practical solution for individuals looking to stay ahead of their competition.

The Seven Rules of Success, by Fiona Harrold

Written by a renowned life coach, this book aims to uncover some of the characteristics and traits shared by successful businesspeople and effective leaders. These traits are clearly set out into rules, while practical suggestions and examples help the reader to relate these to their own business, career or aspirations. An inspiring read.

The Small Business Owner's Guide to a Good Night's Sleep: Preventing and Solving Chronic and Costly Problems, by Debra Koontz Traverso

Focusing on t