Enterprise Books

What a delight...and an invaluable read. Gungan Bagla clearly knows what he's talking about, first hand. He writes with conviction, clarity, and easy readability. I've been doing buisness in/with India for more than a decade, and been there 9 times to date, but still found a treasure trove of remarkable new information and insights. Anyone who's "been there, done that," relative to business in India, or who's preparing their initial foray, or even who's just starting to flirt with the idea, owes it to themselves --- and to their business associates in India --- to read and relish this particular 'Doing Business in India' book. I loved it.

This book is unique in the fact that it is simple and easy to read, but still manages to cover all of the key topics people need to know when doing business in India. I love how the book goes into both logistics, such as credit and marketing, and culture; many businesspeople often overlook one for the other. As an India consultant I would recommend this book to any of my clients.

Despite having no experience with, or knowledge of India, I was 'volunteered' to spearhead my growing companies attempts to both produce and market our newest product in India. I was to get manufacturing of our product going first, then start the overseas marketing local to those facilities (to benefit from cheap shipping to start).

Honestly, I was petrified! I was to met with several of my counterparts from several companies and I desperately wanted to get it right. Normally I'm quite comfortable in these situations (that's why I'm the youngest member of the executive team) but I knew there had to be major differences and nuances alike that could side-track my best efforts. I needed info.

So, I decided to learn everything I could about doing business in India and purchased several books on the subject. Of the bunch, I only read one, Doing Business in 21st Century! It helped me get a better overall understanding of how things are done when I read through it the first time (on the long, long, long flight), and provided a ready-reference in many occasions during my visit. I thought of it as my secret weapon by the time the trip was over.

The trip didn't go as planned (factors beyond our control) but it surely wasn't due to miscommunication or mishaps with my contacts, and I owe that to this book.

A must have (and a must read) if you are in a similar situation.

India and its environs are called The Subcontinent for more than geological reasons. It is easily the most complex linguistic, social and cultural area in the world. The diversity is overwhelming - more languages than Europe, major presence of every religion in the world, cultural traditions foreign to Western experience, a proud history going back further than even China's -- yet the sirens' call of globalized business opportunity grows louder and louder. Many books are now available explaining why India is an inevitable global power of enormous investment potential. Gunjan Bagla has produced something different, a "dirty fingernails" book explaining exactly what you need to know to actually do business in India. It provides an invaluable series of guideposts and pitfall warnings to help the Western entrepreneur achieve success. None of the book's chapters is comprehensive. They are more in the nature of dipping a toe in the water to gage the temperature for each can unfold into several more books. Possibly the single most important chapter, the one most outsiders erroneously believe is least relevant, discusses India's historical and cultural landscape. The chapter on cross-cultural communication, both verbal and non-verbal is filled with insights and "ah has," even for those of us who have spent a lifetime studying the country. So are the chapters on human resources, marketing, finance, legal and accounting issues, and living in India. If you are thinking about investing in India you need to take "Doing Business in 21st Century India" seriously. If you are serious about India, this book needs to be under your pillow at night.

As a non-resident Indian living outside India for over 25 years, I am amazed how the country has changed its image, specially in the last decade. We were always raised with the notion that making money in India was difficult, and that you had to be crooked or devious to become rich.

Gunjan Bagla's new book is an eye-opener on the sea change that is happening all over India. It captures the new found energy and entrepreneurship that economic liberaliztion has spurned, but offers a steady hand to guide the over zealous as they seek to do business in 21st Century India. A mature democracy with an in built capitalist drive, a large middle class and a very young workforce, the Indian elephant depicted on the book's cover offers a very stable business model that even booming countries like China can only dream of.

A must read for anyone looking for a "long term" bet on an emerging market.

If you're looking to get into the copywriting business, this is one of the books you should read.

I had the good fortune to take a course given by Steve Slaunwhite, and he covers the B2B market quite well. His website is quire well organized, and I brought this book, not knowing he was the same author of the course I took. This book is very practical, and I recommend it, for its down-to-earth approach. Steve made a successful career transition
From being in sales to becoming a top B2B freelance copywriter. He inspired me go plunge into the freelance copywriting world, after being downsized by a major corporation.
Randy Kemp
http://www.randykempcopywriting.com

I've read quite a few books on writing over the years, but I have found this to be one of the best I've read yet for freelance copywriting. It's full of great information and he even gives you details on how to complete many different projects. The cd it comes with is also a great benefit. I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in freelance copywriting or writing. Well worth the money. I was not disappointed on this one, it's a keeper!

This is a very well written, entertaining, informative, and helpful account of what it takes to start a freelance copywriting business. Everything from suggestions on how to write different types of marketing copy to advice about how to manage money and run the business is included. This is probably the best single volume on the subject.

Steve Slaunwhite's, "Start & Run a Copywriting Business" is a true work of art, unparalleled by any other book on the subject. Every concern and question one may think of is covered in this book from how much money is needed to start your copywriting business all the way up to handling and managing your business and cash flow to invoicing and acquiring clients. This book far exceeded my expectations! Steve Slaunwhite knows his stuff.

This was a really good book, an easy read. It does a great job outlining how to get yourself prioritized if you're ready to jump off the high dive into the world of owning your own business.

Other than that, they leave it up to you to make that final step off the diving board but with lots of support! I especially loved the web site that is a huge reference to the book. Lots of real personal stories of success and tips.

I was introduced to Startup Nation via the Microsoft Small Business site.
Incorporated in the site was an extract, which I downloaded,of the Sloan brothers new book. Once I read the extract I was hooked.

The Sloan brothers refreshingly simple view point in relation to e-commerce made a novice feel that anything could be achieved. Their advice - excellent!! I recommend that anyone starting an online business buy this book. It's worth every dollar or pound.

Super book....very informative. I didn't even get to finish it as I had a friend beg it off of me. He loved it as well. Good investment.

I am starting a small business and have read many of the books on the market for my startup. This by far has been the most helpful. The book is clear and concise on the basics you need to start a business. The Sloan brothers have a great sense of humor and their writing is enjoyable on a subject that at times can be a little dry. Their section on writing a life plan is something I have not read about anywhere else. Very helpful!! Great job guys, I have joined Startup Nation and listen to the podcast now. I give this a top recommendation for anyone starting or thinking of starting a business.

The book was very inspirational and gave a lot of useful information on how to go about starting up a business, expectations, and how to plan and prepare. I liked the entrepreneurial stories woven throughout the book. However, I was expecting to read more about forming a business plan. I know there is not a one size fits all, but I was looking for some actual examples.

Truly, this is 'CIO Wisdom' - set down by CIOs and IT managers who deal day-to-day with information technology in perhaps the most challenging environment - Silicon Valley itself. As a 42-year veteran of the IT industry, I think this is the first time I've seen so much down-to-earth, practical and useful IT guidance in one place. The chapters are clearly and well-written. The authors get right down to the meat of the subject and provide practical suggestions for improving IT delivery.

If the book has a weakness, it is that there is so much specific information here that it will likely take multiple readings to glean all of it.

I think this book should be required reading for all CIOs ... and if you really want to start something, get a copy for everyone on your IT staff!

As someone who frequently works with CIOs, I found this book to be excellent. One can read it cover to cover, or easily pick a topic and read the appropriate chapter. Since each chapter is essentially a standalone work produced by a CIO it is easy to flip to a particular issue, and gain insight.

Topics range from some of the more mundane, technical aspects of the CIO position, and further the old "business vs. tech" stereotypes, but other chapters such as "The First 90 Days" and the more strategy-oriented chapters are quite good.

Aside from the relatively minor "'the business' is evil" stuff, the book is marred by poor production. There are several spelling and grammatical errors, and the graphics are inconsistent and some of poor quality. The great content is mildly hindered by what appears to be poor editing and a rush job by the publisher.

Patrick Gray, author of Breakthrough IT: Supercharging Organizational Value Through Technology

I only got to read a few chapters before someone else in the office wanted to read the book. But I can say that the introduction, both generally about the CIO job, and the brief overview of each CIO who contributed, was very good. And the chapters from the different CIOs are valuable for the varied individual perspectives.

If you're not in IT management, probably not a very exciting book. But if you are, it gives you guidance from the varied real experiences of a lot of CIOs--people that you probably wouldn't hear from any other way.

The seventeen articles in this compendium represents contemporary and topical subjects, each written by a seasoned CIO. I was as impressed with the selection of articles as I was with the content because each topic is foremost on the minds of CIOs and senior IT managers today.

Among the articles I especially like are:

- The First 90 Days, by Mark Egan, which contains actionable plans that will get the new CIO (or other senior IT executive) quickly moving in the right direction.

- IT Organization, by Guy de Meester, in particular the challenges of centralization vs. decentraliztion, and organizational models in general. If this area is your focus I highly recommend additional reading: "Decentralization: Fantasies, Failings, and Fundamentals" (ISBN 0964163535) and "RoadMap: How to understand, diagnose, and fix your organization" (ISBN 0964163527), both of which go into great detail and provide an exceptionally effective approach.

- Governance, by Danny Maco, which is conspicuously missing in organizations large and small - or is often done incorrectly if done at all.

- Budgeting, by Bob Denis, Maureen Vavra, John Dick ... you'd think IT has this basic function under control, but sadly not. Read this article for excellent advice.

- The Metrics of IT: Management by Measurement, by Shel Waggener and Steve Zoppi. One of my favorite topics, and this team provides outstanding advice and keen insights.

Other articles are as well written, and span topics from architecture to strategic planning. Taken as a whole, this is a sourcebook that is filled with both knowledge and experience, and should be on the desk of every CIO, seasoned and new. I also recommend visiting the site that supports this book (paste the ASIN number, B0001EHNFK, into the search box for all products on this page). The site contains additional articles, news and other books in this series that CIOs, IT managers at all levels, and subject matter experts will find useful.

As a CIO I though CIO Wisdom hits the nail on the head on many of the challenges and issues facing today's CIO's. Sound and practical advice from those actually performing in the job was quite refreshing to the theoretical approach found in many other books on this topic. I only wish that many of my customers (business line leaders and executives) would read this book to better understand the value of IT can bring to our organization.

My only critique is that some of the concepts discussed in the book where not fully flushed out when the author was talking about solutions. Of course there have been entire books written on some of the topics covered in CIO wisdom.

I was particularly impressed by the Communications, Governance, Marketing and the Business Intelligence chapters.

I definitely recommend this book. This was a very readable and approachable book. I consider myself a "non-techie / non-programmer" kind of person, but found Dave's examples and explanations to be very straight-forward and understandable. Now, for the implementation of all this great information!! :P

I thought I knew a lot about designing an optimal website, using Google AdWords and online marketing. Then I picked up this book, and learned how much more I could be doing, and how many mistakes I had made. There are at least a half-dozen great ideas that can be implemented quickly and at little or not cost to improve your site's placement on search engines, and to attract more relevant AdWord clicks.

This book is MORE than a book about Google. It should almost have a different title like "Growing Your Business Online: plus strategies for improving your placement on Google".

The book covers so much more than Google placement. It shares responsible, realistic insight into how to improve your web site with the goal of first improving the visitor/customer experience and second to improve your overall relevance with search engines. Dave's advice comes from a respectable, responsible approach to creating genuine results for your web site. He also provides ample warnings about using web site trickery that could leave your site's relevance & credibility in ruins.

A MUST READ for web developers and Internet marketing folk.

While normally I go for books aimed at experts (i.e the ones that are 400+ pages and dry as a salt sandwich), this book had received enough positive reviews that I gave it a shot. I was not disappointed.

For someone with my background (experienced software guru and web designer, with a moderate amount of Google know-how), I was still able to gain some valuable insight. So you're not surprised, this book is as much Marketing 101, as it is about Google (particularly the first half of the book). But it's needed to give the book a solid grounding from which to make its Google-related recommendations.

The bottom line though, hasn't changed from prior years: if you do the right thing and make your site rich in useful content, relative to its general audience and subject, you're going to do well with Google. If it's only moderately relevant or lacking in information "density" (the amount IOW), all the tricks in the world won't make your page rank any better. First, make sure you're really delivering the goods (the information your customers want and need and not a bunch of link farms, fluff, etc), *then* make sure your meta-tags, document names, document structure, Ad Words, and all the rest, are Google-savvy. The latter without the former, is useless. To the author's credit, he emphasizes this in several chapters.

Overall, I felt like there was a little too much "Freshman Marketing" and some of it was rehashed unnecessarily IMO (though someone with minimal marketing background would probably find it useful). I think the first 70 pages could probably be distilled down to about 40 or 50, but who's counting? ;-)

Recommended for anyone getting start with a business web site or who wants to make their existing site better.

I have opted into online courses and even have an MBA where I studied E Business. This is by far the most complete, helpful and timely guide I have seen to succeed with an internet business. It is rare that I read a "How To" cover to cover, but this is an exception. It is certainly the first time I have had my highlighter out since Grad school. If you want to succeed in an ebusiness, this is the way to get started!!

The best business book I've ever read, hands down. You won't regret buying it ;)

I work with entrepreneurs for a living and I have found this book to be one of the best book on building a scaleable business I have ever read. It is not overly technical it is just a clear, real-world view of what needs to be done to grow and investable business.

This book is not about the psychology of the entrepreneur. Very little if not nothing about how to cope with the start-up pressures, partners, investors, your debts, high maintenance family (well worth it), risk aversion ... and if entrepreneurship is really something for you.

This book is rather a set of principles that will help the (future) CEO/COO of a start up to remain focused on the essentials (strategy, operation, marketing, capital) to build an ambitious & successful web company. It is easy to read, showcase vivid stories and brings to life the experience of someone who has been there, done it. Additionally, the author Wil Schroter is a great guy, and you ll have fun reading it.

A welcomed addition to any entrepreneurs' book shelf!

If you're like me, and you have many half-baked ideas for businesses, this book is a "must read" because it provides simple, sensible guidelines for evaluating the meritoriousness of a given start-up concept. Mr. Schroter sets forth a brutally clear, common sense screening process that can help you make sure you and your big ideas don't wind up like the vast majority of start-ups--out of business before they really get going. No academic can give you the life lessons Mr. Schroter has learned firsthand by personally taking real risk, time and time again. A master of levity, Mr. Schroter's reality-based principles are codified in a downright funny way (e.g., indeed quoting 80's rapper Too $hort), reminding us that any successful scramble for dead presidents necessarily requires humble equanimity, and a smile. As a business lawyer who demands value for my education dollar, I can unequivocally recommend Go BIG or Go HOME.

Personal background note: I have worked as an early stage venture capitalist and regularly review business plans for Angel investment groups.

The content of the book is fairly basic but helpful in understand the big issues you will deal with when starting up a business. If you are thinking about starting a company, the book is not a bad sanity check to make sure you have thought through the big issues. The your concept does not pass this sanity check, do not quit your day job.

The writing style is very light and good for a quick read which is important for someone thinking about starting a business. You need to be ruthlessly efficient with your time if you are going to succeed.

Overall: 3 stars -- there are many books out there on this subject...most say roughly the same thing using the business buzzwords at the printing time. This book is not that much different but very approachable in format and content.

This book reads like a re-hash of an 80's vintage self-help book, so it may be valuable for lost souls with weak spirits.

For experienced, successful presenters looking to improve further it provides a few points to consider. I have not decided yet if those points are worth the purchase price of the book.

Before I started my current role, this book was given to me by a neighbor. In my last six months, I have tried to follow Peter Cohan's principles since I consider this to be the best on the subject. it is easy to forget what the purpose of a demo is, unless you have a clear understanding of what you doing, what you are showing, and what impacts the viewer the most.

Cohan provides a clear strategy for how to approach a demo. From starting with the last thing first, there are many techniques to help you and/or a sales force grab the attention of the viewer. The other technique that we often forget, is to address your customer's needs. By showing them the functionality that can address any pain points or solutions to address any of their pressing needs, the demo becomes more targeted, and ultimately more worthwhile.

If you are charged with giving demo's, this is certainly a great place to make what you do, better.

Peter Cohan has made a significant contribution to sales education in his book Great Demo! This book will serve anyone in software sales as well as sales people from a variety of product backgrounds. The book walks you through exactly, (not theoretically) how to create an effective software sales demonstration, with detailed focus on customer needs, expected customer reactions, and how to correct the tactic when things go wrong.

The difference between this book and other books on the subject is that it covers so many details; you feel as if you're sitting in a sales presentation as you read the book - you can envision yourself exactly in the pictures he paints. As a sales person who has read more sales books than I care to name, this book was a breath of fresh (and invigorating) air.

Great Demo is such a well thought out presentation of sales information that I would recommend it for any sales force, software or otherwise. It could easily be turned into a 2 day sales workshop or integrated into existing training programs. It is rare to find a sales book that truly teaches something of real value on every single page. Five BIG stars.

I was a very experienced consultant and pre-sales person that was an expert in my product line and could give a terrific demo every time to customers.

Simply put -- I was wrong, wrong, WRONG.

What I was presenting was the "standard" corporate demo that we were taught to give. I watched one of the standard demos after reading just a few chapters of the book and knew I had to make a significant change.

Toss out your old ideas, throw out your corporate overview slides and find out what the customer REALLY wants to see.

Peter's website has additional terrific tips and please ask your boss to have Peter come out to your sales/pre-sales/consulting teams for training. The 2 days reviewing and expanding on the ideas in this book were the most valuable training I have received ever in my professional life.

Do the last thing first, stop reading my review and buy this book. If your competitors are smart, they are already finalizing their online purchase now.

Some of us give good demonstrations based on gut feel; others need more guidance. No matter where you are in this spectrum, you will find value in the approach recommended in this book.

The methodology forces you to focus on understanding the critical business issues - not only what they are but how to use them in your session. Do the last thing first (a mantra reinforced throughout) captures the attention of the decision makers and influencers in such a way that it shows them how they can apply the solution to their requirements.

By doing this, the number of demos are reduced, the time to commit can be better managed when you have internal supporters wanting to work more effectively.

Read, apply and benefit from the results. I have seen proof of this in my own organization.

The authors lay out a road map for managers that, if followed, will permit them to take advantage of forces beyond their control. The book explains and teaches how senior managers can benefit from flexibility when they confront irresistible forces and provide a set of principles for shaping vision, strategy, tactics, management process and organizational structure. You will be able to identify external factors and obsolete ways of thinking that may be limiting your progress and success.

This is a brilliant and thought-provoking book that discusses the nature of irresistible growth enterprises, that is, those able to routinely employ the momentum of unstoppable external forces, such as technology advances and shifts in markets. Such agile organizations can use these forces as sources of power or energizers for creating and implementing 2 000 percent solutions, namely ones that produce 20 times or more the benefit or speed of the average person.

The Irresistible Growth Enterprise: Breakthrough Gains from Unstoppable Change, by Donald Mitchell and Carol Coles, is an excellent book, completely different from the other business books because it does not simply give to the reader a simple idea or practice as a recipe to apply to a company and achieve astonishing results. It goes further... The purpose of this book is to change the reader's way of thinking and to teach a way of achieving irresistible business success. It is divided into two parts; the first part contains ten chapters in which the causes of and solutions to irresistible force stalls are determined, while the second part contains eight chapters in which the authors explain irresistible force management and the 8-step process of identifying and aligning ourselves with irresistible forces to maximize our advantage. It is an excellent choice!

This book, with the significant stall busting tools and theories, enabled me to understand stall busting and develop new habits. It enabled me to understand the process of irresistible force management and importance of measuring performance to achieve exponential success. It helped me to develop 2000 percent solutions for the organization's future best practice to become the world's leading company in delivering its product at low cost.

Irresistible forces are unstoppable events and forces that shape our opportunities and callenges. This remarkable resource will enable you to move rapidly ahead of competitors by utilising powerful trends to best advantage. Learning to be flexible is one of management's toughest challenges. The Irresistible Growth Enterprise shows you how to be adroit and energised by unexpected changes. Tomorrow's leaders will be those who excel at using all irresistible forces to best advantage. The Irresistible Growth Enterprise offers you the key to grasping your full potential for immediate and sustained breakthroughs. Rather than living optimistically in the vague hope that neither negative job events will happen to you, you should always be prepared to see the events for what they are - opportunities for you to flourish. The fundamwental premise of the book is that no matter how successful you and your organisation are, you are performing at a modest level compared to the potential you can unleash through adopting the irresistible growth enterprise. The barrier to irresistible growth is not unstoppable, uncontrollable external changes, but fixed and frequently unexamined ideas of how to respond to these changes. Companies that have ridden such forces well in the past have grown from start ups to billion dollar sales corporations in ever-shorter periods of time. Making quick and best use of rapid changes in powerful conditions noone can control is the key to becoming an irresistible growth enterprise. By utilising the processes presented in this book, you can learn to catch the full benefit of today's volatile and rapidly changing forces and spur your enterprise on to greater and rapid growth than ever before.The Irresistible Growth Enterprise has a serious and important purpose: to make you and your organisation much more successful by having you ask and answer new and better questions than you have been using to analyse and plan your activities. Unlike most business books the Irresistible Growth Enterprise on what new things to do rather than on how to improve existing practices. This book shows you how to harness the key lessons and other useful concepts and tools in one integrated process, that will improve your performance across a broad range of activities from creating a vision to leadership and implementation. Changes is an inevitable consequence of staying in business these days. This book leads you to an understanding of the drivers of that change and provides guidance in turning changes into sustainable competitive advantage.

The authors lay out a pattern of all the ways companies choose to deal with "irrisistible forces and unstoppable events" in their businesses. As the phrase implies, these events happen in all businesses, and the authors explain how, if leveraged correctly, these can often be a catalyst to greater growth in your business.

They describe irrisistible force stalls and their causes - useful if your small business isn't performing as you'd hoped - they offer solid advice that will give you a plan of action and get you back on track.

They detail common stalls and how to deal with them - "stallbusting" they call it. The stalls they find most common (and certainly these sound like familiar "stalls" used by some of my small business marketing clients when they come to me for help) are:

The directionless stall
The wishful thinking stall
The helplessness stall
The defensiveness stall
The independence stall
The overoptimisim stall
The cover up stall
The underestimation stall

As a means to understanding what could be stopping your small business from achieving its full potential, and what actions to take - I highly recommend it. It's packed with information, so it's not a quick read, but well worth the time investment for the success of your small business.

I have skimmed this book and it looks great. However, it will probably sit on my bookshelf until I get desperate.

Definitely on my recommended book list. A must read for women in business.

Susan Bock
The Success Coach for Women in Business
www.SusanBockSolutions.com

I'm usually not the type to make the time to write a review but with this book I felt compelled to.
There are so few books written on this topic. I've read other but this one is so comprehensive and has such amazing detailed examples.

The only negative is that it is not available in mp3 so I can listen to it. Mr. Gage, if you read these reviews could you please get to work on this.

I really enjoyed this book and wish that it had been required reading in business school. Unlike many "business" books, this one is covers not only the theory behind what makes a good partnership but also the practice of building and maintaining a good partnership. Anyone who is part of some sort of organization, for-profit or non-profit, will find practical advice here. A must read for any entrepreneur, family business or new venture.

This is a top-notch book - nicely written, smartly organized, and easy to follow and understand. It provides insightful information, telling case histories, useful checklists and exercises, and even includes a fully developed "Partnership Charter" in the appendix. Author David Gage offers an inside view of partnerships, and his case studies make the text a pleasure to read. More importantly, he shows you how to create a partnership charter that will function as your enterprise's Magna Carta in the years to come. If you are planning a partnership, we advise you to study this expert presentation first. You will save yourself a lot of trouble.

Three cheers for this author!! She gave me hope, she gave me courage. She's not bitter or defeated by her tragic loss and she is so willing to help others. It seems to be a God given mission she is on and she is carrying it out well. This book hits you in the heart in a very positive way.

The first ray of hope after losing a child is a wonderful thing. I found mine in this book.

an excellent grief book, i highly recommend it to anyone who has suffered a tragic loss, especially the loss of a child. it was written with honesty and compassion for others who are suffering, by a mom who understands the awful grief process. as a bereaved parent who is always looking for comfort and ways of coping with the loss of my child, the book was excellent.

This book was wonderfully written. I am glad that Marcia was able to write her experiences and feelings to help others like me deal with our pain of loosing a child. I lost my child May 10, 1998 and I can't explain the pain, but having someone out there to share helps to know that I am not alone and there is someone who cares and understands.

I give her alot of praise for all she has been through and how she turned it into a positive instead of a negative. I too made the death of my son into a positive helping others dealing with the same loss. I am the Outreach Coordinator for The Compassionate Friends, Fredericksburg, VA Chapter. With out TCF and people like Marcia, I wouldn't have made it as far as I have.

Thank you Marcia and God Bless you!

This book transcends a mother's grief and is applicable to all the varied losses we experience in life - loss of innocence, loss of a relationship, loss of purpose, as well as the death of a loved one.A must read for everyone.