The Boss of You: Everything A Woman Needs to Know to Start, Run, and Maintain Her Own Business

Have you ever thought the world might be ready for your hand knit tea cozy business? The successful owners of Raised Eyebrow Web Studios, Lauren Bacon and Emira Mears, have written a business book for women entrepreneurs who want to define their own success: The Boss of You: Everything A Woman Needs to Know to Start, Run, and Maintain Her Own Business. According to the authors, this is the book they wish they'd had when starting their business. Bacon and Mears interviewed several successful businesswomen and used their own experience to write a book about starting and maintaining a viable, independent business.

The Boss of You is split up into three sections. The focus of first section is defining a vision for your business, developing a plan, and coming up with financial scenarios. Bacon and Mears encourage readers to figure out the goals for their business (e.g., serving locally grown vegetarian food or being at home when the kids come home from school) and coming up with personal measures of success. Bacon and Mears also discuss the pros and cons of developing a business plan and advise its development if one is seeking outside funding, whether from a financial institution or a rich aunt).

The second section deals primarily with marketing your new business and features helpful tips on addressing your potential audience, developing marketing materials (e.g., hiring a graphic designer to develop a logo and company identity), advertising and promoting your business, public relations, and networking. Bacon and Mears suggest enlisting the help of friends and family to be your first focus group and to honestly tell you what works and doesn’t work for your product or service. They also focus heavily on networking with other female entrepreneurs to discuss business strategies or just to unwind after a difficult week.

In the final section Bacon and Mears focus on growing and maintaining your business. There are tips on hiring employees, customer service, and expanding your business. There is an additional resource section at the end of the book that includes recommended websites and books on the topics of writing a business plan, setting up an online storefront, networking, and swapping services with other business owners.

Bacon and Mears have written an encouraging business book for the indie business owner and DIY crowd. Throughout the book, the authors offer opportunities to make useful lists and write down goals, budgets, and new ideas. If I were going to quit my day job and start a business, The Boss of You is the book I’d want on my shelf.

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