Seeking interesting stories of starting small businesses
May 16, 2015 10:49 AM Subscribe
I've wanted to start a small business (ideally a side business that I can run while keeping my day job) for a long, long time. Both for extra income, and for fun. But I don't know what I should do, and it's scary too! One thing I've found helpful so far is reading the stories of other people who have started businesses. I'd love to find more of these kinds of stories, so please suggest books, blogs, articles, or anything else I should check out!
To elaborate a little bit, I'm pretty experienced at "business" in the corporate sense. I've been in charge of entire products that make millions of dollars a year, as an employee of a big company. But that doesn't really make me feel at all prepared to start a side business, even a tiny one. There are a lot of resources for learning the nuts and bolts of that, but what I'm really looking for right now are detailed stories (ideally first-person) of people starting lots of different kinds of businesses. I like reading about the ups and downs, the disasters and victories. Any kind of business is fair game. The Schiit Happened forum thread about starting Schiit Audio is an awesome example of the kind of thing I'm looking for (even though that turned out to be much more than a side business).
My end goal through this (besides just being entertained) is twofold. First, I hope that reading these kinds of things will help me build up the courage to take the leap. Second, maybe reading about different kinds of businesses will help me identify the kind of business I'd like to start!
To elaborate a little bit, I'm pretty experienced at "business" in the corporate sense. I've been in charge of entire products that make millions of dollars a year, as an employee of a big company. But that doesn't really make me feel at all prepared to start a side business, even a tiny one. There are a lot of resources for learning the nuts and bolts of that, but what I'm really looking for right now are detailed stories (ideally first-person) of people starting lots of different kinds of businesses. I like reading about the ups and downs, the disasters and victories. Any kind of business is fair game. The Schiit Happened forum thread about starting Schiit Audio is an awesome example of the kind of thing I'm looking for (even though that turned out to be much more than a side business).
My end goal through this (besides just being entertained) is twofold. First, I hope that reading these kinds of things will help me build up the courage to take the leap. Second, maybe reading about different kinds of businesses will help me identify the kind of business I'd like to start!
There's a wealth of books about chefs and restaurants, such as "Heat" by Bill Buford. That one has sections about working in existing restaurants and shops, and also about apprentices starting their own.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:14 PM on May 16, 2015
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:14 PM on May 16, 2015
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posted by bookmammal at 11:30 AM on May 16, 2015