Product Description

"If you’re wondering whether to take the plunge, this is a great place to start. There are other books that cover the same ground, but few that do so in such an entertaining and inspiring way."

Sunday Times 8th Feb 2004

"This book is great - I wish it had been around when I started in business from my van."
Tom Hunter, who sold his Sports Division business for £290 million

Discover what every entrepreneur wishes they had known before they started their business!

So, you’re starting a business? Or thinking about it? Chances are you’ll be full of ideas, very excited but a little bit daunted. And you’ll certainly have a hundred and one questions about what you should and shouldn’t do. Because this is important and you want to get it right.

The good news is – you’re not alone – because thousands of entrepreneurs have been where you are now. And in this book you can learn from their mistakes and discover everything they wish they had known before they started out – so you can get it right first time.

From Acorns

is the essential ‘how to’ guide to starting a business that doesn’t bog you down in complex financial forecasting and the intricacies of tax law (because we know you’ve got enough to worry about this week). Instead it tells you everything you absolutely need to know to get your business off to a fantastic start – and nothing else. Discover:

• how to tell if you’ve got a great business idea
• what goes on in the mind of a bank manager
• how to price your product/service
• why you need a dragon to look after your cash flow
• how to be a great guerilla marketer

plus hundreds of other tips and pieces of practical advice that make the difference between success and failure.

From Acorns is the first book to show how simple – and fun – starting a business can be!

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #88559 in Books
• Published on: 2003-12-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 172 pages

Review

"This book is great - I wish it had been around when I started in business from my van."
Tom Hunter, who sold his Sports Division business for £290 million

The few business guides I've read have focussed largely on the technical details of the small business. Whilst things like taxation are obviously important in how to run a business it not a major factor in how to successfully run one. It is all about the entrepreneur and his skills and this book targets that area.

It is more about wisdom than information although all the relevant technical stuff is in there. It is written in a style that is bit like discussing the secrets with the author himself and it contains some relevant and often very amusing anecdotes/examples to support his advice.

If you pick up this book and only read the first few pages you will have already increased your knowledge of what it takes to be the next Richard Branson.

I have based my short review on reading the preproduction drafts and on my lifelong friendship with the author. Having witnessed at first hand his triumphs and failures I have to say one of his major triumphs is condensing his experiences so successfully into this book. Basically it shows how simple it is – people are scared by the complexity. This guide gives you what is essential. It is pithy and concise.

If you are thinking about going it alone it REALLY will make things easier for you and at this price you can't really go wrong!
Customer Review.

"If you’re wondering whether to take the plunge, this is a great place to start. There are other books that cover the same ground, but few that do so in such an entertaining and inspiring way."
Sunday Times 8th Feb 2004

“What a great book!”

Business Adviser Magazine

 

“… stuffed with nuggets of practical, useful advice and entertaining but, at the same time, educational anecdotes.”

Scottish Business Insider (circ 20,019)

"The best book - simple to understand and written by someone who's been there, done it, and got the T-shirt." - Esquire, October 2006

Esquire, October 2006
The best book - simple to understand and written by someone who's
been there, done it and got the T-shirt.

About the Author
Caspian Woods has run businesses since his teens when he set-up the first UK yearbook publishing company and ran an events company called Let me hold your Balls for you. He has won a number of entrepreneurial awards including Young Scot of the Year, Young Achievers of Britain at Buckingham Palace, Shell Livewire, and Ernst and Young Trailblazers. He was recently appointed by Prince Charles as an ambassador for his youth business trust. Caspian currently runs a publishing agency producing magazines on small business for the likes of Scottish Enterprise, Clydesdale Bank, Bank of Scotland. He has written very popular small business columns for papers such as the Herald and Business am.

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Customer Reviews

A refreshing change
Although I have been in business for a number of years, I was given 'From Acorns' as a gift from a friend of mine who said it had changed his whole outlook on doing business. I was somewhat sceptical and kept it untouched in my briefcase for a few weeks before I eventually took it out on a long train journey. From reading the first page I was hooked. Not only is it the first business book that has ever made me laugh out loud, it is the first business book that I have read that addresses the reality of setting up your own business rather than spouting a lot of unsubstantiated theories created by academics who have probably never worked outside a university.

Although this book is really targeting new businesses and my business is already set up, there is plenty in there to make me decide I needed a change of outlook. (If I was starting from scratch I would be using this book as my Bible). I have already put into place a number of Woods' suggestions and it already seems to be paying off. The most amazing thing that I gained from this book is the fact that, by taking on board just a few of these suggestions, I am enjoying my work more now than I can ever remember.

A bible for young entrepreneurs
I didn't really know how to develop my dream or what direction to stair my dream but From Acorns... clarify the reality behind implementing a successful business and how to create a storming business wave. The best business setup kit you will ever own. Thanks Caspian

My business is now growing
I started my own business a couple of months ago and find this book invaluable. It inspires me everytime I get down or depressed. I love the way Caspian writes with such humour. This is a good book with lots of sound practical advice. If you want a little more emotional hand holding when starting your new business then you should also read Ros Jay's The White ladder Diaries and if you like inspirational books then add Anyone Can Do It by the Hasemi's about how they started their Coffee Republic to your launch-and-start-your-new-business book collection. You only need these three on your shelf.
Ros Jay's is about how she and her partner Richard Craze started their amazing publishing businss - White Ladder Press. But I digress from Caspian's wonderful book. This is the book I dip into, use as a referecne guide and general practical support mother ship. Good book, good writer. Like it, love it.