A business book like no other on the market has just been published.

The Book of Business Inspiration doesn’t just feature the usual step-by-step business guides, it also has interviews with people who have started or bought their own business or franchise. These everyday entrepreneurs talk about how they did it, the problems overcome and the lessons learnt, and offer advice on how you, too, can have your own business.

The book also features how-to guides, ranging from how to buy a business to how to make money via the web; profiles of various businesses, from newsagents to nightclubs; profiles of legendary entrepreneurs; information on relocating your life to another country; and much more.

The Book of Business Inspiration is available to buy on Lulu.com for £14.95, or £5 for a downloadable copy.

The Book of Business Inspiration is published by Dynamis, the online media brand behind BusinessesForSale.com, FranchiseSales.com, BusinessOpportunities.com and BusinessWings.co.uk

Investor/Partner in Fashion Chain Required
Investor or equity partner required to help expand the business and increase profits. Must have financial management skills. 

Run Your Own eBay Business
Sell popular goods without having to buy them first. UK dropship company offers “excellent profits”.

Textile Business For Sale
Home-based business with offshore manufacturing, website, inventory, etc. Patented textile product has
potential for global sales. 

Click to read more ...

David Griffiths had been working as head of marketing for Europe in a market-leading payments company called Bottomline Technologies for five years – all the while thinking of how he could get to run his own business again.

The first company he had owned had specialised in developing and selling high-end web-based tools. Now he was impatient to get up and running again, and worked out that buying an established business offered the best route.

“To be honest, I wanted a faster start,” he says. “I’ve done it from scratch before and it takes a year and a half to get things going, and can be quite painful.”

Click to read more ...

...If only you had it!

People often seek professional advice about speculative proposals that they believe could make them money, if only they had funds to turn their ideas into action.

Chris Baguley, managing director of short-term funding specialist Bridging Finance Limited, gives some popular ideas a reality check.

Professional advisers are accustomed to being approached by clients who believe they've just stumbled across a business idea that they believe is 'the greatest thing since sliced bread'.

These approaches often come from otherwise rather cautious individuals who bemoan their inability to fund the opportunities that have come their way.

Click to read more ...

Britain’s 58,000 pubs are central to its society.

Ask any tourist about the appeal of the UK and pubs are likely to crop up, while Eastenders and Coronation Street wouldn’t be the same without their boozers.

The archetypal country pub, complete with ivy and timber frame, is the dream of many in the industry.

Click to read more ...

Expanding your business is one thing, but expanding into another country has a million problems associated with it.

Not only are there likely to be language barriers but there will be cultural barriers too.

Bachir Mihoubi is CEO of FranCounsel Group and provides some of his experience of international expansion to writes for Franchising World magazine.

Click here to read more.

Tony Wright talks to BusinessWeek and provides some tips on running a successful web business in addition to your day job.

Click here to read the full article.

Prepare for new regulations, says Business Link.

6 April 2008 is the first Common Commencement Date of 2008, a twice yearly event when Government introduces new regulations and makes amendments to existing ones.

Business Link, the free business advisory service, encourages people running a business to visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/ccd regularly in order to keep on top of changes.

Click to read more ...

Small business owners in the US are going to delay retirement thanks to the current financial squeeze, according to the results of the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey.

The results showed that only 11 percent of small-business owners say they want to retire at all. Nine in 10 say they are happy with what they do - with 58 percent saying they are very or extremely satisfied with their work.

"In other words, small-business owners overwhelmingly like what they do," Gallup said.

Click here for more information.

1. Organic Trout Farm - Wiltshire: 449.5k

2. Martial Arts Goods Retailer - Kirkby, Nottinghamshire: £10k

3. Coffee Bar, Restaurant and Art Gallery - Lothian, Scotland: £30k

4. Off-Licence With DVD and Video Game Rental Service - Hertfordshire: £165k

5. Indoor Karting Arena - Lancashire: £4.665m

BusinessesForSale.com Connecting Buyers and Sellers of Businesses

From US News and World Report: It's a great time to buy a business.

So says Dan Steppe, a serial entrepreneur who now directs the University of Houston's Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship at the Bauer College of Business. For the last six or seven years, private equity firms have been buying mid-market companies (those valued between $10 million and $30 million) and flipping them, adding debt to these businesses each time they roll over. Now, many of those companies are having trouble repaying their debt and they're selling pieces of their businesses to stay afloat. Investors looking for larger deals should look to these so-called "distressed businesses" for bargains, Steppe says.

Click here to read full article.

BusinessesForSale.com Buy a business from 60,847 opportunities.

More than 10 million Brits dream of leaving their job and starting their own business, according to new research.

Over a third (35%) of workers have recently thought about setting up on their own, with one in five of those planning to make the leap into self employment in the next year.

The average worker even spends three days of each year day-dreaming about their future business from their desk.

But while 15% dream of becoming their own boss because they aren't happy in their current job, 37% admits the main reason is simply to earn more money than they do at the moment.

Click to read more ...

Take a look at these intriguing business opportunities from Ubops.com, the Online Business Opportunities Marketplace.

Safari Tour Operator Service
Business to buy: Specialists in tailor-made safaris to northern Tanzania circuits, with extensions to Zanzibar. Established for four years.

International Online Lottery Business
€1,500 investment required to market this online lottery game worldwide. Earn introduction bonuses and team commissions.

Click to read more ...

From the Edmonton Journal: But entrepreneurs shouldn't be frivolous with family loans.

Click here to read full article.

The following eight myths are the distillation of a research paper written by Gordon Allinson, Paul Braidford, Maxine Houston and Ian Stone in 2005 for Durham University.

Myth No.1: About the same number of people buy an existing business as start one from scratch.

Reality: In fact, three times as many people start a business from scratch as those who buy them.

Myth No.2: Starting a business takes several years.

Reality: Most businesses are actually established within six months.

Click to read more ...

On April 6th, 2008, the tax system in the UK will undergo a number of radical changes. Businesses and individuals have been given prior warning, but is the message getting through?

Simon Clarke, Finance and Technical Director of TaxAssist Accountants has the following advice to offer.

If you are in business, have complex personal tax affairs, or have a low income, you will be affected by a number of changes next year.

Click to read more ...

Robert Ward knows a little something about starting, selling and buying businesses having done all three with the same business.

He started the financial services business Robert Ward & Associates in 1984, sold it in 2003 to a sport and media company, and bought it back for a fraction of what he paid three years later when its owner went into liquidation.

Well qualified to speak about the subjects, Robert offers BOB his advice to prospective buyers and sellers, as well as people setting up their own business.

Click to read more ...

Companies fail for a host of reasons. Bad luck plays a role, sure, but disaster usually strikes because of a more fundamental flaw--in the original idea, the strategy, the execution or all of the above.

Forbes.com ponders the 20 most important questions in business, that business owners should continually evaluate.

Click here to read the full article.

From BusinessWeek: What one angel investor really wants from entrepreneurs, why deal-worthy Net startups face litigation risk, and more from this week's web round up.

Click here to read the full article.

Believing that you must have customers to get customers can be intimidating, but there are strategies that entrepreneurs can follow for making early sales.

Allowing free sampling or deep discounts on products can help maximize exposure and build a customer base, but it will still take persistence to get over the hump when just starting out.

HartfordBusinses.com says getting your first customer is a major hurdle for many new entrepreneurs. Typically that's because they're either afraid of asking for the sale or potential customers are afraid of being the very first to buy.

Click here to read the full article.