202 | HOW TO WRITE A BUSINESS PLAN
contains good advice on who, where,
and how to sue.
• The Encyclopedia of Business Letters,
Fax Memos, and EMail, by Robert
W. Bly (Career Press). This is an
indispensable guide for writers of
correspondence.
• The Complete Book of Business Forms
and Agreements, by Cliff Robertson
(McGraw-Hill). The title says it.Women in Business
These books are specifically geared to
women who are starting or running their
own businesses:
• The Women’s Small Business StartUp
Kit: A StepbyStep Legal Guide, by Peri
Pakroo (Nolo).
• A Woman’s Guide to Successful
Negotiating: How to Convince,
Collaborate, & Create Your Way to
Agreement, by Lee E. Miller and Jessica
Miller (McGraw-Hill Trade).
• Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman:
What Men Know About Success That
Women Need to Learn, by Gail Evans
(Broadway Books).
• Her Place at the Table: A Woman’s
Guide to Negotiating Five Key
Challenges to Leadership Success,
by Deborah M. Kolb, Ph.D., Judith
Williams, Ph.D., and Carol Frohlinger,
JD, (Jossey Bass). How to get there
from women who have done it.
• Money, A Memoir: Women, Emotions,
and Cash, by Liz Perle (Henry Holt and
Co.). Some women have issues about
money which interefere with their
success—here’s how to deal with them.General Business
Here are some good general business
books:
• The Entrepreneur and Small Business
Problem Solver, by William A. Cohen
(Wiley). You need this book unless
you never have any business problems.
It tells you how to do almost anything
you want, from hiring a sales rep to
negotiating a lease. Expensive, but
highly recommended.
• Industry Norms and Key Business
Ratios (Dun and Bradstreet Credit
Service, annual). Annual listing of
financial results of 800 business lines;
helps plan your projections. Expensive,
but worth it if you’re unsure about
financial norms for your business. Try
your library first.
• RMA Annual Statement Studies
(Robert Morris Associates, 1 Liberty
Place, Suite 2300 , 1650 Market Street,
Philadelphia, PA, or http://www.rmahq.org).
Used by banks for analyzing business
loan requests. Compiles current and
historical financial data for nearly 350
industries by company asset and sales
size. Expensive, so try your library first.
• Sourcebook of Zip Code Demographics
(CACI, 800-292-CACI or http://www.esribis.
com). Provides population and income
data by zip code.