Without a doubt, a book that came into my hands at the perfect moment.
After working as an employee for almost 20 years, while dabbling as a self-employed professional at the same time, the book by Alejandro Suárez Sánchez-Ocaña encouraged me to finally channel all my experience and my entrepreneurial itch into my first limited company.
Alejandro paved the way for books for entrepreneurs, and since his came out a good number of books have been published by other successful entrepreneurs to help the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Alejandro is a prolific writer. The first of his books I read was La Web 2.0 y la madre que la parió (“Web 2.0 and the mother who bore it”). With a title like that you can imagine he is a writer who doesn’t mince his words, with a very direct style.
Ha llegado la hora de montar tu empresa (“The Time Has Come to Start Your Company”) is still relevant, now in its 5th edition. If you read it, it will certainly encourage you to start a business, but to do so sensibly, first taking a good look at your profile, your environment, the opportunities and the resources you will need.
Chapter 1 is an introduction to what being an entrepreneur means and its difficulties, and it closes with quotes from famous entrepreneurs.
Chapter 2 guides you through the idea stage: where to find inspiration and how to validate your business idea.
Chapter 3 talks about taking the plunge, understanding the economic environment, information on grants and subsidies, and working out how much money you will need.
Chapter 4 is the heart of the matter, the Business Plan: in black and white, how to write a good business plan, a marketing plan and a financial plan.
Chapter 5 helps us with execution: the types of company you can set up, the paperwork, how to build your team, partners, looking for funding, going out to sell and some tips for getting started.
It closes with the particularities of the Spanish case and his final thoughts.
I’ve been lucky enough to know him for a long time thanks to First Tuesday and the Salón Mi Empresa. He is an approachable businessman, a serial entrepreneur and also an investor who is often seen at all kinds of events.
I highly recommend following him on Twitter or his blog, or reading any of his books.
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