Let's Go Into Business

by Azriela Jaffe

The author offers her program on building a solid business partnership in this book. Focusing on the importance of the interpersonal relationships between spouses, friends, or acquaintances who become... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 038079862X
• ISBN13: 9780380798629
• Release Date: October 1998
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 247 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

"More information than I wanted to know"

There's a cute expression that people use today, particularly when others share details of their personal lives: "That's more information than I wanted to know." These words express my feeling as I read this book. It's jam-packed! There's so much stuff in these pages, I found myself wanting some illustrations or graphics to break up the text. Jaffe likens forming a business partnership to getting married. There are a lot of similarities, since the partners have to live with each other for-hopefully-a long time. Leaping into marriage without being very sure is a recipe for disaster . . . or divorce. The same situation faces anyone entering into business with another-for any reason. And there are more reasons laid out in this book than I'd ever thought of. In fact, there was a lot of material in this book that was new to me . . . which is good!Before I tell you more about the book, I'll list the eight secrets. 1. Look before you leap. 2. Know yourself. 3. Know your partner. 4. Clarify your mission and vision. 5. Formalize your agreements. 6. Two heads are better than one. 7. Safeguard against conflicts. 8. Breaking up is hard to do. The book is an interwoven combination of information, illustrative vignettes, and check-yourself quizzes. There is so much, I found myself wanting a summary. Aha! Chapter 10: The Secrets to a Successful Partnership in a Nutshell. Eight pages of recommended resources precede the index. If you're considering going into business with someone else-anyone else, read this book first. Get a pad out before you read: you'll be taking a lot of notes. Jaffe's book may be more information than you wanted to know, but it will be just what you need to know.

Very useful for small partnerships

The book is very useful for small partnerships. For bigger partnerships it offers only a good step-by-step framework. All the very helpful lists how to select a good partner, how to discover your own and your partners motivation and how to define your values are not really useful for companies. However most of the secrets Azriela offers the reader will lead you to tranferable ideas and maybe solutions.

An inspiring, down-to-earth, practical guide to partnership

This book has been a wonderful resource for my business partner and myself. It was the very first book we bought and formed the basis of our partnership. It is sometimes hard to broach difficult topics with a soon-to-be business partner and the book is a perfect way to REALLY get to know each other. Ms. Jaffe brings the "8 Secrets" to life with great stories about various parners, their mistakes and successes. This book is heart-felt, easy to read (unlike most "starting a business" books) and an invaluable tool for parnership. Even if a person is thinking about a parnership, they should buy this book to get an idea about what exactly is involved, to get to know yourself and any potential partner better. This is truly a great book!!!

Perfect guide for partnerships of all kinds

No partnership contact should be signed until all involved have read this book! Chuck full of tips and guidelines, Ms. Jaffe's book carries us through the complicated maze of business cohabitation. Not surprisingly, the principles can be effectively applied to all our relationships. Highly recommended and guaranteed to save you a lot of grief down the road.

Excellent guide for anyone wanting a succesful partnership

I am in my third business partnership. My first was in a CPA firm, next came in the restaurant business and my current is in light manufacturing. So I've had significant experience, both positive and negative. My current partner and I thoroughly used Ms. Jaffe's book prior to starting our engine and putting our foot to the peddle. We both valued the road map approach and real life examples of the common obstacles to a successful partnership. It provided us with a external compass to resolving our conflicts and forced us to address the hard questions before we got our egos in the way during the heat of the rat race. We are coming up our 1 year anniversary of our busines association. And I strongly believe that our partnership is strong and we are successfully building our business due in great part to our use of this book prior to our beginning business together. The fact that my partner was willing to make the extra effort to go through the exercises in the book was a good omen. I unconditionally recommend this book as a prerequsite for two people who are serious about forming a successful partnership. Reading it together shoull be the first thing you agree upon. If you cannot agree upon that, then I recommend you exercise extreme caution.