Birthing the Elephant The Woman's Go-For-It! Guide to Overcoming the Big Challenges of Launching a Business

Surviving the ups and downs of entrepreneurship takes more than a great business idea. It requires that you face a slew of challenges that will test your resolve-from giving up a steady paycheck to working long hours. While other business books focus on writing a business plan and getting funding, only Birthing the Elephant charts the psychological and emotional aspects of launching a start-up. Presenting a road map of the first two years of your enterprise, this step-by-step handbook shows you how to: Think and act like an entrepreneur, Anticipate problems and overcome barriers to success, Manage the four key stages of your launch, Avoid the ten costly mistakes that new business owners often make.

BRUCE FREEMAN, nationally known as the Small Business Professor, is a syndicated columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. He is the president of ProLine Communications and serves as an adjunct professor of marketing and public relations at Kean University. Bruce lives with his wife and two daughters in Livingston, New Jersey.

 THE AUTHOR SCOOP

Have any good pet stories?I dedicated this book to the five women I have lived with including "Cuddles" the family cat. My younger daughter, Erica, does not allow holiday cards to leave the Freeman house without her name on it. Cuddles is a cute "orange tabby" cat.

As a Professor, how do you grade?I tell my students that when I am grading essays, they should hope that when I am grading their paper I finished one glass of Cabernet.

First job out of college?I was in ladies bras and lingeries (Kaiser Roth Corporation)

Do you try to do too many things at one time?With one tuchus, you can't dance at two weddings.

What is your favorite music?Jazz

 


KARIN ABARBANEL runs a marketing communications firm and served as Avon Corporation's spokesperson for its "Corporation to Cottage" initiative. She is the author of How to Succeed on Your Own and coauthor of The Art of Winning Foundation Grants. Karin lives in Montclair, New Jersey.

 THE AUTHOR SCOOP

What was your first writing gig?I can still remember my dad dictating a letter to me for Mrs. Pumpernickel, his imaginary editor – asking her for more money, of course! I couldn’t write yet, but that didn’t stop me from filling page after page of my very own legal pad. Then my dad put the letter in an envelope, walked to the mailbox with me, and pretended to send it. What a thrill! Do you have any pets?Dr. Watson, my four-legged, nonvirtual assistant is endlessly patient, loves everything I write, never complains if I miss a deadline, and always lets me know when the FedEx truck arrives. He even takes me out for a walk when I need a writing break. He loves Cheezits. Of course, he’s a highly educated fellow, with a PhD in Snackology.What was the biggest surprise for you in writing Birthing the Elephant?How ingenious launchers are: Women are endlessly creative when it comes to substituting brains for bucks – whether it’s setting up a satellite office at a local Denny’s or arriving at a radio station at 6 AM with a "pizza for plugs" order (heavy on the pepperoni) just to get some free advertising! Were there any particularly funny or unusual stories you discovered about women entrepreneurs while doing research for your book?There are so many: the basset hound who dragged a 50-lb bag of flour into one entrepreneur’s kitchen, pouring it all over himself and everything else; the husband who delivered bagfuls of lipstick at the back door of Bergdorf Goodman’s; the innkeeper who fantasized about serving guests cocktails with cheese & crackers in a frilly apron, but spends her days mowing the lawn in big rubber boots!Where did you and your coauthor brainstorm for Birthing the Elephant?I should say Holsteins, a local hangout where they filmed some heavy scenes from the Sopranos, but Bruce and I actually had our book meetings at a classic NJ diner where he usually ordered a healthful muffin and I chowed down on a cholesterol-laden omelet guaranteed to fatten even my brain cells!