How To Incorporate and Start a Business in Illinois

Rating:
Summary: Very useful guide to getting started in business.
Review: As someone with no experience in launching a business, this book has been very useful in explaining the different options (sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, etc.) and the distinct advantages for each. The author admits a bias in favor of forming a corporation over the other business structures, as is alluded to in the title. He does justice to each business type, and follows with how-tos in everything from choosing a name, issuing stock, raising capital, dealing with lawyers, preparing contracts, leases, hiring and employment laws, insurance, trademarks and taxes. Although I've heard some discontent with the detail covering sole proprietorship, I found the book an overall excellent introduction into starting a business, and an eye-opener on all the details involved. The Illinois-specific information is very helpful as well. For anyone with limited business experience thinking about striking out on his or her own, I recommend this as a good tool to start with.

Rating:
Summary: Well organized and an essential guide for getting started.
Review: This is a well organized book that covers just about everything you need to know to get started. You'll still have to do a lot of work on your own, but it tells you what to expect, how to find the info, and what to do to make sure you're covered legally. Sample documents and forms are also shown to help you in preparing your own or to be ready for filling out government forms. Given the price of the book, I feel the value of information in the book is a steal. It rates a 9 only because I didn't find the chapter on taxes to be as complete as I had hoped. There is a lot of good info on taxes but it's a little weak on some of the details.