Running a Side Business - How to Create a Second Income

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"Running a Side Business: How to Create a Second Income" by Attorney Richard Stim and Lisa Guerin, J.D. is a great little book containing the basics of starting a business on the side, while keeping your day job. It is one of the Nolo and USA Today collaborations, so it brings legal information in an easy to understand format with the checklists, tips, and USA Today Snapshots. It's an interesting and informative book.

The book is just over 250 pages and contains 10 chapters. The first chapter discusses things you need to consider before you start a side business, and looks at various side business available. The second chapter focuses on on-line stuff. Free things you can find on-line as well as earning money with Amazon, ebay, affiliate programs and so on.

The third chapter is on managing money. It provides the basics regarding record keeping, bookkeeping, accounting methods, cash flow, forecasting, and related money matters. Chapter four provides some basics on protecting personal assets by discussing business entities and insurance.

Chapter five is titled "Avoid the Lawyers" and provides information on contracts. The basics are here, but if your business involves certain elements, products, or services, you may want an attorney to review some of your agreements before finalizing them.

The sixth chapter deals with licenses, permits and other paperwork. Good general information here, but you probably want to check your local laws to insure compliance. And yes, the author recommends you do this at the end of the chapter too. Chapter seven deals with working from home. Home office efficiency is the primary focus, and then there is a little to evaluate when you might want to move out of your house, as well as a few other tips.

The focus of chapter eight is working with others. The basics of employee vs independent contractor are explained, as well as other topics related to working with family, taxes and so on.

Chapter nine presents some marketing basics. There are a variety of tips and strategies for marketing. The final chapter, ten, provides advice on taxes and deductions. Again, I'd use this to learn some basics and then discuss with your tax preparer.

A lot of the information in this book can be found in other books in more detail, but what this book does is provide basics in a simple single volume with the small side business as the focus. Most other resources don't provide that. I do believe, if you are thinking of starting a business on the side, this book would be a great starting resource. You'll probably want more resources as you get going and determine the areas you need more assistance with, but this is definitely a great first read for anyone thinking about starting a side business.

Alain Burrese, J.D. is a performance and personal development expert who teaches how to live, take action, and get things done through the Warrior's Edge. Alain combines his military, martial art, and Asian experiences with his business, law, and conflict resolution education into a powerful way of living with balance, honor, and integrity. He teaches how to use the Warrior's Edge to Take Action and Achieve Remarkable Results. Alain is the author of Hard-Won Wisdom From The School Of Hard Knocks, the DVDs Hapkido Hoshinsul, Streetfighting Essentials, Hapkido Cane, the Lock On Joint Locking series, and numerous articles and reviews. You can read more articles, over 100 reviews, and see clips of his DVDs as well as much more at http://www.burrese.com/.

Law School Confidential Review

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The Law School Confidential: A Complete Guide to the Law School Experience, By Students, For Students has been called "a must for anyone attending or thinking about law school" by The Houston Lawyer, and is one book that can be found in the bookshelf of every law student.

Law School Confidential is considered the "little black book" of law schools around the United States. Rather than being a simple guide book with study and exam prep tips, this book aims to be a complete guide to the entire law school experience. It walks the reader through what it feels like to be inside a law school - surviving the first year and the 1L exams, the summer law internship, the screening interviews come graduation. The author frequently uses the experiences of former law students to make its points clear, and at that it is quite effective.

The book begins with a string of lengthy chapters on orienting the reader with the process of getting inside a law school. This "beginner's guide" is exhaustive and well written, and does a good job of introducing law school and its lifestyle to the reader. However, one feels that more could be devoted to how to actually pick which school to apply for.

Some very useful information comes in the form of the grading curves in each individual school, and which school has pass fail grading available as an option. For most first year students, this information can be vital; the first year is easily the toughest.

The book stresses the fact that the best, and the most useful tips and advice often come from fellow students and not professors. In most schools, the 2L and the 3L students are the go to guys - the professors are often either too busy to entertain individual students, or are not open enough in sharing information.

The strongest point of the book, and one that has made it so popular among most law students is its no nonsense, conversational tone. Most law books tend to throw legal mumbo jumbo at their readers - a tradition among lawyers themselves - but this book keeps the verbose to a minimum, and focuses on delivering frank information that can be actually useful to those thinking of, or attending legal school.

Where this book fails is that it can be too basic sometimes, coming across as preachy. Some of the study tips are downright basic - things which most people have picked up in their undergrad years itself. Moreover, the book tries to push certain tactics which may not be applicable to everyone.

Nonetheless, as the Houston Lawyer says, this book is definitely a must for anyone either thinking of becoming a lawyer. As the New York Law Journal put it, this is quite a "useful, worthwhile book".

The list of best lsat prep books can be exhaustive and infinite. At our website, JDJungle.com, we try and make things a bit easier by reviewing the best law books, such as law school confidential, et cetera, along with regular tips on getting into the law school of your choice.