Newest Business and Finance Reviews
Managing Yourself (The Checklist Series: Step by step guides to getting it right) by The Chartered Management Institute
When you start work, when you become a manager or move up the ladder it's assumed that you will need training in managing. This is always assumed to be managing other people, but it's only very rarely that any consideration is given to managing yourself - and then probably only in specific areas. But - if you haven't sorted yourself out, thought through your own actions and motivations, how can you give leadership to others? Managing Yourself remedies this and covers the cradle to grave of working life. If you have ambitions to move up the career ladder - or even if you just want to have a more rewarding and stress-free working life - this book is essential reading. Full review...
Winning Without Losing: 66 strategies for succeeding in business while living a happy and balanced life by Martin Bjergegaard and Jordan Milne
It's a common assumption that if you're a serious entrepreneur then you're going to have to dedicate your life to making money, passing up on the good things (apart from those which can be bought, obviously) such as a happy family life, the world outside of work and quite probably your health too. But what if there was a way to have it all? Winning Without Losing' doesn't give a blueprint which will enable you to go out and make your first million and have a wonderful life outside work - but it does give you sixty six ideas for ways in which you could adjust your working life to make the most of it without ruining everything else. Full review...
Made to last: The story of Britain's best-known shoe firm by Mark Palmer
From its founding by the Quaker brothers Cyrus and James Clark in the Somerset village of Street, to its present-day status as a global shoe brand, the name of Clark has weathered many a storm as it draws close to its bicentenary. This account of the company, by a distant kinsman of the two original founders, has drawn heavily on the archives and on in-depth interviews with the family to tell the full story. Full review...
Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue 2013: Commonwealth and Empire Stamps 1840 - 1970 by Hugh Jefferies
You might think that as all the stamps in this catalogue have been in existence for at least forty years there can be little more to be said about them but this 115th edition is acknowledged to be the most significant in many years. Most exciting (but probably more so to sellers than buyers) is the fact that in a time of economic downturn there are thousands of price increases and evidence of a very lively market. Demand for good stamps is greater than it has been at any time in the last thirty years according to editor Hugh Jefferies, although he does add that prices are rising faster in some areas than others. It's difficult to see how a serious collector - or seller - can be without an up-to-date copy of the catalogue for this reason alone. Full review...
Ausperity: Live the Life You Want for Less by Lucy Tobin
Clever title, eh? It's a conflation of austerity, of which we must all be sick to the back teeth and prosperity, which we'd all love. At a time when incomes are standing still (unless you're very lucky) but costs are going up all the time. For most people this means that it's the pleasurable parts of life - the treats - which get squeezed out, leaving a life that's dull and rather unrewarding. Lucy Tobin, personal finance editor of the London Evening Standard thinks differently. She's brought together hundreds of money-saving tips which might make that holiday possible - or suggests cheap or free trips in place of the holiday. There are also lots of ways in which you can raise extra money which don't involve a dodgy loan that will cost you more in interest than you borrowed in the first place. And, yes - there's all the information about credit cards, mortgages and budgeting that you need to set you on the right path. Full review...
Business Continuity For Dummies by Stuart Sterling, Brian Duddridge, Andrew Elliott, Michael Conway and Anna Payne
When you build a business you set off with unbridled enthusiasm and if you're lucky it does seem as though the Gods are flying along with and you holding your hands. But they have other calls on their time and at some point something will go wrong. It's inevitable. It might be something unforeseeable, something outside of your control, or an event which you really should have prepared for. In addition to growing this fledgling business you're now trying to troubleshoot, to second guess and eventually you stop moving forward and do little but worry about what can go wrong. There's a temptation to try and put it out of your mind: why give your nightmares an outing during the day? What you need is a plan - a structured, unthreatening way of looking at what can fail and how you would deal with it. Full review...
