Not bad, some good info
It's not bad. I was hoping there'd be a bit more info in it. However it did have a few things that made it worth buying.

What I needed to know in a hurry
Someone gave me this book just when my energy for my whole project was flagging. It was either get going or give up my idea. This book got me off the stick at warp speed rate. It was just what I need to know about internet marketing, how to spend my little bit of start up money wisely, how to get the website I needed, plus an acknowledgement that we are in the worst of hard times. The info on good businesses during bad times was extremely useful. I found exactly what I needed to know about legal, tax, and accounting issues. Everything was simply and clearly stated, including subjects that I never thought I'd come to terms with, ie. how much to charge, taxes and deductions. understand. Good information. Well worth the money.

think of it as your buddy
A super overview of the subject, this book helps me check every so often to see if I'm covering all bases. I found the pages on making the web work for you to be especially useful. The book sits on my buddy shelf--books that bail me out when I have a question or issue.

A Must Read!
Let's get the usual disclaimers out of the way. I have known Paul and Sarah Edwards for a long time, both personally and professionally, and one of the reasons for maintaining these relationships is that I admire what they do, how they do it, and how they love to share it. And, this latest book, Home-Based Business for Dummies, is only one example of my admiration.

When I found out that Paul and Sarah were authoring yet another edition of this book, I could not wait to see it. I followed their journey of helping people achieve self-actualization for over twenty years, and I can tell you that they worked hard to make Home-Based Business for Dummies the most complete reference on the subject.

The book has several beginnings, and the one I truly like is the section titled "Taking the Home-Based Business Quiz." That section alone, with its questions focused on what each of us who starts a business needs to ask, is worth the price of the book. It asks you to look at and evaluate your strengths and potential weaknesses and your readiness to get started.

Another section of the book goes into the choices that you need to make about the nature of your business, and what you can start right in your garage as did the good people who started Hewlett-Packard, Apple, Amazon, and others, to buying an existing business or franchise, and more, and includes advice on identifying the best option for you..

Chapters 3 and 4 detail the ABCs of starting the business, and includes just about everything you need to cover to make it a success, including words to the wise about what financing you should consider, and some sound advice on how to get it. Once the business is started, however, there is still more work to be done to market what you have to offer, and that is covered, as well. There is even a chapter about doing business in "challenging times," which is extremely useful for today.

The book is easy-to-read, well organized, and thoroughly helpful, and I highly recommend "Home-Based Business for Dummies" to anyone who wants to start a business, or has a home-based business and has some unanswered questions. No book, however comprehensive, can ever include everything, but this one sure comes close!

Update on the 3rd Edition -- New and Improved
I am coauthor of Home-Based Business For Dummies 3rd Edition along with my colleagues of many years, Paul and Sarah Edwards (America's home-based business experts -- their book Working From Home was the first commercially published book about how to work from home).

We made numerous changes and improvements to Home-Based Business For Dummies 3rd Edition, many of them in response to feedback we received on the previous editions of the book (including the many reviews here on Amazon.com). We took your comments to heart, and used them to help fine tune the book's content.

One more thing. As we wrote this new edition, we also took into account the fact that we are still in the throes of the worst economic recession since the Great Depression. We made many adjustments to the text to help prospective and current home-based business owners deal with the challenges of the current economic environment.

The result is a much stronger book on the topic of starting and growing your own home-based business -- a book that Paul and Sarah and I are certain is the best possible resource available today for both new and experienced home-based business owners.

Specifically, we:

-- Added an entirely new chapter -- Chapter 3: The ABCs of Starting Your Own Business -- that addresses exactly how to start a home-based business, 6 proven ways to get your cash flowing, 21 sources of start-up funds, how to put together a business plan, and much more.

-- Added an entirely new chapter -- Chapter 5: Creating a Sustainable Income in Challenging Times -- that explores more than 75 businesses you can start and do well during an economic downturn, as well as those that do better in economic good times. Many of these businesses require minimal money to start, with most WELL under 0470538058,000. No other book on home-based businesses provides this vital, up-to-the-minute information that will help you succeed even in today's challenging business conditions.

-- Added an entirely new chapter -- Chapter 13: Making the Web Work for You -- that digs deeply into how to leverage the tremendous power of the Internet to help your home-based business succeed. We pay a special attention to using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and creating your own blog or website, to get out the word about your business.

-- Added an entirely new chapter -- Chapter 17: Ten Enduring Home-Business Opportunities -- that provides readers with our list of 10 home business opportunities that are built to last. These are opportunities that will continue to grow and do well for decades to come.

-- Updated chapters on legal, taxes, and accounting with the latest-and-greatest information for 2010.

-- Pared away anything that wasn't directly pertinent to helping our readers become better and more successful home-based businesspeople.

While we can't guarantee that you'll earn a million dollars as a home-based business owner after you read our book, we CAN guarantee that you'll find a LOT of extremely useful information, no matter what kind of business you start or where you live. Paul and Sarah and I really care about this book and we want it to be the best book possible on starting and growing a home-based business. We're always happy to get your email messages and answer your questions. We would love to hear about your successes -- and your challenges. Our websites and email addresses are easy to find -- a Google search will quickly take you there.

Thanks for considering Home-Based Business For Dummies 3rd Edition -- we hope you enjoy reading the book as much as we enjoyed writing it, and that it helps you build a better and even more successful home-based business.

Lots of info on what to do, but its outdated fast.
I bought this hopping to be able to start my own internet business. I gave up with out being able to. The internet moves at such a fast pace, this book was outdated when I got it. All though it does have some good reference material. With this book alone I could not make my own internt Business (or blog for money). Still worth having for the reference materials though.

Great overview of all matters relating to online businesses
I bought this book when I was considering starting an online business. I read it cover to cover and it is a great source of info, from start-up and licensing, to paperwork and taxes. Sadly, I decided not to start a business until I see what punishments the current squatter administration decides to inflict on profitable businesses.

It's okay
It's a great product. However, because it's so thick, I found myself lazy to open this book so as the results I have bought other books that are thinner and easier to read.

Don't be a dummie
This is useful in that it explains alot of online jargon, but as a required reading assignment, it didn't peak my interest.

Even experienced sellers will learn something
I have bought and sold stuff online for years and this book still had useful information in it. It gives useful, specific sources for many different categories of eCommerce.
I have paid much more for courses and books from so called marketing experts that didn't have near as much information.
So often you will read or hear that you need to do this or that, but they never tell you the specific places that you can go to get it done.
The many different categories of selling advice would at first make you think that it just glosses over them but once you start to read you see that they are one of the strengths of this book... you just keep finding good advice to tweak and improve your online business.
From web site design and boosting traffic to credit card acceptance to keeping your customers happy or even legal advice for people just starting out, it's hard to name just one part that would be considered the best part of this book. Site security to even the basics of chosing a business name are covered.
It doesn't matter if you are only thinking about starting an online business or if you have various web sites and are an experienced eBay user, there will be something in here that will make you glad you bought it.

do you have time to waste?
What is this book supposed to be about?
It is about things you already know. He said things like you can ask money to a relative, pay your credit card debt before you start, the definition of small business and the percentage of small business in the country and what percentage are form by women, or latin or etc etc. i do not find this information helpful at all.
Blah blah, what kind of advice do you find on that?
I was expecting advice regarding the legal aspect of starting a business, forms of ownership, tax forms, etc.
The funniest part is that starts talking bad about the rest of business books, so funny.

Another easy addition the series
This is another dummies addition that reads much like the others, easily. It really strives to get beginners to understand that starting a small business is serious business, and that its risky. It understands and expresses that small business just isn't the best move for everyone. The book does give many resources and chapters that are devoted to help keeping a small business afloat, managing employees and the all important legalities. I purchased this book in accompaniment with The Magic Touch: How to make 0,000 per year as a massage Therapist by Meagan R. Holub. The Magic Touch really exceeds many other texts in that it provides surefire applications for a service business to use so that it can have optimum chances of real success. Together these books make a great team.

great book....must read
hi guys....this book is great when your starting a small business. Gives you a great head start on starting your own business.

Pretty weak.
This books reads more like an encyclepedia than an acutal guide for small business. Very little in here for someone who is running a business. Most of the advice is is in the form of rudimentry questions like "are you sure you are ready for business."

small business for dummies
i ordered this for my son, he said that it arrived and is in great condition. Thanks for the fast and easy service.