What's the book about? Why are you writing it? - Amy's take.

Yesterday, Adelaide shared her answer to this question. Today, I share mine!

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Many entrepreneurs are inspired to start their business based on a gap that they see in the marketplace. The deficit they experience is reframed as an opportunity to bring a solution to market, and a business is born.

This has been an ongoing theme for us with IGC in terms of the workspace and programs and now our book!

Despite avid reading, we had trouble finding business books that we felt spoke to us or the women we work with. We wanted a book which addressed common growth challenges for businesses our size and that included lots of examples of different ways to grow a business.

There are, of course, a lot of great startup business books, but that process is new only once.

There are also a lot of great books that profile businesses that (successfully) adopted strategies that involved funding, high growth, and cashing out. But most women entrepreneurs don’t fall into this category, which isn’t to say that a lot can’t be learned from these books and stories.

What we realized was missing were all of the stories, tips, growth strategies, and examples of businesses similar to those we come into contact with daily. Businesses that have been created to be sustainable, grown steadily over time, and to afford their owners autonomy, creative control, and flexibility – as defined by the owners themselves.

We feel that these stories, while they represent the majority of businesses, are underrepresented in the business book arena. We want to expand the types of businesses being discussed, celebrate these kinds of small businesses, and write about entrepreneurship for the rest of us.

There is not one formula about how to have or build a successful business. There are tens of thousands of incredible businesses out there with lots to share about the things they did right, things they did wrong, ways they have adapted their role, products, and services over time, and how they have made work work for them.

This books aims to help small business owners have aha moments, adopt language that categorizes the growing pains that they are experiencing, bring understanding and insight to their decisions, and explore the solutions that others entrepreneurs have found useful. Most importantly the book aims to help entrepreneurs recognize the validity of their work and the power and opportunity that choosing entrepreneurship brings.

posted by Amy Abrams