To mark Global Entrepreneurship Week in November, The Kansas City Public Library is hosting two events. On November 13, 2008, Joe Markley discussed the invention process from conception and production. On November 15, the Library hosted a forum on social entrepreneurship and problem solving on the community level. Discover some of the many books available on these topics for both adults and teens.

Entrepreneurship | Inventions | Social entrepreneurship | For teens

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship
By Alan L. Carsrud and Malin E. Brännback
There are many steps between having an idea and going public – this book explores the entrepreneurial process through all of its stages, a process in which some half a billion people are engaged worldwide every year. Illustrated through numerous real-life examples, the book is a map of the entrepreneurial journey, exploring the wide variety of opportunities open to the entrepreneur and how to build upon them, including an overview of such essential principles as screening, market research, product development, financing, and marketing and sales strategies.

1,000 Dollars and an Idea: Entrepreneur to Billionaire
By Sam Wyly
In his fast-paced, fascinating, and candid memoir, Wyly reveals the thought processes, relationships, and financial machinations behind the building of his diverse businesses over the last four decades.

Birthing the Elephant: The Woman's Go-For-It! Guide to Overcoming the Big Challenges of Launching a Business
By Karin Abarbanel and Bruce Freeman
Customized for the female entrepreneur’s unique psychological experience of launching a business, Birthing the Elephant goes beyond logistics to prepare women for the emotional challenges they will face, with expert advice on reshaping ones business identity, giving up the paycheck mentality, anticipating problems, and avoiding costly mistakes. This supportive handbook gives the small-business owner the staying power to survive and succeed in the business of her dreams.

Against All Odds: Ten Entrepreneurs Who Followed Their Hearts and Found Success
By Wendy Harris
Ten successful African-American entrepreneurs are profiled in this collection that highlights the challenges and triumphs that each has met on their road to success. It includes profiles of Sylvia and Herbert Woods, owners of Harlem's famous Sylvia's Restaurant, Renee Warren and Kirsten Poe of Noelle-Elaine Media Consultants, and more.

The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything
By Guy Kawasaki
A new product, a new service, a new company, a new division, a new anything--where there's a will, here's the way, with Kawasaki's essential steps to launching one's dreams.

Find more books on entrepreneurship in the library.

Inventions

The Inventor's Pathfinder: A Practical Guide to Successful Inventing
By James L. Cairns
Drawing on forty years of practical experience, author James L. Cairns clearly reveals all the basic strategies of successful inventing. He teaches you how to get ideas, gauge their potential, establish their ownership, and profit from them. Cairns also shows how to avoid the devastating mistakes commonly made by independent inventors.

They Made America
By Harold Evans, with Gail Buckland and David Lefer
From the steam engine to the search engine, Harold Evans presents an illustrated history of two centuries of American innovators. Vast and beautifully designed, scores of men and women populate this rollicking survey which reveals the surprising truths behind many modern creations, as well as valuable lessons to be gleaned by studying these brilliant entrepreneurs.

From Patent to Profit: Secrets & Strategies for the Successful Inventor
By Bob DeMatteis
Having a novel idea and turning that idea into cash is not as simple as it sounds. The process of creating an invention, protecting that invention, and bringing it to the marketplace can cost you a bundle. To help innovative individuals learn to navigate around the many pitfalls of inventing, Bob DeMatteis has written an up-to-date guide to all the important steps involved in inventing.

The Book of Inventions
By Ian Harrison
Harrison takes readers on a wild ride through the history of the gadgets and gizmos people use every day.

Nolo's Patents for Beginners
By David Pressman and Richard Stim
Packed with plain English explanations, the book defines clearly and simply what a patent is and why an inventor needs one. It explains how to document an invention, how to conduct a patent search, the patent application process, who owns a patent, how to avoid patent infringement, and more.

The Inventor's Bible: How to Market and License Your Brilliant Ideas
By Ronald Louis Docie, Sr.
You've just invented a new technology, a must-have product. So now what? Patent it? Manufacture it? Sell it? Successful inventor and author Ronald Docie shares more than 20 years of valuable insight and experience in The Inventor's Bible, a guide to taking your ideas from concept to profit in record time. Using real case studies as examples, this definitive handbook tells you everything you need to know about marketing, licensing, and selling your invention.

Find more books on inventions in the library.

Social entrepreneurship

How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas
By David Bornstein
What business entrepreneurs are to the economy, social entrepreneurs are to social change. They are, writes Bornstein, the driven, creative individuals who question the status quo, exploit new opportunities, refuse to give up--and remake the world for the better. This book tells the fascinating stories of these remarkable individuals.

Strategic Tools for Social Entrepreneurs: Enhancing the Performance of Your Enterprising Nonprofit
By J. Gregory Dees, Jed Emerson and Peter Economy
As a follow-up to their book Enterprising Nonprofits, the authors provide a full set of practical tools for putting the lessons of business entrepreneurship to work in your nonprofit. The book offers hands-on guidance that helps social sector leaders hone their entrepreneurial skills and carry out their social missions more effectively than ever before. This practical and easy-to-use book is filled with examples, exercises, checklists, and action steps that bring the concepts, frameworks, and tools to life.

Social Entrepreneurship: The Art of Mission-Based Venture Development
By Peter C. Brinckerhoff
Until very recently, popular belief held that business skills were not needed at charitable organizations. No longer. Far from interfering with an organizations ability to provide needed services, techniques such as marketing, cash flow analysis, property management, and good use of technology all contribute to a charitable organizations mission capability. Unlike a not-for-profit that thinks of itself as a charity, the successful not-for-profit is really a mission-based business. In an era of rapid change, increasing competition, and the need for more accountability to governments, foundations, insurers, and donors, knowing how to innovate, compete, and take reasonable risks on behalf of the mission is critical. It is, in short, the era of the social entrepreneur.

Find more books on social entrepreneurship in the library.

For teens

Prepare To Be a Teen Millionaire
By Kimberly Spinks Burleson and Robyn Collins
This book features the true-life stories and struggles of – and lessons learned by – teens across the country who have successfully created businesses. It offers an array of business ideas, information, and step-by-step detailed instructions on finding funding, marketing, and manufacturing. The result is a tried-and-true blueprint that assists creative and ambitious teens in fulfilling their dreams and becoming the entrepreneurs of the future.

Reallionaire: Nine Steps to Becoming Rich from the Inside Out
By Farrah Gray, with Fran Harris
A remarkable teenager who went from public assistance to a million dollar net worth shares his story and offers 9 key principles to success.

Careers in Focus: Entrepreneurs
This career resource guide defines the top careers, discussing the nature of the work, educational or training requirements, getting started, advancement possibilities, salary, employment outlook, and sources of more information.

How to be a Teenage Millionaire
By Art Beroff & T.R. Adams
The authors cite real-life success stories of teenage millionaires and provide teens with guidance and tips on becoming entrepreneurs, including how to start their own business, make their own money, and run their own lives.

Campus CEO: The Student Entrepreneur's Guide to Launching a Multimillion-Dollar Business
By Randal Pinkett
In this guide, Pinkett walks any would-be college entrepreneur through all the necessary steps to launching a profitable, campus-based business, while simultaneously achieving academic success.

Book descriptions provided by BookLetters.