Masterclass In Session: Starting Businesses With Maresa

The company's been pushing quite a few books out in time for the authors' appearances at the 2014 Putrajaya International Book Fair (PIBF). So yes, we're up to our necks in editing and proofreading for the past month or so.

The actual book, copies of which arrived on 17 March, a few days
after this entry was posted

Among these is Maresa Ng's Guide to Starting a Business, the latest in the MPH Masterclass Series.

Formerly an investment banker, Ng ditched her job for a career helping aspiring entrepreneurs improve themselves and take their enterprises to the next level—a vocation that began as a favour for several friends who came to her for financial advice.

Today, she runs leading business coach firm ActionCOACH Spark Activators and SMETalent, a technology platform that helps SMEs in human capital management.

Ng does not believe that one should just take a leap of faith when it comes to starting businesses. She firmly believes in careful and detailed planning, knowing oneself and being clear on one's intentions to start a business—all born from years of running her own enterprise and teaching others how to do the same.

Her guidebook covers the early planning stages; how to craft that all-important business model, mission statement and sales engine that will drive the enterprise; and how to leverage on good people and good systems to expand and grow the business.

She clears up some misconceptions (sales and marketing are not the same, for instance) and introduces creative ways to get by or get ahead (like renting space in exchange for ads rather than cash). Ultimately, the business should run on autopilot and flourish, even when the owner's not constantly keeping an eye on things.

"My experience has shown me that Malaysians are keen entrepreneurs," Ng writes. "But many simply don't have the know-how when it comes to actually running a successful business. They don't understand the fundamentals of how to grow a sustainable business model. While there are numerous books out there covering best practices in business, not even a handful are catered towards the local business scene.

"My aim with this book is to fill that gap. Having worked with a variety of different businesses, big and small, through business coaching, I've gained insight on dealing with a wide range of different situations. I share these, and more, in this book.

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Maresa Ng's Guide to Starting a Business

Maresa Ng
MPH Group Publishing
131 pages
Non-fiction
ISBN: 978-967-415-194-2

Buy from MPHOnline.com