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This is a different type of home-based business book than you may be used to. It’s not a “lite” step-by-step guide filled with a lot of useless information. Instead, it’s meant to focus on the things that will really matter to the success of your business.

To give you an example, I’m not going to spend 39 pages telling you all about office machines (you don’t need a book to go over that, do you?) Instead, I’ll do it in 39 sentences — well, less, actually. I’d much rather spend time talking about your invoicing or your pricing, which are far more important to your business success than which type of fax machine you buy (to be honest, you probably don’t even need a fax machine).

This book is written in a “no BS” style. I’m going to come right out and say “here’s what you must do,” and I’ll also tell you in no uncertain terms what things to avoid. Nothing is sugarcoated. So let me apologize in advance for what may seem like some stern advice. I’m not going to beat around the bush and give you warm and fuzzy “feel-good” information. I’m going to tell you straight up what has helped businesses succeed, and what has made them fail.

For example, I’ve read books about home-based businesses that suggest it is okay to make homemade flyers in the beginning and skip advertising because it’s costly. That’s pure BS. For most businesses, it’s not okay to skip advertising, and homemade flyers are pretty close to useless.

I’ve brought together more than 50 topics that are essential to the success of any home-based business. Some of the topics are fundamental subjects that you’d expect, such as taxes, advertising, and the Internet. Others are things you’ve likely never thought of, such as how to get your spouse/partner on board, finding hidden niche markets, and when to drop trouble customers. Still others are vital to success but are things you usually don’t find out about until after they hurt you — like how having a big customer can actually hurt you, and how to make sure you get paid.

Start & Run a Real Home-Based Business is more or less written from me to you. It does not assume that you’re a big, rich business-person or a highly paid superexecutive. There are plenty of good business books out there written by successful, millionaire CEOs, but can you really relate to them on the scale of your home-based business? I certainly can’t. Mention the word “capital” once, and you’ve lost me. See, I do not have, nor do I have access to, “capital.”

A CEO regaling the reader with tales about what he or she did at the latest shareholder meeting to get people to see things his or her way isn’t very helpful to a home-based business owner either. My “shareholders” consist of my wife and my two dogs — and trust me, they don’t always see things my way. I’d include the cat, but she’s fairly well above it all.

This book talks in plain language to people who want to start small businesses with limited amounts of money. Unlike many other business books, I won’t tell the story about how “Donna from Wisconsin” took a risk, and with $85,000 opened a …

Listen, if you have $85,000 sitting around to risk, well, let’s just say we’re not playing the same game.

When I started, I didn’t have $85,000 just lying around (I assume that would be the elusive “capital”). Donna’s story is completely meaningless to me and anyone else who doesn’t have that kind of money to burn. So I don’t mention capital at all in this book.

The book consists of short, easy-to-read essays on various topics that are vital to a home-based business owner. Some of the topics are two pages long; others might fill five pages. The three major sections are Mind, Body, and Soul.

• Mind covers the entrepreneurial mindset — your attitude, motivation, beliefs, feelings, and emotions. Successfully running a home-based business is as much about attitude as it is about skill; this part addresses these topics.

• Body covers the nuts and bolts of your business. How much money you’ll need to start; business cards; home offices; advertising; paperwork; computers; taxes; etc.

• Soul addresses the topics in between mind and body. How do you get your spouse on board with your idea? How much should you charge for your product or service? And also: dealing with troublesome clients; taking days off; your competition; etc.

I structured the book in this way for two reasons:

1. I love easy-to-read books that are chock-full of useful information. Books you can open to any page at any time and get something out of them. Don’t you love those kinds of books too? That’s the kind of book you’re reading now.

2. I really want to cover a lot of information, and this is the best way to do it.

They say experience is the best teacher. Well, this book is entirely based on my real experience running home-based businesses.