James Horan Books

I would recommend this book for novices...it's filled with plenty of sample plans for visual learners like myself. The C.D.rom allows you to write your business plan in your choice of templates. Best of all, the sample format we used for our presentation went over quite well. Five stars from me!

I am so pleasantly surprised by this book.

I consult to small and medium size nonprofits on how to either get started or how to get off a plateau or 'stuck' place. This book will now be foundational in how I address these groups.

Terrific, step by step, no nonsense direction.

There is no touchy-feely here, though. If you want hand holding and advice and coddling, this isn't it. This will help you lay down the a, b, c, and d of your plans to move forward. Fill in the blanks, type it up, and go get your work done.

I've used all three of Jim's One Page Business Plan Books, and this one is the best! Concise, informative, creative, and inspirational, The One Page Business Plan for Non-Profit Organizations is easy for both the consultant and client to use.

Non-Profit Organizations are businesses, too. Most people who write "how to" books for profit businesses aren't also writing books for the non-profit sector. Jim and his One Page Business Plan series is different. Jim and his books comfortably straddle both the profit and non-profit arenas, and are written from an informed perspective.

If you are non-profit organization and it's time to write a business plan, this is the book for you. Within as little as 3 weeks, you will have your business plan done, your board excited and energized, and everyone on the same page.

This is the only business plan I use with my clients -- non-profit and profit alike.

With extensive non-profit experience ranging from general volunteerism, management of non-profit outreach and assistance programs as well as board member roles, The One Page Business Plan for Non-Profit Organizations is one of the best tools I've seen. While serving as board chairperson for the non profit organization Willow Center for Grieving Children, I was able to triple the income in three years by utilizing my own POWER Planning Process expertise coupled with the precision of One Page Business Plan techniques. We've recently hired our first ever, paid Executive Director who will receive a copy of The One Page Business Plan for Non-Profit Organizations to take our organization to greater levels of success. I have no doubt that the assessment and accountability tools will serve as a vital roadmap to future accomplishments.

Horan includes solid techniques and tactics that effectively marry heart-based and business-minded volunteers and non-profit paid employees, alike. Plus, his one-page format is much more user friendly than the traditional SWOT analysis marketing/business plan that can be overwhelming to people who don't work with marketing and business planning on a regular basis.

Put simply, the one-page format keeps the entire organization on the same page (no pun intended) so that goals and objectives are met.

Lisa Manyon

First, I'm so glad in your introduction that you directly address non-profits current need to put business savvy and structure under their social goal orientation. I think this is not a pervasive perspective yet and it really needs to be to improve non-profit success in these days of leaner funding sources.

Strategies, Action Plans, Objectives - looks like you did a good job of translating the business OPBP version over, especially in these 3 more challenging areas.

The assessments starting on page 25, including a personal assessment (yes!!!), are wonderful and provide critical information for adjusting strategies and operational action planning. I think this is a really strong element of the book. People in organizations often don't know how to approach assessing themselves honestly.

Really liked your "Components of a Successful Non-Profit" page - brings it all together.

I've tried other processes, but this book made sense to me. It is a very powerful resource for getting focused on your business. The step by step process gave me insight into how I can grow my business. The best part of the whole process is that my entire plan will be on one page so that it is easy to review and keep focused.

The Power of Coaching...The Secrets of Achievement

As a business coach, I am always looking for resources to help my clients achieve their objectives sooner rather than later. The One Page Business Plan for Financial Professionals is at the top of my list of resources. It is a no nonsense book following the classic One Page Business Plan model with valuable input from the financial services industry's top leaders. This powerful "how to" reference will have you inspired to do what you always knew you were capable of in no time flat. Buy this book and start growing your business with focus and clarity!

Free eCourse on writing your own One Page Business Plan:
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I was privileged enough to review an advanced copy. What a great book! Jim Horan is getting better. This is his fourth book in the series and I believe the best one. It differs from his other books, spending more time on evaluating your present practice through a self-assessment section. It also includes a "sage-advice" section from other financial planners. Both were valued additions. The last book, One Page Business Plan for Non-Profits had 117 pages. This one has 100 pages. At first, I felt it was short sample plans, therefore lacking in content. However, in true "Horan" fashion, he has forced you to write your plan, not copy others. His accompanying CD has several great tools for you to use and of course, The One Business Plan template. The highest compliment I can give though is that this book makes YOU write the plan.

This is a very large oversized hardcover book. Cloth bound. Reinforced library binding and spine for extra stength. It gives the perspective of the eyewitness and the gunfighters themselves. It has 200 authentic documents and illustrations. Here from Billy the Kid, Kid Curry, Tom Horn, Wild Bill Hickok, and others. The list price on this library issue book was $12.95 when published in 1976, not $8.95 as Amazon has listed.

The accomplishments of James Iredell Waddell and the C.S.S. Shenandoah read like a movie script. It is amazing that this piece of history has been buried so long. James Horan brings it to life. He reveals that this was not an accidental sortie but a well planned venture breadboarded in the Confederate Naval Headquarters and played out step by step to its conclusion. It is interesting to wonder what would have happened if more ships had been available to the South for this war. Also interesting is the fact that even though the South did not win the war the efforts of the C.S.S. Shenandoah and the C.S.S. Alabama set Yankee dominance of the seas back 70 years.

This book is a gem for fans of James Horan. A good read for history buffs, especially those interested in 19th century crime and the Pinkerton Agency-- a real page turner. I love this book, but then I've never read a book by Horan that I didn't like-- the man was a great historian.

Few books on the "Wild West" go into as much detail on specific characters as these sets of books do ( there are two others: the Lawmen and the Outlaws). This book is filled with accounts by eyewitnesses and the Gunfighters themselves. Although sometimes I find these books 'dry', they are incredible references. Filled with newspaper reports of the day, excerpts from courtroom documents and plenty of asides from the gunfighters themselves as well as the people who knew them ( parents, friends, enemies and lovers ), they are lavishly illustrated, well documented and completely annotated with sources AND bibliography of about every quote in the book. This enables you to understand where EVERY source comes from. One of the most complete references that I have ever seen on the subject. If this subject interests you then this is a must have book for your library.

The workbook is very easy to follow as it leads you through a complete set of considerations and thought-processes to end up with a tight, structured business plan and summary. At completion you have a 30-second "elevator" summary of your plan, a written executive summary (the One Page plan), and all the details and decisions behind the summary you need for creating a more formal business plan to present to a board or bank. The accompanying disc provides great templates and tools. I'd recommend this book to anyone who has never written a business plan, or hasn't written one recently.

I like to think that life is like an old wooden stool I got in Blaine, MO. It rests on three legs: Truth, beauty, and the money to obtain the first two.

If "Chicken Soup for the Soul" is the truth that guides you each morning, and if you found beauty in the remarkable riddles of "The Da Vinci Code", then this book is the third leg you've been looking for.

I have several texts and templates for writing business plans and have written a number of very long and complicated business plans. I wish I would have come across this book sooner. Jim Horan has a way of distilling
the jungle of information that needs to be researched and thought through to the core and most important elements providing a very clear picture of the business vision both for the writer of the plan and any investors.
Highly recommend.

I found that each time I sat down to work with the book, I was easily drawn into the "zone" of creating and brainstorming, and came up with new ideas that will make a big difference in my business. It was so satisfying to be that productive at each session, and in the end, I spent only about 10-12 hours to come up with my One Page. I now feel clear about my goals for this year, and feel that they are doable and well organized. Not only did this book help me develop my plan through the exercises and examples, but now that I have completed it, I am excited about implementing my plan. I broke down the bullets in my Plans section into action steps on a separate page, and then used the provided worksheet templates to create budgeting and sales goals. Thanks to Jim Horan for offering such an inspiring and useful set of tools!

I think this is an excellent book for any small business owner, or even for any one in business. I have my one-page plans displayed predominantly in my office where they help me focus. I enjoyed getting coached through the book, as the accountability and professional advice made it come alive for me. So, if you have a personal coach of your own, you may want to have them go through this book with you.

This book was recommended to me by a business associate and it was a great find! It lays out a simple, executable business plan that can be created in a short period of time. There are numerous excellent examples of plans developed by similar businesses for illustration. I would HIGHLY recommend this book!

I achieved virtually all my goals for the year after I used The One Page Business Plan process.The book really helped me to get clarity on what I needed to focus on to achieve my vision on building my consulting businees for small business owners. The version for professional consultants helps you assess your business in terms that relate directly to consulting businesses. That in turn triggers you to start writing and commiting to action items to help close the gaps between "significance ratings" for practice improvement and actual scores in each category. I will surely be updating my plan each because this really works!

This book serves a good purpose for those who have liitle understandiung of the dynamics of management and running an organization. I fills that gaps and answers most of the burning questions of what really matters. It is recommended for those that I call management novices. Overall, it is a great book!

Chuma Cos-Okpalla, Ph.D

One Page Business Planning has become a critical tool for growing my consulting practice and adding value and depth to my client relationships. Now, Jim Horan has really delivered on his new book for the Professional Consultant so we can 'practice what we preach'. Especially powerful is the 10 Point Assessment exercise! Every business consultant should use One Page Business Planning as a roadmap for successful consulting!

As a marketing coach/consultant I have found it difficult to wrap my arms around a plan to attain your goals, but the One Page Business Plan for Consultants made the process effortless! The process is is simple, solid, practical and progressive. The questionnaires are thought provoking and useful beyond the Plan itself. The One Page Plan for Consultants can help those just starting out or those like me who have been in business for awhile and needed a more focused plan. Not only will you have an excellent roadmap to attain your goals, but will also leave the process with more clarity as well. I highly recommend this book.

This book is in two parts: the first half is all about Jesse James and his exploits; the second half is concerned with Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch. Relying on secondary sources only, Horan recounts the life of Jesse James and the activities of his gang with accuracy, if in a pedestrian manner. Jesse's Civil War years with Quantrill, numerous stagecoach holdups and train robberies, the Northfield Bank robbery, and his eventual death at the hands of Robert Ford are all related. Horan errs in placing James at the Liberty, Missouri, bank hold up; Jesse was at home in bed tending to a wounded lung at the time.

Horan was able to gain access to the files of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, and the information gleaned from there proved especially useful in the section on the Wild Bunch. Whereas the James segment was pretty straightforward history, the part on the Wild Bunch is written almost like a novel, with a great deal of invented dialogue and unsubstantiated descriptive details thrown in liberally throughout the text. The Wild Bunch, which at various times included, besides Cassidy, Harry Longabaugh ("The Sundance Kid"), George Curry, Elza May, and others, were associated with a number of illegal activities, including cattle and horse rustling, numerous bank and payroll holdups, train robberies, and murder. After getting away with a large amount of money from robbing the Winnemucca, NV, bank and a Great Northern train in Montana, Cassidy and Longabaugh went to South America. Rumors persist that Cassidy returned to the US and died in Spokane, WA, in 1937, but Horan (and the most recent hard research) insists he died in Bolivia in 1909. Horan is a careful historian and does not confuse fact with legend. Although I don't care much for the novelistic approach taken in the second half, one can't fault Horan for being lazy or confused or uninformed. A later, fuller book on Cassidy and the Wild Bunch was published by Horan in 1959.

I first read Horan's 1958 book The Wild Bunch, which is now kind of difficult to find. This book includes some interesting facts which have been unearthed since the time of the first book. The photographs that are reproduced here really add to the book as well - the photos reproduced in the old paperback I had were grainy, but these are great. The book gives a good description of the facts, and I was surprised at how fast I finished it. Definitely of interest to those who love the stories of the Old West.

Horan did an excellent job in writing the first third of the book. Captain Thomas Hines was an interesting character in History. Horan's telling of how Hines assisted John Hunt Morgan on his raid and his escape was truly fascinating reading. However, that's only the first third of the book. The rest of the book centers on the "Northwest Conspiracy", and quite frankly, it is a rather ponderous tome.