You've just made one of the most dramatic decisions of your life. After being "downsized" out of your executive-level position, you've decided to leave the corporate world for good and start your own company. Your mission: find a business venture under $250,000 that will replace your lost corporate income and provide for your retirement.

If you succeed, your new startup could emerge as a huge success where you would stand to gain more job satisfaction than you've ever experienced in your working life. If you fail, your limited personal funds will be exhausted and you may have to go back to a dreaded corporate job - at a fraction of your former pay.

Here's the book that challenges your savvy, your judgment, and your nerve. You'll hammer out the sequence of tough decisions that an entrepreneur must make - and face the often unforeseen consequences that each choice triggers.

As you assume control of your new company, you meet clients, customers, and business associates who are determined to influence your every move. You must carefully weigh their advice and arguments. Whatever decisions you make, there will be consequences that demand further analysis and action. You will be required to make tough choices involving finance, the competition, strategic alliances, market share, and your own personal desires.

Each decision can take you one step closer to triumphant success - or plunge you and your company into disaster. Whether you succeed or fail in your first attempts as entrepreneur and business owner, the best is yet to come. Starting Up's unique "what if" approach lets you replay your choices to explore different outcomes. In all, you'll find more than 100 decision points and 25 different outcomes, for hour after hour of provocative reading.

Part razor-sharp business manual, part adventure novel, this always-entertaining book provides expert insight into the real-world problems and challenges faced by today's entrepreneurs. It gives you a fascinating way to sharpen your practical knowledge while giving you a real-life view into one of today's most exciting opportunities: starting and running your own business.