Black Women Taking Charge is a lively, interesting and informative book, which focuses on the achievement, successes and practical experiences of twenty one black business women. This easy-to-read. question and answer book examines the many processes and outlines some of the crucial steps necessary to achieve goals and realise dreams in business development for anyone who opts for the challenge of business ownership.

The book tells the stories of black women battling against marginalisation, sexism, racism and, at times, rejection, in their efforts to acquire financial support for development and expansion of their businesses. It explores many important and interesting issues:
 

• the challenge of racism and sexism identification offinancial support structures
• optimising strengths and weaknesses
• development of strategic and business plans
• balancing business ownership with day to day family and home commitments.

The book challenges the misconception that black worrien are not economically productive members of the community. I believe it is an essential read for anyone starting out or thinking of setting up a business, regardless of gender, race or age. It focuses on many issues, highlights critical success factors and provides recipes of the necessary ingredients for positive outcomes in business development:

• drive
• motivation
• support networks

It is indeed about taking control 'feeling the fear and doing it anyway' - and gives a comprehensive insight into establishing and managing a successful business. It is easily accessible, uses everyday language and is based on case studies of successful black business women

 The book provides black and white portraits of the women which help to put faces to the names and serve to connect the reader with the individual business woman. I particularly liked the style of the questions - open questions are used to gain information from the women on key issues relating to business development and difficulties in establishing a business. This type of question and answer format is particularly helpful in that it reinforces the fact that there are some key principles which must be adhered to when developing a new business, but there is also scope for individuality, creativity and personal management style.

 There is indeed some clear definitive advice on steps to take for successful business management. It would have been useful to summarise the key points in a separate section at the end of the book rather than mixing it in with the text. This would have made clear the pertinent points and outlined the critical success factors necessary for embarking on business ownership. The book does, however, raise key issues and outlines some important processes involved.

 Black Women Taking Charge will inspire those who have been thinking about starting their own business. The book offers practical information based on real and relevant experiences across a wide range of businesses, from the familiar (fashion) to the unusual (graphology). It examines the peaks and troughs experienced by black women who despite direct and indirect barriers and hurdles have extended businesses or developed new ones, and gives an insider's practical view on what is one of the most formidable and unpredictable, yet stimulating and potentially rewarding ventures a person can undertake

Alyson Malach,
NIACE (National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, December 1998,Vol. 10 #4)