Fortunately, you have a better alternative. Legal Guide for Starting & Running a Small Business clearly explains the practical and legal information you need to:

*raise start-up money
*choose between a sole proprietorship, partnership or LLC
*get licenses and permits
*buy or sell a business or franchise
*negotiate a favorable lease
*insure your business
*hire independent contractors safely
*understand small business tax rules
*pick and protect a good name
*resolve legal disputes
*adopt the best customer policies
*enter into strong contracts
*cope with financial problems

This Nolo guide on the other hand stays kind of generic in the sense that they don't spend too much time in how to fill out the incorporation forms and where to file. Instead, they give good information on every subject you would need to research when starting a small business.

The book starts off by explaining the different legal forms of corporate entities you can choose for your business and details each of these forms in the next three chapters. After this, there are more than 20 chapters devoted to almost any kind of situation you may encounter. For example - there is a chapter on Resolving Legal Disputes, a chapter on Small Business Contracts, a chapter on Home Based Business, etc. Some of the topics I had no prior knowledge of and gained tremendously from - Retail Pricing and Return Practices, Zoning Laws, Deducting Expenses for Business Use of Your Home, Workers' Compensation, Thirteen Common Sources of Money, and Strong and Weak Trademarks.

This is a good book to read when you are STARTING your own business. After that, you will probably need to research more into the topics that are relevant to your situation. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many different legal guides that small businesses can use (from Nolo). Obviously, as your particular situation becomes more unique you need to refer to the specific books that have an advanced treatment of that topic. And finally, it is always better to seek a lawyer's help after being aware of the basics of the Law.

As usual, Nolo does a fantastic job of covering a broad range of topics in a very detailed fashion without losing the reader's attention. There are a lot of examples to explain the various topics and everything is in plain English. I especially like the references to the IRS forms and publications you need in various circumstances. When you go to the IRS website, it isn't clear which form is relevant to you. It's neat that Nolo makes sure to reference the right form when they are discussing a particular subject.