Finish Big

"No two exit experiences are exactly alike. Some people wind up happy with the process and satisfied with the way it turned out while others look back on it as a nightmare. The question I hope to answer in this book is why. What did the people with 'good' exits do differently from those who'd had 'bad' exits?" When pioneering business journalist and" Inc." magazine editor at large Bo Burlingham wrote "Small Giants," it became an instant classic for its original take on a common business problem--how to handle the pressure to grow. Now Burlingham is back to tackle an even more common problem--how to exit your company well. Sooner or later, all entrepreneurs leave their businesses and all businesses get sold, given away, or liquidated. Whatever your preferred outcome, you need to start planning for it while you still have time and options. The beautiful part is that if you start early enough, the process will lead you to build a better, stronger, more resilient company, as well as one with a higher market value. Unfortunately, most owners don't start early enough--and pay a steep price for their procrastination. Burlingham interviewed dozens of entrepreneurs across a range of industries and identified eight key factors that determine whether owners are happy after leaving their businesses. His book showcases the insights, exit plans, and cautionary tales of entrepreneurs such asRay Pagano founder of a leading manufacturer of housings for security cameras. He turned down a bid for his company and instead changed his management style, resulting in a subsequent sale for four times the original offer.Bill Niman founder of the iconic Niman Ranch, which revolutionized the meat industry. He learned about unhappy exits when he was forced to sell to private equity investors, leaving him with nothing to show for his thirty-five years in business.Gary Hirshberg founder of organic yogurt pioneer Stonyfield Farm. He pulled off the nearly impossible task of finding a large company that would buy out his 275 small investors at a premium price while letting him retain complete control of the business. Through such stories, Burlingham offers an illuminating and inspirational guide to one of the most stressful, and yet potentially rewarding, processes business owners must go through. And he explores the emotional challenges they face at every step of the way. At the end of the day, owning a business is about more than selling goods and services. It's about making choices that shape your entire life, both professional and personal. "Finish Big" helps you figure out how to face your future with confidence and be able to someday look back on your journey with pride.

At age seventeen Fred Deluca borrowed $1,000 from a a friend-and srarted SUBWAY(R). Today, with more than 38,000 stores in one hundred countries and annual sales exceeding $16.6 billion, Fred DeLuca's SUBWAY is a success story with a message... START SMALL FINISH BIG Publishers Weekly Review: DeLuca was only 17 when he started what is now the Subway restaurant chain in 1965; he needed money to attend college and a friend offered to back him with $1,000 to start a sandwich shop in Bridgeport, Conn. That beginning led DeLuca to an enormously successful career: in addition to being president of the chain, he runs MILE, a nonprofit organization that offers loans to entrepreneurs. According to DeLuca, there are 15 essential principles for anyone starting a small business, some of which, DeLuca confesses, he learned the hard way (he had never made a submarine sandwich before opening day of his first shop). Among these pillars: Believe in Your People; Never Run Out of Money; Keep the Faith; and Profit or Perish. DeLuca uses his own business experience as well as that of other successful entrepreneursAe.g., the founders of Kinko's and Little Caesar'sAin addition to those of less well-known business people. Written in a conversational style, the advice isn't especially original or creative. However, would-be millionaires who are sitting at their kitchen table wondering if they should take that big step and start a business will find the book both instructive and inspirational. Agent, Bob Diforio. Library Journal DeLuca, co-founder in 1965 of SUBWAY Restaurants and founder in 1996 of the Micro Investment Lending Enterprise (MILE), a nonprofit organization making microloans to entrepreneurs/microentrepreneurs, has written this humorous, down-to-earth guide to success as a small business owner. Coauthor Hayes is a writer (Computer Architecture and Organization, 1998), public speaker, and business trainer. Each chapter describes one of DeLuca's 15 key lessons and is illustrated with a real-life case study. None of the people in these cases is a household name, but businesses such as Kinkos, Little Caesars, and SUBWAY are. DeLuca doesn't claim that his guides form a master plan for success, but he optimistically believes that anyone can become Bill Gates, Lillian Vernon, or Henry Lay and that his lessons will increase the chances. His book also promotes and supports MILE, and the last chapter and appendix are devoted to information about it and its programs. Recommended for most small business collections. Susan C. Awe, Univ. of New Mexico Lib., Albuquerque

One of Goodreads Top 25 Feel-Good and Escapist Books to Read in Quarantine as seen in USA Today “[A] funny, winning debut.”—People “Delightfully quirky and endearing…an absolute pleasure to read!”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Giffin Meet Duffy, an old curmudgeon who lives in an assisted living home. Meet Josie, a desperate young woman who climbs through his window. Together, they’re going to learn it’s never too late—or too early—to change your ways. For Duffy Sinclair, life boils down to one simple thing: maintaining his residence at the idyllic Centennial Assisted Living. Without it, he’s destined for the roach-infested nursing home down the road—and after wasting the first eighty-eight years of his life, he refuses to waste away for the rest. So, he keeps his shenanigans to the bare minimum with the help of his straight-laced best friend and roommate, Carl Upton. But when Carl’s granddaughter Josie climbs through their bedroom window with booze on her breath and a black eye, Duffy’s faced with trouble that’s sticking around and hard to hide—from Centennial’s management and Josie’s toxic boyfriend. Before he knows it, he’s running a covert operation that includes hitchhiking and barhopping. He might as well write himself a one-way ticket to the nursing home…or the morgue. Yet Duffy’s all in. Because thanks to an unlikely friendship that becomes fast family—his life doesn’t boil down the same anymore. Not when he finally has a chance to leave a legacy. In a funny, insightful, and life-affirming debut, Brooke Fossey delivers an unflinching look at growing old, living large, and loving big, as told by a wise-cracking man who didn’t see any of it coming.

“No two exit experiences are exactly alike. Some people wind up happy with the process and satisfied with the way it turned out while others look back on it as a nightmare. The question I hope to answer in this book is why. What did the people with ‘good’ exits do differently from those who’d had ‘bad’ exits?” When pioneering business journalist and Inc. magazine editor at large Bo Burlingham wrote Small Giants, it became an instant classic for its original take on a common business problem—how to handle the pressure to grow. Now Burlingham is back to tackle an even more common problem—how to exit your company well. Sooner or later, all entrepreneurs leave their businesses and all businesses get sold, given away, or liquidated. Whatever your preferred outcome, you need to start planning for it while you still have time and options. The beautiful part is that if you start early enough, the process will lead you to build a better, stronger, more resilient company, as well as one with a higher market value. Unfortunately, most owners don’t start early enough—and pay a steep price for their procrastination. Burlingham interviewed dozens of entrepreneurs across a range of industries and identified eight key factors that determine whether owners are happy after leaving their businesses. His book showcases the insights, exit plans, and cautionary tales of entrepreneurs such as Ray Pagano: founder of a leading manufacturer of housings for security cameras. He turned down a bid for his company and instead changed his management style, resulting in a subsequent sale for four times the original offer. Bill Niman: founder of the iconic Niman Ranch, which revolutionized the meat industry. He learned about unhappy exits when he was forced to sell to private equity investors, leaving him with nothing to show for his thirty-five years in business. Gary Hirshberg: founder of organic yogurt pioneer Stonyfield Farm. He pulled off the nearly impossible task of finding a large company that would buy out his 275 small investors at a premium price while letting him retain complete control of the business. Through such stories, Burlingham offers an illuminating and inspirational guide to one of the most stressful, and yet potentially rewarding, processes business owners must go through. And he explores the emotional challenges they face at every step of the way. At the end of the day, owning a business is about more than selling goods and services. It’s about making choices that shape your entire life, both professional and personal. Finish Big helps you figure out how to face your future with confidence and be able to someday look back on your journey with pride.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview: #1 Ray Pagano, the founder of Videolarm, had a life after business when he decided to think about leaving in 2004. He had other interests and passions that he wanted to pursue, and he had a limited number of years to pursue them. #2 Pagano knew he had to extract himself from the company in order to get a good deal. He knew that as long as he was essential to the company’s operation, he would not be able to acquire other companies. He had to remake the company so that it could function without him if he wanted to get a good deal. #3 Pagano began giving everyone in the company a tangible reason to take on more responsibility by giving them phantom stock, which would allow them to benefit from any increase in Videolarm’s equity value without having to acquire real stock. #4 After the sale, Pagano was able to look back and see how much he had changed the company. He had set up an incentive program for the entire workforce, based on achieving certain profit targets for the company and specific goals for each department. The targets were ambitious, but Pagano kept raising the bar.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Ray Pagano, the founder of Videolarm, had a life after business when he decided to think about leaving in 2004. He had other interests and passions that he wanted to pursue, and he had a limited number of years to pursue them. #2 Pagano knew he had to extract himself from the company in order to get a good deal. He knew that as long as he was essential to the company’s operation, he would not be able to acquire other companies. He had to remake the company so that it could function without him if he wanted to get a good deal. #3 Pagano began giving everyone in the company a tangible reason to take on more responsibility by giving them phantom stock, which would allow them to benefit from any increase in Videolarm’s equity value without having to acquire real stock. #4 After the sale, Pagano was able to look back and see how much he had changed the company. He had set up an incentive program for the entire workforce, based on achieving certain profit targets for the company and specific goals for each department. The targets were ambitious, but Pagano kept raising the bar.

Short on time but keen on style? Looking for a quick, fun-to-sew project to perk up your decor? Or perhaps you want to stitch a quilt to celebrate a special occasion, but you're short on time. Quilters always need patterns that are both pleasing to look at and quick to make. If you can relate, you've got 54 reasons to love this collection of (54!) fast-to-finish patterns. Projects range from pretty and petite pieces to large, snuggly lap quilts and everything in between. Dive into your fabric stash or swing by your local quilt shop, and you'll be on your way to a fantastic finish in no time.

What do you do when The One turns out not to be The One after all? When your dream home is snatched away from you, unfinished Schreiber kitchen units and all, and your dog is sent to live with your parents? When you suddenly have to find a flatmate, a way to pay the rent, a reason to keep going and maybe, ultimately... a new boyfriend? Sharp, funny and hugely entertaining, Carrie Sutton charts her life in the year following the Big Break-Up. The bad dates... the good friends... the times when you think you can't go on... and the moment you realise you are finally OK on your own. If you've experienced a Big Break-Up and need some cheering up, a bit of friendly advice and a few practical tips - then this is the book for you! Reading this book is like talking to your best friend over a large glass of wine. Uplifting, truthful and wise; as a feel-good remedy, it does everything except order you a cab home at the end of the evening! This title is published by Big Finish Productions, Ltd. and is distributed worldwide by Untreed Reads.