Small Business Big Success

This important book considers the ways in which small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can thrive in the age of big data. To address this central issue from multiple viewpoints, the editors introduce a collection of experiences, insights, and guidelines from a variety of expert researchers, each of whom provides a piece to solve this puzzle.

If you want your startup to succeed, you need to understand why startups fail. “Whether you’re a first-time founder or looking to bring innovation into a corporate environment, Why Startups Fail is essential reading.”—Eric Ries, founder and CEO, LTSE, and New York Times bestselling author of The Lean Startup and The Startup Way Why do startups fail? That question caught Harvard Business School professor Tom Eisenmann by surprise when he realized he couldn’t answer it. So he launched a multiyear research project to find out. In Why Startups Fail, Eisenmann reveals his findings: six distinct patterns that account for the vast majority of startup failures. • Bad Bedfellows. Startup success is thought to rest largely on the founder’s talents and instincts. But the wrong team, investors, or partners can sink a venture just as quickly. • False Starts. In following the oft-cited advice to “fail fast” and to “launch before you’re ready,” founders risk wasting time and capital on the wrong solutions. • False Promises. Success with early adopters can be misleading and give founders unwarranted confidence to expand. • Speed Traps. Despite the pressure to “get big fast,” hypergrowth can spell disaster for even the most promising ventures. • Help Wanted. Rapidly scaling startups need lots of capital and talent, but they can make mistakes that leave them suddenly in short supply of both. • Cascading Miracles. Silicon Valley exhorts entrepreneurs to dream big. But the bigger the vision, the more things that can go wrong. Drawing on fascinating stories of ventures that failed to fulfill their early promise—from a home-furnishings retailer to a concierge dog-walking service, from a dating app to the inventor of a sophisticated social robot, from a fashion brand to a startup deploying a vast network of charging stations for electric vehicles—Eisenmann offers frameworks for detecting when a venture is vulnerable to these patterns, along with a wealth of strategies and tactics for avoiding them. A must-read for founders at any stage of their entrepreneurial journey, Why Startups Fail is not merely a guide to preventing failure but also a roadmap charting the path to startup success.

An invaluable resource—for those starting a new business to veterans looking for a better way. Small Business, Big Success offers unconventional but proven strategies to run a better small business. It also provides a roadmap for owners looking to expand their small businesses by doing more business with Big Business. Cynthia's down-in-the-trenches stories, along with those from other small-business CEOs and Big Business experts, show you how to connect with highly sought-after customers and win them over! You'll learn how to: Create an organization that is operationally efficient, creative, and entrepreneurial Raise capital and find partnerships Find your company's voice Attract and win contracts from much larger companies Serve complex, global companies by forging strong relationships And most importantly how to find and nurture your customers. Critical decisions and points in the life cycle of a business are discussed: from start-up issues to growing the business, human resource concerns to strategic planning—not to mention how to attract business from larger companies. The use of real stories, along with stories of other small businesses, are included to illustrate the strategies and make them come alive.

While most of the business world worships size and constant growth, Big Vision, Small Business celebrates the art—and power—of small. Based on interviews with more than seventy small-business owners and on her own experiences as a successful small-business entrepreneur, Jamie Walters shows how a business can stay small and remain vital, healthy, and rewarding. If you long to run a successful, socially conscious enterprise as one element of a fulfilling personal life, Big Vision, Small Business shows you how. Covering growth options and small-enterprise advantages, inspired visioning, communication, and right-relationship, mindset issues and expectation management, and wisdom and mastery practices, Big Vision, Small Business is a must-read for every entrepreneur and futurist.

Think big, buy small. Are you looking for an alternative to a career path at a big firm? Does founding your own start-up seem too risky? There is a radical third path open to you: You can buy a small business and run it as CEO. Purchasing a small company offers significant financial rewards—as well as personal and professional fulfillment. Leading a firm means you can be your own boss, put your executive skills to work, fashion a company environment that meets your own needs, and profit directly from your success. But finding the right business to buy and closing the deal isn't always easy. In the HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business, Harvard Business School professors Richard Ruback and Royce Yudkoff help you: Determine if this path is right for you Raise capital for your acquisition Find and evaluate the right prospects Avoid the pitfalls that could derail your search Understand why a "dull" business might be the best investment Negotiate a potential deal with the seller Avoid deals that fall through at the last minute

Millions of people worldwide are either thinking about going into business for themselves or they are already in business for themselves. For many different reasons people choose a goal of independence, freedom and possibly the financial rewards of success without first thinking through the many what-if's that can lead to business failure. If we start thinking about the business of the business we have the power to create the business we want. Most entrepreneurs, and small business owners start thinking and working in the business before they ever figured out the business of the business. Most small businesses struggle to survive every day and they don't have to. This book is going to help us create an unforgettable roadmap to success.

Running a small business is hard and confusing. Most entrepreneurs start a company to solve a problem and just want to focus on doing only that. Unfortunately, starting a business gets in the way and everything that comes along with it. Like: �Marketing �Sales �Customer Service �Employees, Freelancers and Vendors �Money and Finance This book solves that problem. It is a simple guide for anyone in a small business to be able to accomplish one of these tasks in five steps or less. No more angst over the issue or searching for the solution on the web. These 100 small business hacks are your shortcut to success. We assemble these after our combine 50 years in business both as small business owners ourselves and as journalists interviewing thought leaders about their path to prosperity. It has never been easier to start a business, but with so much competition moving at the speed of the internet, it has also never been so easy to fail. This does not have to be you. This book is not meant to be read from beginning to end. Jump to the problem that you need to solve and get started. Keep this guide nearby on your desk, your tablet, smart phone or under your pillow. It will allow you to quickly bust through most problems you will encounter and leave more time to do what you love at your company.