9780446696180

Starting a small business and becoming your own boss is appealing to most people, but over 65% of small businesses fail within their first five years. Budding entrepreneurs simply do not have the information they need to be successful. Now, Randy Kirk offers advice on how anyone can surviveand thrivewhile starting their own small business. He discusses every aspect of starting a business, from planting the first seeds and getting off the ground to increasing revenue while decreasing costs. Kirk walks readers through each step: assessing whether or not they have what it takesfinancially and emotionallyto start a business; the issues of partnership and legally involving family members; selecting vendors; and how to hire, fire, train, and motivate employees. This will be the definitive go-to guide for the millions of people who ownor want to owna small business and live the American Dream.

Introduction

1

(8)

SECTION ONE Before You Begin

CHAPTER 1 Why Self-Employment?

9

(4)

CHAPTER 2 Do You Have the Right Stuff?

13

(7)

CHAPTER 3 What Will It Cost?

20

(7)

CHAPTER 4 Basic Budgeting

27

(5)

CHAPTER 5 What Kind of Business?

32

(4)

CHAPTER 6 Business Types

36

(9)

CHAPTER 7 Buying a Business

45

(3)

CHAPTER 8 The Partner Issue

48

(6)

Part 1 The Spouse as Partner

50

(2)

Part 2 Other Family Members in the Business

52

(2)

CHAPTER 9 Part-Time Possibilities

54

(3)

CHAPTER 10 Goal Setting and Success

57

(20)

Part 1 A Personal Evaluation Project

58

(9)

Part 2 Setting Goals

67

(1)

Part 3 Prioritize, Organize, and Internalize

68

(9)

SECTION TWO Opening the Doors

CHAPTER 1 Finalizing Goals

77

(6)

Part 1 Establishing the Basic Blueprint

78

(3)

Part 2 Three-Track Thinking

81

(2)

CHAPTER 2 Preparing the Business Plan

83

(46)

Part 1 The Business Purpose

84

(7)

Part 2 Finding a Location

91

(8)

Part 3 Selecting Suppliers

99

(6)

Part 4 The Physical Plant

105

(2)

Part 5 The Advertising Plan

107

(9)

Part 6 Projecting Your Income

116

(11)

Part 7 The Break-Even Analysis

127

(2)

CHAPTER 3 Legal Requirements

129

(13)

Part 1 Enterprise Type

129

(10)

Part 2 Business Licenses and Regulations

139

(3)

CHAPTER 4 The Grand Opening

142

(27)

Part 1 Last-Minute Checklist

143

(1)

Part 2 Operating Procedures

144

(14)

Part 3 Last-Minute Attitude Check

158

(2)

Part 4 The Dress Rehearsal

160

(1)

Part 5 The First Day

161

(5)

Part 6 Surviving the First Week

166

(3)

CHAPTER 5 The First Month

169

(7)

Part 1 Training Training and Retraining

169

(1)

Part 2 Decision Making

170

(6)

CHAPTER 6 Months Two Through Six

176

(23)

Part 1 The Daily Numbers

176

(7)

Part 2 The Monthly Statements

183

(5)

Part 3 Dealing with Crisis

188

(11)

SECTION THREE The First Three Years

CHAPTER 1 Why Businesses Succeed

199

(5)

CHAPTER 2 Why Businesses Fail

204

(9)

CHAPTER 3 Almighty Cash

213

(29)

Part 1 Bookkeeping Concepts

213

(14)

Part 2 Collection Procedures

227

(11)

Part 3 Payables Approaches

238

(4)

CHAPTER 4 The Personnel Process

242

(13)

Part 1 Bloated Payrolls, the Business Killer

252

(1)

Part 2 Final Thoughts on Personnel

253

(2)

CHAPTER 5 Building Sales

255

(66)

Part 1 Personal Salesmanship

256

(19)

Part 2 Sales Management of Others

275

(7)

Part 3 Advertising

282

(9)

Part 4 Promotion

291

(2)

Part 5 Trade Shows

293

(9)

Part 6 Using E-Mail and the Web

302

(9)

Part 7 Pursuing New Territories

311

(10)

SECTION FOUR Managing Yourself and Others

CHAPTER 1 The Managed Business

321

(4)

CHAPTER 2 Managing Managers

325

(10)

Part 1 Communicating the Vision

326

(3)

Part 2 Leadership

329

(3)

Part 3 Compensation Concepts

332

(3)

CHAPTER 3 Personal Motivation Techniques

335

(5)

CHAPTER 4 If You Discover "It's Just Not for Me"

340

(3)

CHAPTER 5 Setting New Goals

343

(6)

SECTION FIVE Managing Your Assets

CHAPTER 1 To Grow or Not to Grow

349

(5)

CHAPTER 2 Buying Growth

354

(5)

CHAPTER 3 Selling Your Business

359

(15)

CHAPTER 4 Selling Part of Your Business

374

(3)

Conclusion

377

(2)

Appendix: Additional Reading

379

(6)

Index

385

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Running a 21st-Century Small Business : The Owner's Guide to Starting and Growing Your Company

0446696188

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