Small Business Leadership

In an age of Twitter, smartphones, and self-service kiosks, high-tech but still high-touch customer service is the answer. Today’s customers are a hard bunch to crack. Time-strapped, screen-addicted, value-savvy, and socially engaged, their expectations are tougher than ever for a business to keep up with. They are empowered like never before and expect businesses to respect that sense of empowerment - lashing out at those that don’t. Take heart: Old-fashioned customer service, fully retooled for today’s blistering pace and digitally connected reality, is what you need to build the kind of loyal customer base that allows you to survive - and thrive.

What really sets the best managers above the rest? It's their power to build a cadre of employees who have great inner work lives—consistently positive emotions; strong motivation; and favorable perceptions of the organization, their work, and their colleagues. The worst managers undermine inner work life, often unwittingly.

Exploring and explaining more than 80 of the world's most important theories and big ideas about trade, commerce, and management, this audiobook offers a fascinating look at the world of business past and present. A perfect primer on the fundamental tenets of the subject, The Business Book sheds light on some of history's most important milestone developments and the key business strategies used by leading thinkers and gurus from Henry Ford to Steve Jobs.

UTV founder and pioneer of the media industry Ronnie Screwvala is one of India’s most successful first-generation entrepreneurs. An avid philanthropist, he has penned Dream with Your Eyes Open: An Entrepreneurial Journey as one of the most inspiring entrepreneurial self-help books.

Rand Fishkin, the founder and former CEO of Moz, reveals how traditional Silicon Valley "wisdom" leads far too many startups astray, with the transparency and humor that his hundreds of thousands of blog readers have come to love. Everyone knows how a startup story is supposed to go: A young, brilliant entrepreneur has a cool idea, drops out of college, defies the doubters, overcomes all odds, makes billions, and becomes the envy of the technology world. This is not that story. It's not that things went badly for Rand Fishkin; they just weren't quite so Zuckerberg-esque.

In 1986, fresh out of college, Paul Downs opened his first and last business: a small company that built custom furniture. With no idea how to run a business or how to build custom furniture, Downs spent a year teaching himself the business, and in 1987 he hired his first employee. That was when things got complicated.

The bar business continues to grow; however, securing running capital and having knowledge about the business are cited as the two biggest reasons new bars fail. Running a Bar for Dummies, 2nd Edition shines a light on these issues to help bar owners prepare properly. The book helps you find your way through the maze of licensing and permits, developing a business plan, and preparing for your grand opening, plus offers clear, no-nonsense guidance on dealing with tough customers. Every step of the way, Running a Bar for Dummies, 2nd Edition is a reference you can count on.

In Silicon Valley slang, a "bozo explosion" is what causes a lean, mean, fighting machine of a company to slide into mediocrity. As Guy Kawasaki puts it, "If the two most popular words in your company are partner and strategic, and partner has become a verb, and strategic is used to describe decisions and activities that don't make sense"...then it's time for a reality check.

With over $500 million a year in sales, the Bassett Furniture Company was once the world's biggest wood furniture manufacturer. But beginning in the 1980s, the Bassett company suffered from an influx of cheap Chinese furniture as the first waves of Asian competition hit, and ultimately was forced to send its production offshore to Asia. Only one man fought back. That man is John Bassett III, a descendant of the Bassetts who is now chairman of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Co, which employs more than 700 Virginians and has sales of over $90 million.

Are you a small or medium-sized business owner, executive, or entrepreneur ready to take your company to the next level? Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) might seem like a strategy reserved for large corporations, but in reality, they offer transformative growth opportunities for businesses of all sizes. In M&A for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Michael Hofer, Ph.D., an expert with years of M&A experience, unveils the secrets of harnessing M&A to accelerate growth, expand into new markets, gain valuable expertise, and secure a stronger competitive position—all tailored to the unique ...

Small businesses that are built to win with M.O.D.E.L.S. follow a powerful guide for small business owners who are ready to rise above average and lead with purpose. At the heart of the book is a proven framework called M.O.D.E.L.S., representing Motivation, Organization, Discipline, Ethics, Lifelong learning, and the Strength to never give up. Each chapter explores one element of the model, offering real-world insights, tactical strategies, and inspiring success stories. Readers will learn how motivation can ignite even the most stagnant dream. They’ll discover how organization turns ...

This audiobook will provide you with hands-on practical ways to make the most of your human capital - either as a business owner or as a human resource manager. With accurate and up-to-date research in HR development, you will find this book helpful now and in the future of your business. This ultimate guide is a must-have for all HR managers and small business owners.

Would you like to be able to draw people towards you like a magnet? This book is NOT just another communication book and is NOT just a book of tips. This is the ultimate communication system for talking to anybody, anywhere, and in any situation. Using the scientific principles of communication and ©POWER2MIND technology, it will have you talking and communicating to anyone with confidence, charm, and conviction, rapidly and naturally.

A lot of businesspeople talk about innovation, but few companies have achieved the level of truly transformative innovation as brilliantly - or as famously - as the legendary Mayo Clinic. Introducing Think Big, Start Small, Move Fast, the first innovation guide based on the proven, decade-long program that's made Mayo Clinic one of the most respected and successful organizations in the world.

A unique and significant guide to selling more books through personal appearances and online interviews, brimming with information and resources as well as tips and ideas from nearly two dozen author-speaker professionals.The most powerful tool in your book promotion toolkit is your personality. The fact is that personality sells books.

Are you ready to create, inspire, and lead your own amazing salon team? Salon owners, this book is for you. It equips you with the business smarts you need to build a team of people you love and trust, so you can reap the rewards you deserve: money, time, freedom, and choice.

Do you want to make a difference? There are many ways someone in a leadership role can have a positive impact on the lives of their employees. Perhaps there is no leadership responsibility more profound than creating a sustainable, injury-free workplace. This audiobook is a collection of leadership concepts, thoughts, words, and actions that (when strategically implemented) can move your organization toward a better safety future.

Every iconic tech company was once a startup. And while these companies like to paint an origin story full of surefooted confidence, the truth is usually something different: the early life of most startups is pure chaos. This chaos comes from the vastly different motivations and incentives between those with the vision and those with the money. From fundraising paranoia to boardroom coups, Zalman and Neumann train their inimitable voices on the gulf between what founders and investors promise to do and what they end up actually doing.

What if you created a business that provided amazing client experiences and set a new standard for what it’s like to work with a law firm? What if you slept great at night while traveling abroad for months at a time, knowing your team could run things without you with the help of thoughtful systems and optimized technology? Yes! It’s all possible. The Small Firm Roadmap Revisited will show you how to build something different—a law firm business that is people-centered, effectively managed, and ultimately more valuable.

Make It Happen explodes the myth that the restaurant business is harder than other industries. It challenges the belief that you must be in your restaurant all day every day just so things get done right.