The 7 Irrefutable Rules of Small Business Growth

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 256 pages
• Published by: Wiley
• Edition: 1st Edition February 22, 2005
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0471707600
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0471707608
• Book Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 10.6 ounces

Product Description
Starting a small business and making it a success isn’t easy. In fact, most small business owners don’t get rich and many fail. This book presents the straight truth on small business success. It doesn’t offer cure-alls for every small business. Instead, it outlines real, effective principles for continued small business growth and success. Written by business growth expert Steven Little, The 7 Irrefutable Rules of Small Business Growth skips empty small business positivism in exchange for real-world, practical solutions. If you’re a small business owner or an entrepreneur just starting out, you’ll find answers to all your most important questions on topics such as technology, business plans, hiring, and much more.

Back Cover Copy
MASTER THE SECRETS OF SUSTAINED GROWTH

"Steve is a true storyteller, and it's his real-world stories that bring these rules to life. This book is both a great read and a practical guide to reaching the next level. Here's something else that is irrefutableSteven Little is the business growth expert!"
—Lee Jones Publisher, Inc. magazine

"Steve goes straight to the heart of what makes business work and packs practical how-to's from start to finish. More than just an engaging read, this book delivers the goods on how to create and sustain a winning small business."
— Joe Calloway Bestselling author of Becoming a Category of One and Indispensable

"This is a readable, sometimes funny, and always wise book. It's valuable both to small business owners and to the chambers and other organizations that serve small businesses."
—Mick Fleming President and CEO, American Chamber of Commerce Executives

"'How to' does not do this book justice. It's the how to, where to, when to, who to, and why to take the strategic steps that will cultivate growth and harvest profits. Steven Little shows you AND HOW! Buy it now."
— Jeffrey Gitomer Bestselling author of The Sales Bible and The Little Red Book of Selling

"Steven Little provides valuable insights that will help you lead your company on a course of sustainable growth and success. Ignore Little's rules at your own peril!"
—Andrew Field President of PrintingForLess.com Member of the Inc. 500–2002, 2003, 2004

Reader Reviews
Perhaps Covey is to be blamed for the fact that so many authors of business books treat the number seven as sacrosanct. The "rules" which Little offers in this volume could well have been 11 or 21...if not more. All are essential to business success. For example, "Establish and maintain a strong sense of purpose" (#1) and "Attract and keep the best and brightest" (#6). No news there. The great value of this book is derived from what Little has to say about each rule and, more importantly, HOW and WHY all seven are interdependent. At this point, it may be of interest to share information cited by Michael Gerber in his recently published E-Myth Mastery: "Of the 1 million U.S. small businesses started this year [2005], more than 80% of them will be out of business within 5 years and 96% will have closed their doors before their 10th birthday." Opinions vary as to the percentages as well as to the reasons for such extensive failure. However, the fact remains that a substantial majority of small businesses will fail eventually. Now consider the following remarks with which Jack Welch explains why he admires entrepreneurial companies: "For one, they communicate better. Without the din and prattle of bureaucracy, people listen as well as talk; and since there are fewer of them they generally know and understand each other. Second, small companies move faster. They know the penalties for hesitation in the marketplace. Third, in small companies, with fewer layers and less camouflage, the leaders show up very clearly on the screen. Their performance and its impact are clear to everyone. And, finally, smaller companies waste less. They spend less time in endless reviews and approvals and politics and paper drills. They have fewer people; therefore they can only do the important things. Their people are free to direct their energy and attention toward the marketplace rather than fighting bureaucracy." In this volume, Little suggests strategies and tactics to achieve and sustain many of the competitive advantages to which Welch refers. His tone is personal, indeed conversational, and he thereby establishes a direct rapport with his reader; moreover, he anchors his observations and recommendations within a real-world context, mercifully free of theories and hypotheses; also, he addresses how and why as well as what to do; and finally, following his rigorous analysis of each of the seven rules (to each of which he devotes a separate chapter), Little then provides a suggested Next Steps section which reiterates key points concerning implementation. I also appreciate Little's inclusion of hundreds of personal anecdotes which add some seasoning to an already lively narrative. This book offers a practical, cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective program by which all organizations (regardless of size or nature) can achieve and then sustain profitable growth. It will be of greatest interest to decision-makers in smaller organizations...and perhaps to decision-makers in larger organizations which have lost their entrepreneurial spirit.