Excerpt

INTRODUCTION

Why am I writing this book? Because you need it. That may

sound arrogant, but it’s true. I’ve spent decades learning—some-

times the hard way—what really makes small businesses work. I

started my first business when I was 15 years old, and I have always

been intrigued by the myriad opportunities there are to use your

own resources to make money.

I’ve been a serial entrepreneur. Not that everything I’ve done has

been a success, but fortunately I’ve had more successes than fail-

ures. And while it is always nice to bask in the glow of my successes,

I’ve definitely learned more from my missteps.

I’ve also spoken with countless entrepreneurs around the world,

hearing about and learning from their problems and stories. I’ve

delivered keynote speeches and seminars to hundreds of thousands

of people with small businesses, and I have listened to their feedback.

I’ve taught college-level entrepreneurship courses, and many

of my students have gone on to build successful companies. And as

a journalist, I’ve covered countless business conferences and have

reported on a plethora of topics related to operating a small business

in this country. As a media expert on small-business operations,

I’ve taken on hundreds of topics and answered hundreds of viewer

questions. Suffice it to say, I’ve seen, heard, and experienced a lot,

whether directly or through others. My goal in this book is to leverage

that experience to save you time, effort, resources, and aggravation

as you start up your own business.

* * *

In the pages that follow, I give you the realities of what it takes to

start and grow a successful small business—especially in today’s eco-

nomic environment. There are millions of people starting businesses

all the time, and millions more who are dreaming about

becoming their own boss. All of them have talents, skills, and ideas;

but without understanding certain fundamental business principles,

their chances of being among the failed-business-venture statistics

are high.

Yes, there are exceptions to every rule, and I acknowledge that

sometimes someone simply gets lucky in business; but most entre-

preneurs have to work extremely hard. And part of that hard work

is seeing past the romantic vision of launching your small business

and focusing on the cold, hard reality of what it takes to build a

business. The bottom line is: What you don’t know will hurt you.

The recent recession has transformed the long-established business

paradigm more dramatically than at any other time since perhaps

the Industrial Revolution, which turned traditional employment

on its ear. I submit that we are entering a new era in which the

majority of Americans will either own a small business or work for

one. Large companies will always exist, but not on the grand pre-

recession scale. Having learned to do more with less, many big

firms will outsource work when it is needed. And who will do that

work? It could be you, as an independent worker or operating your

own small business.