Small business in Business & Economics Books

Proven tools for solving today's most persistent entrepreneurial headaches--and keeping the focus on business growth

Operating a small business presents entrepreneurs with a continuing series of problems that need to be solved--and, usually, the smaller the business, the bigger the problems. Small Business Solutions focuses on 13 crises that crop up again and again in most small businesses, and details how entrepreneurs have identified and successfully solved them. As a longtime consultant to start-up businesses, Robert Hisrich has seen these solutions work in scores of small businesses, both in the United States and abroad. He divides Small Business Solutions into three categories--marketing, finance, and overall management--and provides market-proven solutions to problem areas in each:

• Sales & Marketing--Turning sales into profits, focusing a business
• Finance--Raising capital, monitoring and managing cash flow, valuing a business
• Management--Choosing the right partner, changing style as a business grows, and more

If you've got a great idea for your own business, you need the kind of straightforward advice you'll find here - the kind of advice you'd normally only get from business schools and MBA courses. Small Business Kit For Dummies, Second Edition covers all the basics on:

• Recent tax law changes
• Balancing your finances
• Hiring and keeping employees
• Effective management strategies
• Accounting fundamentals

In addition to the basics of business, you'll also find top-class advice on more advanced business basics, like business plans, the ins and outs of contracts, and using the Internet to expand your business. For entrepreneurs large and small, this comprehensive resource offers authoritative guidance on all your biggest business concerns, and offers unbeatable advice on such topics as:

• Choosing your business structure - from LLCs to S corps
• How to develop and write a standard business proposal
• Going public, issuing stock, and keeping a stock ledger
• Raising capital and understanding securities laws
• Bookkeeping standard practices
• Tax basics for small businesses
• Handling the paperwork for new hires
• Designing employee compensation plans
• Working with independent contractors and consultants
• Patent and copyright protections
• Dealing with the Press

In addition, the book includes a CD-ROM full of helpful resources - forms, contracts, and even sample versions of the most popular software for small businesses. With Small Business Kit For Dummies you'll find all the tools you need to get your small business up and running - and keep it running for years and years to come.

If you need help managing the people side of your small business, you're in luck! This comprehensive, practical guide supplies everything you need to know to manage human resources effectively and avoid legal hassles:

• Easy-to-follow guidelines for job advertising, interviewing, hiring, setting wages and benefits, and conducting performance reviews.
• Important information on civil rights, affirmative action, and the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).
• Guidance on developing workplace policies, dealing with layoffs, managing employees with disabilities, and other sensitive issues.
• Sample documents, including performance review forms, job descriptions, and applications.
• Sample letters and memos for key types of formal communication with employees.

Also available from the Entrepreneur Magazine library:

• The Entrepreneur Magazine Small Business Advisor
• The Entrepreneur Magazine Small Business Answer Book
• Guide to Integrated Marketing
• Making Money with Your Personal Computer
• Small Business Legal Guide
• Starting an Import/Export Business
• Starting a Home-Based Business
• Successful Advertising for Small Businesses

SPECIAL OFFERS!

• Free issue of Entrepreneur Magazine.
• 50 0iscount on Entrepreneur Magazine subscription.
• 1/2 price admission to any Entrepreneur Magazine Small Business Expo.
• Discount on American Entrepreneurs Association membership.

See details and coupons in back of book.

Examining small businesses in manufacturing, sales, services, and farming, Mansel Blackford argues that while small firms have always been important to the nation's development, their significance has varied considerably in different time periods and in different segments of our economy. Throughout, he relates small business development to changes in America's overall business and economic systems and offers comparisons between the growth of small business in the United States to its development in other countries. He places special emphasis on the importance of small business development for women and minorities. Unique in its breadth, this book provides the only comprehensive overview of these significant topics.

If you are new to the world of Microsoft Small Business Server 2003, Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 Unleashed can provide you with real-world support experience as you get started or explore your upgraded server. Written and reviewed by Small Business Server MVPs, this book provides valuable coverage of Mac platform integration, as well as the integration of ISA 2004, SharePoint, FrontPage, Exchange, and SQL Server. You will develop a number of new skills, including:

• Planning SBS installations.
• Troubleshooting SBS installation problems.
• Adding additional servers to the SBS network.
• Troubleshooting common Exchange problems.
• Working with ISA 2004 in the SBS environment.
• Troubleshooting common IIS problems in SBS.
• Working with SharePoint Team Services and the Companyweb interface.
• Configuring SBS and Macintosh clients for integrating the two platforms.

The Handbook of Health Social Work provides a comprehensive and evidence-based overview of contemporary social work practice in health care. Written from a wellness perspective, the chapters cover the spectrum of health social work settings with contributions from a wide range of experts. The resulting resource offers both a foundation for social work practice in health care and a guide for strategy, policy, and program development in proactive and actionable terms.

Three sections present the material:

The Foundations of Social Work in Health Care provides information that is basic and central to the operations of social workers in health care, including conceptual underpinnings; the development of the profession; the wide array of roles performed by social workers in health care settings; ethical issues and decision-making in a variety of arenas; public health and social work; health policy and social work; and the understanding of community factors in health social work.

Health Social Work Practice: A Spectrum of Critical Considerations delves into critical practice issues such as theories of health behavior; assessment; effective communication with both clients and other members of health care teams; intersections between health and mental health; the effects of religion and spirituality on health care; family and health; sexuality in health care; and substance abuse.

Health Social Work: Selected Areas of Practice presents a range of examples of social work practice, including settings that involve older adults; nephrology; oncology; chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and HIV/AIDS; genetics; end of life care; pain management and palliative care; and alternative treatments and traditional healers.

The first book of its kind to unite the entire body of health social work knowledge, the Handbook of Health Social Work is a must-read for social work educators, administrators, students, and practitioners.

For twenty-five years, entrepreneurs have relied on this friendly, comprehensive guide to the basics of successfully operating a small business. Now, this new Fourth Edition of How to Start, Run & Stay in Business completely updates the bestselling classic for today's entrepreneur. It features all the reliable, straightforward advice readers expect and also includes entirely new information on online business and marketing as well as new Internet resources.

Material on legal and financial issues, international business, customer service, and state and federal tax regulations has been fully revised. Plus, new charts, illustrations, questionnaires, and checklists make the book more practical and useful than ever. Inside, you'll find world-class guidance on every vital aspect of small business success, including:

• Preparing a business plan
• Finding the right location
• Deciding on an ownership structure
• Record keeping and taxes
• Financing and capital
• Inventory and distribution
• Hiring and staffing
• Managing and motivating people
• Marketing and promotions
• Risk management
• And much more

In addition, a wealth of helpful resources covers all your outside needs, from attorneys and accountants to trade associations and Web site designers. Whether your business is brick-and-mortar, mom-and-pop, home-based, or online, How to Start, Run & Stay in Business, Fourth Edition provides all the information you need to make your entrepreneurial dream a reality.

Today's top experts in entrepreneurship deliver a streamlined, step-by-step guide for crafting effective business plans

"Timmons is one of the two most powerful minds in entrepreneurship in the nation." --Success Business

Plans That Work arms entrepreneurs and small business owners with an easy-to-follow template for writing persuasive business plans, along with proven models that can be used to analyze potential business opportunities from initial idea to viable venture. This value-packed book will show both entrepreneurs and current business owners how to:

• Determine what to include in each plan, why, and for whom
• Recognize and avoid common pitfalls in the process
• Use the renowned "Timmons Model" to analyze potential business opportunities

Topics include: organizing your message * finding terrific research * using storytelling techniques * preparing the room * handling technical glitches * working with other speakers * measuring your effectiveness * making the most of your voice * mastering humor * using body language * conquering nervousness * building audience rapport * tapping the power of persuasion.

Filled with checklists, tip sheets, self-evaluations, and practical advice on every page, this thorough and invaluable guide takes the mystery out of our most dreaded experience. This book will help you say it better-whether you're talking to one or one thousand.