INCREASE THE LIFE SPAN OF YOUR SMALL BUSINESS

The average small business has a life span of about five years, and inadequate internal controls are the main cause of failure. Cyber fraud, the leading culprit today in internal criminal activity, occurs when advanced technologies are used to steal money or property. The majority of such crimes occur in-house, and the lack of sufficient capital and technological resources committed to protecting company assets makes small businesses especially vulnerable. Awareness of the dangers of internal theft by computer, illegal access to information systems, credit card fraud, and Internet scams is integral–especially as auditors, business owners, and managers are increasingly held responsible for negligence.

Providing critical guidance on what auditors and businesses can do to better prevent and detect the growing number of occurrences of cyber fraud, the information in this one-of-a-kind manual:

• Protects outside auditors by supplying the knowledge to ensure they meet their responsibilities
• Protects small business owners by providing them with the necessary tools to meet due diligence requirements in cyber fraud prevention
• Focuses on the key areas of vulnerability

Take the first step in protecting your company–and your future–with Avoiding Cyber Fraud in Small Businesses, the only book committed to helping you keep your small business free of computer crime.

"There is no one more qualified to write a book on how to succeed in the special events business than Joe Goldblatt and Frank Supovitz. Joe Goldblatt, one of the industry’s pioneers and visionaries, has truly legitimized what has been a cottage industry—and today is a huge global business that produces results. This work will ‘shift the gear’ to greater awareness and professionalism for those in this business today and those who want to be a part of its future." —William Morton, Chairman and Chief Executive, The Jack Morton Company "Dr. Goldblatt has been instrumental in defining event management as an industry and a profession. This book takes the process another step further by providing a specific road map to becoming a financially successful event professional. A must read for anyone in and around the business of events." —John Baragona, Publisher, Event Solutions "A practical, thorough, and inspirational how-to guide for the industry." —Kate Fitzgerald, Editor, Advertising Age Start, grow, and manage your special events career! To succeed in the world of special events management, you need to develop a vast array of skills and acquire a broad knowledge base that covers everything from planning and management to consulting, production, lighting and sound, decor, catering, and more. You’ll also need the critical business know-how that will enable you to plot a course for success, measure your progress along that course, and adapt to changes in the business environment along the way. In short, you need Dollars and Events. The first and only book written specifically for aspiring and established special events professionals, Dollars and Events provides all the information you need to start, grow, and manage a special events-related business or career. You’ll learn how to develop a vision, a mission, and a strategy; manage your finances; find the capital you need; create a marketing plan; and hire and keep employees that will help your business thrive. You’ll also find:

• Advice and direction from outstanding special events entrepreneurs and intrepreneurs
• Help in adapting proven business concepts such as benchmarking, best practices, and quality teams to your business or career
• End-of-chapter activities to help you learn by doing

Whether you are starting your own special events business, running or working in an established firm, or involved in the special events department of a large corporation, this book gives you the tools you need to advance your business, enhance your career opportunities, and enrich yourself and your clients both now and in the future.

Unlike other economies, family businesses in China are greatly affected by the derived Confucian culture, excessive marketization, as well as the seemingly endless institutional supervision by a transitional Chinese government. China has a strong historical legacy, devoted to patriarchal values and strong family-centered traditions. This volume discusses the current status, upcoming challenges, and future prospects for family businesses in China. It explores unique organizational characteristics that are associated with Chinese family firms, such as being entrepreneurial, having concentrated power in the hands of the family business owners, and extensive family and semi-family involvement in the business. It also discusses shared features of strategic actions among Chinese family firms that include technology innovations, diversification, and internationalization, as well as the political connections that Chinese family firms often have. This book offers researchers a comprehensive overview of small family firms that are likely to be home-based microenterprises as well as large publicly traded business groups that are frequently owned by business families.

The age of the distributed team is upon us. Teams can now operate and collaborate from locations other than a central office, and events surrounding the 2020 COVID pandemic have thrown its practicality into sharp relief. Managing a team whose members are distributed across several locations requires a different mindset and will remain a must-have for all areas of business from this point forward. Building and Managing High-Performance Distributed Teams explains what the distributed teams concept means to the future of your company. Author Alberto S. Silveira Jr. leverages his industry knowledge to explore why the high-performance distributed team model is vital to the future of business, and explains how to build and maintain one through times of change. You will learn to differentiate between distributed teams, remote work, offshoring, and what each means in a modern context. Silveira also weaves in stories from his other life as a boater and sailor, using analogies and lessons gained from humankind's thousands of years of maritime adventure to illustrate the value of well-managed teams, and to also convey the importance of life-work balance in today's working world. The book analyzes team management strategies from some of the great successes and failures in recent years so that you can learn from the experiences of others. Building and Managing High-Performance Distributed Teams is your definitive guide for building a dynamic distributed team, using collaboration technology to attract and engage the most important element of any business-your people. Whether you are a department head, a business owner, or a team leader, this book presents the no-nonsense knowledge you need now to chart your course for success. What You Will Learn Understand what the new era of connected business means, and the role distributed teams will play. Differentiate between distributed teams, remote work, nearshore, and offshoring, and what each means to modern business. Discover the true heart of a high-performance distributed team (hint: it's not the technology). Find out what the era of distributed teams means to existing infrastructure. Uncover what we can learn about team management from some of the great successes and failures of recent years. Appreciate the techniques honed by seafarers, pilots, and software designers combined to create a successful project plan for team management and company navigation. Comprehend the effective simplicity of the "power of three" in building successful teams. Apply proven techniques of measurement and metrics without leaving the human factor behind to improve team morale and productivity. Who This Book Is For Team leaders or officers of small-ish companies, with populations in the tens through to the mid-hundreds. It's also for managers of somewhat autonomous departments within larger companies, and for everyone else in the boat because everyone in a company ultimately needs to know what being in a distributed team is all about.

The final volume of Catanzaro's benchmark series on building a veterinary practice, this is also the series' keystone, providing the ways and means to keep a veterinary business going and growing under all sorts of circumstances. Creativity is the key to healthy change, and it is also the key to Catanzaro's approach as he helps the vet and clinic staff to "colour outside the lines"--to think in new ways that will enhance procedures and employee morale in any practice.

A noted veterinary practice management consultant, Catanzaro draws on his own extensive experience and that of other consultants, writers, and speakers to bring together the essential tools for individual brainstorming and organisational restructuring. Liberally illustrated with examples, tables, chats, and forms, and full of exercises for stimulating creativity, this volume focuses on hiring strategies and job redesign, establishing leadership and building a client base, learning and teaching new techniques, and, last but not least, money matters. It offers advice and insights on a wide range of particulars, from marketing gimmicks to computerised medical records to fiscal shelters. Culminating and capping an indispensable series, it will be essential to the ongoing success of any veterinary practice.

David Stockman, Ronald Reagan's budget director, proclaimed the Small Business Administration a "billion-dollar waste -- a rathole", and set out to abolish the agency. His scathing critique was but the latest attack on an agency better known as the "Small Scandal Administration".

Loans to criminals, government contracts for minority "fronts", the classification of American Motors as a small business, Whitewater, and other scandals -- the Small Business Administration has lurched from one embarrassment to another. Despite the scandals and the policy failures, the SBA thrives and small business remains a sacred cow in American politics.

Part of this sacredness comes from the agency's longstanding record of pioneering affirmative action. Jonathan Bean reveals that even before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the SBA promoted African American businesses, encouraged the hiring of minorities, and monitored the employment practices of loan recipients. Under Nixon, the agency expanded racial preferences. During the Reagan administration, politicians wrapped themselves in the mantle of minority enterprise even as they denounced quotas elsewhere.

Created by Congress in 1953, the SBA does not conform to traditional interpretations of interest-group democracy. Even though the public -- and Congress -- favors small enterprise, there has never been a unified group of small business owners requesting the government's help. Indeed, the SBA often has failed to address the real problems of "Mom and Pop" shop owners, fueling the ongoing debate about the agency's viability.

With more than 60,000 copies sold, this amazing manual has become a classic in its field—and rightfully so. Nowhere else will you find—in one book—so much valuable information on achieving success in the mail order business. Dr. Bill Cohen has drawn on his decades of experience testing, researching, and constantly refining the mail order techniques described in this invaluable guide. Building a Mail Order Business offers a virtual treasury of techniques and methods guaranteed to work in the real world of selling through the mail. You'll get practical advice and learn tricks of the trade that will get you started quickly, with the fewest missteps and greatest chances for success.

Thorough and completely up-to-date, this authoritative guide covers every aspect of the mail order business, from the basics of getting started to the details of product selection, preparing a marketing plan, copywriting, designing graphics, printing, protecting yourself from competition, telemarketing, and advertising through magazines, radio, and television. In addition, a handy appendix lists hundreds of valuable contacts with complete addresses.

In this new Fourth Edition, you'll learn the latest trends in mail order—what works and what doesn't, the most effective look in ads and mailing pieces, how to put together the most attractive offers, and much more.

For entrepreneurs, direct marketers, business owners, and others eager to get into the mail order business,

Building a Mail Order Business has proven itself to be an indispensable resource for the ideas, techniques, and expert advice that will lead to success.

All the success secrets of one of America's best-known and most respected experts on mail order and direct marketing—Now in a new edition!

BUILDING A MAIL ORDER BUSINESS

Fourth Edition

Complete, authoritative, and now in a new edition, this best-selling guide to mail order success covers everything from getting your business started to handling legal issues, preparing copy and graphics, selecting mailing lists, telemarketing, and advertising in all types of media—an unbeatable source of direct marketing ideas that really work.

Here's what the pros have said about previous editions of Bill Cohen's Building a Mail Order Business:

"Dr. Bill Cohen's book thoroughly explores the many facets, and pitfalls, facing the budding mail order entrepreneur."— Henry R. "Pete" Hoke, Jr., Publisher, Direct Marketing

"It took a mail order businessman who is also an educator to put direct mail and mail order guidelines all in one place—and in language we can all understand."—Freeman F. Gosden, Jr., President, Smith-Hemmings-Gosden, one of the nation's largest direct marketing advertising agencies

"An outstanding primer for our industry. It gives you the nuts and bolts necessary to carry you through almost every aspect of mail order from the very rudimentary basics to the same techniques used by the pros."— Joe Sugarman, JS&A

"One of the best books I've ever read on the subject. I enthusiastically recommend Building a Mail Order Business to any man or woman who is serious about getting involved in this fascinating activity."— E. Joseph Cossman, President, Cossman International, Inc., author of How I Made a Million Dollars in Mail Order

"An excellent, informative, comprehensive, illustrative workbook that will help anyone get started making money in the fascinating field of mail order. I highly recommend this professional book."— Melvin Powers, mail order entrepreneur

"...must reading for the entrepreneur whose mind is on mail order."— Paul Muchnick, Chairman, National Mail Order Association

"Its good sense and nuts-and-bolts, bottom-line approach make it a delightful guide through the mail order world."— DM News

The Endurance of Family Businesses is a collection of essays offering an overview of the importance and resilience of family-controlled large businesses. Much of economic and business history research neglects family businesses, considering them an inefficient form of business organization. These essays discuss the strengths of family businesses: the ways family firms have managed, financed and governed their corporations, as well as the way in which they structure their relationship with the external environment, from the government to the company's stakeholders. Family businesses have learned new ways of organizing their resources and using their accumulated know-how for new markets and institutional environments. This volume combines the expertise of well-known scholars who specialize in business history, economic history, management and consulting, to provide an interdisciplinary perspective on family businesses. Contributors provide a global view by taking into account Asian, American and European experiences.

Ever wish your company could raise capital the Kickstarter(R) way? Equity crowdfunding is finally here, opening new funding avenues for small businesses and start-ups. In April 2012, President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups--or JOBS--Act into law. This groundbreaking legislation empowers privately-owned companies to raise capital from investors without going through the rigorous IPO and private placement processes. When the SEC hands down the last regulations, the floodgates will open and companies will be free to compete for funding. Small business and legal expert Cliff Ennico has followed the equity crowdfunding story since its inception. Now, in "The Crowdfunding Handbook," he explains the JOBS Act and translates the regulations into a clear set of do's and don'ts for entrepreneurs and small-business owners looking to get in early--and do things right. Need help pricing your securities? Pitching a project to the public? Choosing between funding platforms? Figuring out disclosure documents and reporting requirements? This book delivers targeted answers--whether crowdfunding is your best bet, picking the right legal entity, selecting types of securities to offer, reaching the most promising investors, keeping crowds under control, and more. IPOs are expensive, and venture capital nearly impossible to attract. Crowdfunding is changing the game for private companies . . . and this book will lead the way.

Very few enterprising families focus on building an owner's mindset in family members. They are busy working and growing their enterprises (rightly so), which prioritizes and values the management role over the ownership role. Many rising generation family members do not choose the path of ownership but are simply born into it. Given these typical patterns, it is not surprising that there is little focus on valuing and building an educated owner to steward the family's assets for future generations. This book serves as a resource and support tool to help enterprising families learn and develop thoughtful, capable ownership by investing in and nurturing an owner's mindset. This includes building "ownership literacy," along with a genuine sense of stewardship. It offers a learning structure and approach for each stage of an owner's development across the lifespan (from earliest years to retirement), taking into consideration the lifecycle stages of the family. The authors make clear that ownership development shouldn't be confined to earlier ages; any owner at any age can gain ownership-related perspective and skills that can contribute to greater family harmony and business success. The book provides enterprising families and their advisors with examples and practical advice for the promotion of knowledge, skills, and capabilities that incorporate a broad range of topics spanning from personal and interpersonal, to leadership and wealth, to business, ownership, and financial.

Creating a Freelance Career covers everything anyone needs to know about becoming a freelance writer, graphic designer, copy editor, artist, musician or any other creative occupation. It includes chapters on how to get started with your career and where to look for work, how to write pitch or query letters, how to work with contract employers, and how to build and sustain your business. Lingo necessary for successfully navigating the freelance world is defined throughout. Author Jill L. Ferguson, an experienced freelance professional and educator, guides you through finding success in the gig economy, discussing how to pursue freelancing with an entrepreneurial spirit. Creating a Freelance Career includes examples of what to do, and what not to do, when pursuing freelance projects, and includes perspectives from additional real-life professionals who have found success in their fields.

Introducing the innovative concept of Interactive Network Branding (INB), this book offers academics and professionals a theoretical framework, alongside practical examples, to develop INB in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Combining a business network approach with contemporary corporate branding research, a variety of topics are explored, including: strategizing in SME networks, market management, corporate identity, corporate reputation, human-to-human (H2H) interactions. This broad range of perspectives, from business networks to corporate branding, highlights the latest trends in both business marketing and organizational research whilst emphasizing the influential role of human actors in SMEs. Looking at successful cases of INB and analysing cases where branding has gone wrong, Understanding Interactive Network Branding in SME Firms offers guidelines for researchers in marketing theory and practitioners working in SME firms to develop their branding models and processes in fast changing business environments.

All organisations have a responsibility to ensure they have a minimum negative impact on the environment and act as a haven for human development that contributes to positive outcomes for society. But small businesses have limited resources with which to pursue sustainability initiatives and must focus on their core objectives in order to survive. Through an in-depth exploration of quality management theory, this book proposes a "Sustainability Management Framework" as a structure for a balanced approach to developing operations strategy for corporate social responsibility (CSR). Management Systems and Performance Frameworks for Sustainability explores the frameworks, accreditations and awards that small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can utilise to enhance their performance. In the first half of the book, the author demonstrates how complementary techniques such as the Sustainability Performance Framework can help organisational leaders to develop, implement and optimise business strategy into discrete activities of value setting, management system and performance model selection, and target setting and evaluation, to the tactical deployment of sustainability and CSR. Meanwhile, the second half of the book focuses on real SME case studies to illustrate the use of the Sustainability Strategic Growth Model, Sustainability Management Framework and Sustainability Performance Framework to align strategy and policies with compliance obligations, United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Millennium Development Goals. This key book is vital reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of quality management, entrepreneurship and sustainability in business, executives of SMEs and sustainability policymakers.

Marketing Your Services You may be one of the best doctors, consultants, accountants, caterers, or investment advisors around, but when it comes to marketing your service, you may also be the first one to admit, "I don’t know what to do." Now, here’s a book that shows you, step by step, how to market your services—painlessly, confidently, profitably. Marketing Your Services shows you:

• How to define and promote your services to the right market
• How to differentiate your business from other similar businesses
• How to price and package your services
• How to turn qualified prospects into customers and build long-term relationships with clients

"This is the best book I have seen about Marketing—making your mark in a way that hits the mark. You will be provoked, persuaded, and pleased by this guidebook for painless marketing mastery." —Chip R. Bell Author, Service Wisdom "Simply put, this is the most useful book on marketing for service firms I know of. It is also the best written. Read it." —Clay Carr Author, Front-Line Customer Service "An excellent guide to the marketing maze for any small business that wants to get a firm handle on just what service they provide, and learn how to enjoy making money doing it." —Martin T. Cannon Director, Paper Product Development The Procter & Gamble Company

Provides a wide insight into the construction business, showing the reader how a contractor organizes a construction company and controls his work. Offers a practical and direct approach and describes how a business starts up, how it's organized and how it's financed. Also covers estimating, cost keeping systems, labor relations, equipment, safety, and insurance. Augmented with numerous case histories, forms and sample agreements to keep a job on schedule and within budget.

Pam Sowder needed to bring in extra money for her family but struggled to find a solution that would give her the flexibility that she needed to continue to be an active and present mother. Once she discovered the industry of direct sales, her life changed! No one thought she would succeed, including herself. But, she worked through her doubt and discomfort to create a multimillion-dollar business! Several decades later, Pam has touched hundreds of thousands of people globally. With this book, she shares her wisdom on how you too can go from wanting to earn an extra hundred dollars monthly to millions. In this book, you will learn how to: Find your why Create your dream day Get rid of your internal bully Change your money mindset Get out of your own way Let go of the cursed how And much, much more Rich Girl Poor Girl shows you that no obstacle is too difficult to overcome and that the game of direct sales can be won by anyone, from anywhere.

Startup money is moving online, and this guide shows you how it works. The Art of Startup Fundraising takes a fresh look at raising money for startups, with a focus on the changing face of startup finance. New regulations are making the old go-to advice less relevant, as startup money is increasingly moving online. These new waters are all but uncharted--and founders need an accessible guide. This book helps you navigate the online world of startup fundraising with easy-to-follow explanations and expert perspective on the new digital world of finance. You'll find tips and tricks on raising money and investing in startups from early stage to growth stage, and develop a clear strategy based on the new realities surrounding today's startup landscape. The finance world is in a massive state of flux. Changes are occurring at an increasing pace in all sectors, but few more intensely than the startup sphere. When the paradigm changes, your processes must change with it. This book shows you how startup funding works, with expert coaching toward the new rules on the field. Learn how the JOBS Act impacts the fundraising model Gain insight on startups from early stage to growth stage Find the money you need to get your venture going Craft your pitch and optimize the strategy Build momentum Identify the right investors Avoid the common mistakes Don't rely on the "how we did it" tales from superstar startups, as these stories are unique and applied to exceptional scenarios. The game has changed, and playing by the old rules only gets you left behind. Whether you're founding a startup or looking to invest, The Art of Startup Fundraising provides the up-to-the-minute guidance you need.

Now--America's #1 marketer and consultant puts together the first complete guide to catalog sales! Starting & Building Your Catalog Sales Business Some of America's best known and most successful businesses, such as Sears, Spiegel, L.L. Bean, and Lands' End, are "catalog companies," earning a major percentage of their profits through catalog sales. If you're a business owner or entrepreneur, now you can do the same with the help of this book. Written by bestselling author Herman Holtz, Starting and Building Your Catalog Sales Business is a complete guide to catalog sales that explains how to get started in and manage a catalog business profitably. Packed with anecdotes, worksheets, and examples drawn from successful catalog sales businesses, it explains:

• The basics of direct-mail selling and catalog sales
• The secrets to creating catalog copy that really sells
• The essential elements in the catalog mailing--including how to create a strong sales letter and a user-friendly order form
• How to choose and use the right mailing lists
• Managing the two essentials of the catalog business: sales volume and pricing

This Fifth Edition retains the practice-oriented approach and informal writing style that made the previous editions so popular. Presents the techniques and methods used in the day-to-day running of a small business enterprise, with updated and extended coverage of the business plan and the growing use of microcomputers. Other topics include franchising, operations, marketing and the role of the government.

These books provides an overall account of small and medium enterprises in selected Asia-Pacific countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, Philippines, China, Indonesia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Canada. All of these countries have given high policy agenda on the development of small and medium enterprises since SMEs contribute significantly to the respective national economic development. The books therefore provides various experiences on SMEs, issues and challenges, incentive and policies adopted by various governments and, more significantly, prospects for growth and development potential of SMEs in the new millennium.

This book is not about selling products -- it is about selling yourself, your ideas, and your services. This book explains an innovative dialogue sales process, and the relationship sales principles that underpin it. In every sales situation, there is both a seller and a buyer and, at different times, either the buyer or the seller may take the lead. The dance they perform may or may not lead to a deal, but it will leave them knowing a little more about each other's strengths and weaknesses. These two dancers are "connected" and follow the same steps -- The five steps they follow are to plan, connect, dialogue, record, and follow up. The five steps are the basis of the dialogue process. In addition, this book provides easy-to-follow guidance for three groups of people: 1. Professionals wanting to sell their services and improve their business development; 2. Thought leaders, change agents, innovators, entrepreneurs, senior public servants, and advocates wanting to sell their ideas to others; 3. Mid-career job seekers and recent graduates aiming to sell themselves into a dream job role either full or part-time.

This book focuses on a central success factor for family businesses: maintaining the decision-making ability over generations while not jeopardizing the business due to family conflict, inefficient governance structures, or lack of identification. The authors identify that this is not as easy as the endeavor to bring two social systems together with contradicting logic (family and business) leads to many dangerous pitfalls. This book presents outcomes of a unique research project in which family managers of eleven of the oldest and largest German family businesses, at least the fourth generation, met for more than three years on a regular basis and presented the essence of their family governance structures to each other and to the authors. It was a joint "learning journey" that admits identifying twelve core questions that these families had been answering to keep up the relationship between family and business successfully over generations. Obviously, there is no "right" answer to these questions. The key to success is rather engaging the families in a process to find out their own answers and make them aware of the "two sides": being a family is different from being a business family.