This book describes how a deeper knowledge and understanding of cultural differences represents a meaningful and useful tool for management of companies, and in particular SMEs, in the People's Republic of China. After introductory chapters on the internationalization of SMEs and the role played by management in this process, the authors explore the implications of academic discourses on culture and its dimensions for company management. The influence of Chinese cultural roots and the country's current cultural environment on management is then examined, with provision of guidance on response to the identified challenges. A key feature of the book is the presentation of important recent fieldwork in the main economic regions of China. This research further clarifies how business culture and cultural differences impact on company activities in China and casts light on various aspects of the adaptive capability of SMEs within the country, highlighting the value of cultural awareness and intelligence. The book will be of interest to academics and practitioners alike.

Sales are to growth as controls are to profitability and success within a business. In "Entrepreneurial Controls," author Jack E. Trent guides small-business owners through the complexities of understanding how financial and operational controls protect them from unnecessary risks. Trent shows how controls are the single most important method for preventing fraud within a company. In "Entrepreneurial Controls," Trent details the background and definition of controls and the important role they play in driving profitability for a business. The book is a carefully complied collection of thorough research and Trent's personal experiences as an entrepreneur, small-business owner, financial officer, and accountant. In addition to the breadth of knowledge presented, small vignettes called "reality checks" depict real-life applications of the concepts discussed. A no-nonsense, one-stop source for using control systems within a small-business setting, "Entrepreneurial Controls" covers the basics of: Project, fraud, risk, and cash management Accounting, inventory, and operational controls Internal auditing Customer service Using instructions, lessons, best practices, and guidelines, "Entrepreneurial Controls" shows entrepreneurs how to effectively and efficiently set up a new business or how to revise a struggling company's operations. With practical applications and easy-to-understand examples, Trent demonstrates how to bridle a small business and rein in financial success.

This book provides an effective antidote to the small business owner's frustration with government, demonstrating how to cut through regulations, red tape, and political corruption. Even as the American economy has slumped and every institution-private, municipal, and federal-strives to cut costs, government continues to grow more complex, intrusive, and expensive. Small businesses already bear a disproportionate share of regulatory costs and suffer more than large competitors when corruption distorts local markets. This situation will soon get worse: looming federal health care as well as environmental and financial mandates will push vast new oversight responsibilities into the states-and onto businesses' backs. Amy H. Handlin applies her 20 years' experience in state government and politics to provide this practical, results-oriented guide that teaches how to successfully navigate the jungle of overlapping federal, state, and municipal rules-skills that will become more essential as regulations balloon. Readers will learn how government works, get insight into the mindset of bureaucrats and politicians, and discover specific, nuts-and-bolts strategies for dealing with even the most unwelcoming, recalcitrant, or even dishonest officials. Provides model advocacy materials Includes end-of-chapter summaries that reinforce key concepts Presents vignettes dubbed "Tales from the Dark Side" that portray the worst in government bungling and help reinforce points in the text Contains a glossary clarifying common bureaucratic and political jargon

Business Plan Essentials will help learners and business owners to

• Recognize the importance of a business plan
• Formulate a well-structured business plan
• Analyze their market and write a marketing and operational plan
• Discover various techniques for forming a business plan with the help of samples relevant to the real world.

A practical guide for business students, entrepreneurs, and veteran business owners for creating an effective business plan

A crucial factor that influences the success of a business is a Business Plan. Without a business plan, an organization
crumples down.

Business Plan Essentials You Always Wanted to Know provides all the necessary hands-on tips and pieces of advice you will need to produce a pragmatic and useful business plan.

The book provides business plans and strategies for non-profit organizations, small service businesses, manufacturing businesses, and project developments with abundant samples that offer quick and smooth guidance about how to successfully bring a great business plan to life.

The book simplifies all the necessary procedures you should follow in drafting your business plan and editing it in order to turn it into a powerful document that will streamline your adventure into entrepreneurship.

After reading this book, you will understand

• Basics of An Effective Business Plan
• How to Successfully Do Your Own Marketing and Market Analysis
• How to Make Financial Projections in Your Business Plan
• The Best Tricks for Designing and Editing a Useful Business Plan

Small businesses are the backbone of the tourism and hospitality industry and, depending on which statistics one uses, represent somewhere between 75 to 95 percent of all firms globally in this sector. The number of entrepreneurs has dramatically and uniformly increased globally over the last ten years. Divided into four sections, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management in the Hospitality Industry takes an intuitive step-bystep progression through each stage of the entrepreneurial process: context, theoretical perspectives and definitions; Concept to reality; The business plan; Growth and the future. Ideal for students at any level, the chapters of this book invite you to ponder upon your reading through a series of 'reflective practice' activities. These, along with case studies, clearly defined chapter objectives, reflections, role-play activities and experiential exercises, allow you to both think actively about themes, concepts and issues and then apply them to a number of suggested scenarios. Perfect preparation for the up-and-coming entrepreneur!

Volume 18 will focus on approaches to thinking about and creating the start-up. Both theoretical and empirical manuscripts that consider all aspects of start-up planning, thinking and action will be considered. We also encourage practice-based research and manuscripts that explore cutting-edge pedagogical approaches. The papers in Advances reflect many state-of-the-art topics and approaches, and are written by leading researches in the field, making each volume an important source of information for virtually all entrepreneurship researchers. One of the distinctive competences of research volumes such as Advances is that the chapters can be published without page restrictions allowing for greater detail in the background, development, and implementation of ideas than is possible in journal articles. This provides authors with the opportunity to fully express their key ideas, provide much more complete support, and include relevant multi-page appendices. In effect, the Advances series provides authors the opportunity to publish an "article of record" of their major theoretical or empirical ideas, and see it disseminated to a wide audience.

Have you ever dreamed of starting your own home-based interior design business? Have you been hesitant to put your business plans into action? This book contains all the necessary tools and success strategies you need to launch and grow your business. An experienced designer shares her experiences and advice on every aspect of setting up and running a thriving home-based interior design business. Learn how to develop a business plan, estimate your start-up costs, price your services, and stay profitable once you're in business. Read all about getting clients and referrals, outshining the competition, bidding competitively, establishing your daily schedule, organizing your business, getting paid and much more. The book is packed with worksheets, including products and services charts, a sample balance worksheet, a profit-and-loss worksheet, a cash-flow projections worksheet, a weekly accounting ledger, a vendor sale sheet, and a bid sheet.

The Lean Product Lifecycle is a playbook that provides frameworks, methods and tools to develop innovative new products and business models, while managing your core portfolio.

Follow the 6 key phases of a product’s life - idea, explore, validate, grow, sustain and retire – and discover how to develop products according to their life stage and ensure the right investment for each. For each stage there is a step-by-step guide of product development best practices using examples and case studies from several companies and start-ups.

Using the tools and templates in this book, you’ll be able to:

- Take a new product from idea to scale within a market.

- Understand the difference between executing on products that are already successful in the market and searching for profitable business models for new products.

- Use the right tools and methods for validating new products ideas and business models.

- Understand how to manage mature products and retire old products using lean innovation principles.

Discover how lessons from lean start-ups can transform your business.

Are you paying more taxes than you have to? There are more than nineteen million home-based businesses in the United States-56 percent of all businesses-and they generate $102 billion in annual revenue. As far as the IRS is concerned, a home business is no different than any other business. But there is a difference: not only can you deduct the business expenses that every business is entitled to, you can turn personal, nondeductible expenses into tax-deductible business expenses-if you are careful to follow the rules. No tax software or accountant knows the details of your home-based business like you do, and the IRS is certainly not going to tell you about a deduction you failed to take. This invaluable book not only lists the individual items that are deductible in your home-based business-from utilities to that part of the home where you work-but also explains where to list them on your income tax forms.