Small Giants

Author: Bo Burlingham
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101992336
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Book Description
How maverick companies have passed up the growth treadmill — and focused on greatness instead. It’s an axiom of business that great companies grow their revenues and profits year after year. Yet quietly, under the radar, a small number of companies have rejected the pressure of endless growth to focus on more satisfying business goals. Goals like being great at what they do, creating a great place to work, providing great customer service, making great contributions to their communities, and finding great ways to lead their lives. In Small Giants, veteran journalist Bo Burlingham takes us deep inside fourteen remarkable companies that have chosen to march to their own drummer. They include Anchor Brewing, the original microbrewer; CitiStorage Inc., the premier independent records-storage business; Clif Bar & Co., maker of organic energy bars and other nutrition foods; Righteous Babe Records, the record company founded by singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco; Union Square Hospitality Group, the company of restaurateur Danny Meyer; and Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, including the world-famous Zingerman’s Deli of Ann Arbor. Burlingham shows how the leaders of these small giants recognized the full range of choices they had about the type of company they could create. And he shows how we can all benefit by questioning the usual definitions of business success. In his new afterward, Burlingham reflects on the similarities and learning lessons from the small giants he covers in the book.

Small Giants

Author: Bo Burlingham
Publisher: Portfolio Trade
ISBN: 9781591841494
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 232

Book Description
Profiles fourteen companies that have achieved high levels of success by focusing on the quality of their products and services, rather than their bottom-line profits, in a guide for small businesses that reveals how to earn consistent revenues by becoming purpose-driven. Reprint. 50,000 first printing.

Finish Big

Author: Bo Burlingham
Publisher: Portfolio
ISBN: 9780670923274
Category : Business planning
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
"No two exit experiences are exactly alike. Some people wind up happy with the process and satisfied with the way it turned out while others look back on it as a nightmare. The question I hope to answer in this book is why. What did the people with 'good' exits do differently from those who'd had 'bad' exits?" When pioneering business journalist and" Inc." magazine editor at large Bo Burlingham wrote "Small Giants," it became an instant classic for its original take on a common business problem--how to handle the pressure to grow. Now Burlingham is back to tackle an even more common problem--how to exit your company well. Sooner or later, all entrepreneurs leave their businesses and all businesses get sold, given away, or liquidated. Whatever your preferred outcome, you need to start planning for it while you still have time and options. The beautiful part is that if you start early enough, the process will lead you to build a better, stronger, more resilient company, as well as one with a higher market value. Unfortunately, most owners don't start early enough--and pay a steep price for their procrastination. Burlingham interviewed dozens of entrepreneurs across a range of industries and identified eight key factors that determine whether owners are happy after leaving their businesses. His book showcases the insights, exit plans, and cautionary tales of entrepreneurs such asRay Pagano founder of a leading manufacturer of housings for security cameras. He turned down a bid for his company and instead changed his management style, resulting in a subsequent sale for four times the original offer.Bill Niman founder of the iconic Niman Ranch, which revolutionized the meat industry. He learned about unhappy exits when he was forced to sell to private equity investors, leaving him with nothing to show for his thirty-five years in business.Gary Hirshberg founder of organic yogurt pioneer Stonyfield Farm. He pulled off the nearly impossible task of finding a large company that would buy out his 275 small investors at a premium price while letting him retain complete control of the business. Through such stories, Burlingham offers an illuminating and inspirational guide to one of the most stressful, and yet potentially rewarding, processes business owners must go through. And he explores the emotional challenges they face at every step of the way. At the end of the day, owning a business is about more than selling goods and services. It's about making choices that shape your entire life, both professional and personal. "Finish Big" helps you figure out how to face your future with confidence and be able to someday look back on your journey with pride.

Built to Sell

Author: John Warrillow
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1591845823
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 177

Book Description
Run your company. Don’t let it run you. Most business owners started their company because they wanted more freedom—to work on their own schedules, make the kind of money they deserve, and eventually retire on the fruits of their labor. Unfortunately, according to John Warrillow, most owners find that stepping out of the picture is extremely difficult because their business relies too heavily on their personal involvement. Without them, their company—no matter how big or profitable—is essentially worthless. But the good news is that entrepreneurs can take specific steps—no matter what stage a business is in—to create a valuable, sellable company. Warrillow shows exactly what it takes to create a solid business that can thrive long into the future.

The Great Game of Business

Author: Jack Stack
Publisher: Broadway Business
ISBN: 9780385475259
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Book Description
The Great Game of Business started a business revolution by introducing the world to open-book management, a new way of running a business that created unprecedented profit and employee engagement. The revised and updated edition of The Great Game of Business lays out an entirely different way of running a company. It wasn't dreamed up in an executive think tank or an Ivy League business school or around the conference table by big-time consultants. It was forged on the factory floors of the heartland by ordinary folks hoping to figure out how to save their jobs when their parent company, International Harvester, went down the tubes. What these workers created was a revolutionary approach to management that has proven itself in every industry around the world for the past thirty years--an approach that is perhaps the last, best hope for reviving the American Dream.

Retail Superstars

Author: George Whalin
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101052678
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 246

Book Description
How small, one-of-a-kind businesses can break through among giants Megachains like Walmart, Starbucks, Home Depot, and The Gap attract Americans to thousands of outlets by offering a large selection of goods and services. But this doesn't mean that independent stores can't compete with the big guys-and win. Retail expert George Whalin identifies and explores twenty-five highly popular and profitable independent stores from around the country. Unlike the mom-and-pops of yesteryear, these businesses embrace technology and innovation, generate word of mouth, and turn their size into an advantage. They include: ? ABC Carpet and Home in New York City ? Powell's City of Books in Portland, Oregon ? The Junkman's Daughter in Atlanta ? Jungle Jim's International Market in Fairfield, Ohio Readers will be inspired by how these independent stores are thriving and take away lessons they can apply to their own businesses.

A Lapsed Anarchist's Approach to Building a Great Business

Author: Ari Weinzweig
Publisher: Zingerman's Press
ISBN: 0989349403
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 361

Book Description
The first in a series of books by Zingerman's co-founding partner Ari Weinzweig examines the basic building blocks of the culture and structure we know now as Zingerman's. These approaches are applicable whether you're running a law office, a library, a restaurant, a record label, a software firm, or an organic farm. They are the behind-the-scenes "secret" stuff that goes into making a very special, sustainable business of any kind. Inc. Magazine calls it one of the Best Books for Business Owners.

Simply Brilliant

Author: William C. Taylor
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0241971241
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 235

Book Description
'There's no such thing as an average or old-fashioned business, just average or old-fashioned ways to do business. In fact, the opportunity to reach for extraordinary may be most pronounced in settings that have been far too ordinary for far too long' Far away from Silicon Valley, in familiar, traditional, even unglamorous fields, ordinary people are unleashing extraordinary advances that amaze customers, energize employees, and create huge economic value. Their secret? They understand that inventing the future doesn't just mean designing mobile apps and developing virtual-reality headsets. In Simply Brilliant, the visionary co-founder of Fast Company William C. Taylor goes behind the scenes at some of the unsung organizations that are revolutionizing their otherwise humdrum fields. These unlikely agents of change range from a parking garage that also serves as a wedding venue, to a military insurance company that puts salespeople through simulated overseas deployment. The message is both simple and subversive: in a time of wrenching disruptions and exhilarating leaps, of unrelenting turmoil and unlimited promise, the future is open to everybody. Simply Brilliant illustrates how breakthrough creativity and breakaway performance can be summoned in all industries, if leaders dare to reimagine what's possible in their fields.

Street Smarts

Author: Norm Brodsky
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101195762
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 278

Book Description
"One is tempted to say 'the only book you'll need on starting a business.' Brilliant! Genius! Choose your superlative-it'll fit."-Tom Peters People starting out in business tend to seek step-by-step formulas or rules, but in reality there are no magic bullets. Rather, says veteran company-builder Norm Brodsky, there's a mentality that helps street- smart entrepreneurs solve problems and pursue opportunities as they arise. Brodsky shares his hard-earned wisdom every month in Inc. magazine, in the hugely popular "Street Smarts" column he cowrites with Bo Burlingham. Now they've adapted their best advice into a comprehensive guide for anyone running a small business.

What Makes a High Performance Organization

Author: Andre A de Waal
Publisher: Warden Press
ISBN: 9789492004772
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 344

Book Description
How can today's managers concentrate on what really matters to improve the performance of their organization, to reach outstanding goals? The answer is in What Makes an HPO. The five critical factors of the HPO Framework - Management Quality, Openness & Action-Orientation, Long-Term Orientation, Continuous Improvement & Renewal and Employee Quality - will help you turn your organization into an HPO. This book shows you what to concentrate on, how others have done it, and how to achieve it yourself. The HPO Framework is the result of a global five-year research project into the genuine success factors of High Performance Organizations (HPOs). The HPO Center, led by Dr de Waal, discovered what really works on the ground in every type of organization rather than what managers think should, or might have, worked. In his book André de Waal gives many real-life examples from a variety of sectors including Finance, Retail, Industry, ICT, High Education and Government, all illustrating the successful workings of the HPO Framework in organizations worldwide. Also included are many interviews with HPO leaders at Microsoft, SABMiller, Svenska Handelsbanken, HP, Tata Steel, Umpqua Bank, Unilever and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.