The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants

Your shoes are charred from stomping out brush fires. You have nightmares about UFOs—Unreachable Financial Objectives. All-star interviewees turn into duds. Meetings cause more problems than they solve. The office is a ghost town at 5:01 p.m. Does this sound familiar?

Tom Gegax knows what that is like. Years after running his Tires Plus franchise by the seat of his pants, blissfully unaware of how little he knew about getting the most out of people and managing a world-class organization, Tom was faced with a cancer diagnosis and a business at the brink of disaster. Resolved to change things around, he improved his mental clarity, health, and relationships and noticed that the more he profited on a personal level, the more his company profited. Tires Plus grew into a $200 million business with 150 upscale locations. He had learned the first lesson in Enlightened Leadership 101: Focus on the well-being of your employees and customers—as well as your own—and success will follow naturally.

In The Big Book of Small Business, Tom shares his hard-earned lessons on how to become an enlightened, effective leader, and on how to do the small things right so the big decisions work. This all-in-one toolbox for small businesses is jammed with warm-hearted, tough-minded practices and street-smart tips, covering every aspect of a growing business:

• Starting, funding, and getting your new business off the ground
• Crafting a mission and growing a corporate culture that works
• Hiring the best people and maximizing their potential
• Communicating and negotiating with your employees, customers, and suppliers
• Creating processes for continuous innovation and growth
• Protecting your business from unforeseen dangers
• Planning for growth
• And much more . . .

As thorough as a textbook and as lively as a news magazine, The Big Book of Small Business is the most comprehensive and practical book on how to take a small business to the next level, and an indispensable slingshot for the millions of scrappy Davids taking on corporate Goliaths.

For small business owners, Gegax, now a consultant, describes how to grow a business using the knowledge he learned as cofounder and chairman of Tires Plus. He explains how being an "enlightened entrepreneur" can positively affect business outcomes and gives advice on setting up a business; creating a mission, vision, and values; hiring; corporate culture; building a systems-disciplined organization; communication and coaching; and educating employees. He also covers supply management, marketing, sales, customer service, and finance, and discusses what to do in worst-case scenarios. There is no bibliography. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

In this comprehensive volume, admired CEO Tom Gegax shows entrepreneurs how to do the small things right so the big decisions work.

Bestselling author Tom Gegax has been an executive at one of the world’s largest corporations; a start-up entrepreneur; a CEO leading 1,600 employees; a business consultant; and a member of numerous boards. By the time Tom sold Tires Plus to a multinational firm in 2000, it had mushroomed from a sketch on a restaurant napkin to a Midwest market leader with 150 locations. Today, he helps growing companies raise profits and reduce stress through fast and affordable business management coaching.