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• Cover
• Introduction
• About This Book
• Foolish Assumptions
• Icons Used in This Book
• Beyond the Book
• Where to Go from Here
• Part 1: Getting Started with Small Business
• Chapter 1: Is Small Business for You?
• Defining Small Business
• Do You Have the Right Stuff?
• Identifying the Pros and Cons of Owning a Small Business
• Exploring Alternatives to Starting a Business
• Chapter 2: Laying Your Personal Financial Foundation
• Getting Your Financial Ducks in a Row
• Creating Your Money To-Do List
• Assessing and Replacing Benefits
• Managing Your Personal Finances Post-Launch
• Chapter 3: Finding Your Niche
• Why You Don’t Need a New Idea to Be Successful
• Choosing Your Business
• Inventing Something New
• Recognizing Your Number One Asset — You
• Chapter 4: First Things First: Crafting Your Business Plan
• Your Mission: Impossible If You Fail to Define It
• Your Business Plan: Don’t Start Up without It
• Writing Your Business Plan
• Keeping Your Plan Current
• Chapter 5: Making Financing, Ownership, and Organizational Decisions
• Determining Your Start-Up Cash Needs
• Using Your Own Money: Bootstrapping
• Outsourcing Your Capital Needs
• Exploring Ownership Options
• Deciding Whether to Incorporate
• Part 2: Buying an Existing Business
• Chapter 6: Exploring Buying a Business
• Understanding Why to Buy a Business
• Knowing When You Shouldn’t Buy
• Recognizing Prepurchase Prerequisites
• Chapter 7: Finding the Right Business to Buy
• Defining Your Business-Buying Appetite
• Generating Leads
• Considering a Franchise
• Evaluating Multilevel Marketing (MLM) Firms
• Checking Out Work-from-Home Opportunities
• Chapter 8: Evaluating a Business to Buy
• Kicking the Tires: Doing Your Due Diligence
• Evaluating Special Franchise Issues
• Chapter 9: Negotiating Terms and Sealing the Deal
• Valuing the Business
• Developing Purchase Offer Contingencies
• Allocating the Purchase Price
• Doing Due Diligence
• Moving Into Your Business
• Part 3: Running a Successful Small Business
• Chapter 10: The Owner’s Responsibilities in the Start-Up and Beyond
• Dotting Your i’s and Crossing Your t’s: Start-Up Details
• Outsourcing: Focus on What You Do Best
• Simplifying Your Accounting
• Controlling Your Expenses
• Managing Vendor Relationships
• Dealing with Bankers, Lawyers, and Other Outsiders
• Chapter 11: Marketing: Products, Pricing, Distribution, Promotion, and Sales
• Marketing in a Nutshell
• Tackling Product and Service Development
• Pricing: Cost and Value
• Distribution: Channeling to Customers
• Promotion: Spreading the Word
• Sales: Where the Rubber Hits the Road
• Chapter 12: Tapping Technology
• Making the Decision: Cloud-Based versus Internal Server
• Improving Your Business’s Efficiency
• Expanding Your Research Possibilities Online
• Chapter 13: Keeping Your Customers Loyal
• Retaining Your Customer Base
• Dealing with Dissatisfied Customers
• Chapter 14: Managing Profitability and Cash
• Cash Flow: The Fuel That Drives Your Business
• Making Sense of Financial Statements
• Turning the Numbers into Action
• Understanding Key Ratios and Percentages
• Managing Your Inventory
• Collecting Your Accounts Receivable
• The Three Ways to Improve Profits
• Chapter 15: Learning from the Experiences of Others
• Utilize Mentors
• Network with Peers
• Form a Board of Advisors
• Find a Partner
• Join a Trade Association
• Find a Business Incubator
• Locate a Small Business Development Center
• Give SCORE a Try
• Tap into Small-Business Information
• Part 4: Keeping Your Business in Business
• Chapter 16: Finding and Keeping Superstar Employees
• Assembling a Top Team
• Training: An Investment, Not an Expense
• Motivating: Pay and Performance Issues
• Parting Company: Firing an Employee
• Designing Flexible Organization Charts
• Valuing Employee Manuals
• Turning the Tables: Characterizing Successful Employers
• Chapter 17: Providing Employee Benefits
• Seeing the Real Value in Retirement Plans
• Deciding Whether to Share Equity
• Including Insurance and Other Benefits
• Chapter 18: Handling Regulatory and Legal Issues
• Navigating Small-Business Laws
• Suffering through Start-Up Regulations
• Laboring over Employee Costs and Laws
• Chapter 19: Mastering Small-Business Taxes
• Getting Smarter about Taxes
• Keeping Good Financial Records Leads to Tax Benefits
• Knowing (And Managing) Your Tax Bracket
• Staying on Top of Employment Taxes
• Spending Your Money Tax-Wisely
• Grasping the Tax Implications of Your Entity Selection
• Chapter 20: Cultivating a Growing Business
• Recognizing Growth Stages
• Resolving Human Resources Issues
• Addressing Time-Management Issues
• Choosing Your Management Tools
• Troubleshooting Your Business Challenges
• Redefining Your Role in an Evolving Business
• Part 5: The Part of Tens
• Chapter 21: Ten Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make
• Failing to Use Financial Statements to Manage Your Business
• Failing to Prepare an Annual Budget
• Failing to Utilize Your CPA
• Failing to Understand How Marketing Applies to Your Business
• Hiring Too Quickly
• Taking Too Long to Terminate Nonperforming Employees
• Assuming That Your Employees Are Motivated by the Same Things You Are
• Considering Training to Be an Expense and Not an Investment
• Failing to Take Advantage of Available Resources
• Failing to Maintain an Up-to-Date Organization Chart
• Chapter 22: Ten Tips for Small-Business Success
• Focus on the Execution
• Assemble a Team of Superstars in Game-Breaker Positions
• Work Hard, Get Lucky
• Realize the Difference between Profits and Cash
• Hire for Attitude, Teach Skills Later
• Create an Exit Strategy
• Grow or Die — There’s No In-Between
• Prepare for the Transition to Manager
• Develop an Insatiable Appetite to Learn
• Do What You Love
• Chapter 23: Ten Ways the 2017 Tax Reform Bill Benefits Small Business
• Corporate Income Tax Rate Reduction…
• …and (Some) Simplification
• Individual Income Tax Rates Reduced
• 20% Deduction for Pass-Through Entities
• Better Equipment Expensing Rules
• Increased Maximum Depreciation Deduction for Automobiles
• Limited Interest Deductions
• Reduced Meal and Entertainment Deductions
• Elimination of Health Insurance Mandate
• Revised Rules for Using Net Operating Losses
• About the Authors
• Advertisement Page
• Connect with Dummies
• Index
• End User License Agreement