The 7 Irrefutable Rules of Small Business Growth [Paperback]

Steven S. Little (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 22, 2005

Starting a small business and making it a success isn’t easy. In fact, most small business owners don’t get rich and many fail. This book presents the straight truth on small business success. It doesn’t offer cure-alls for every small business. Instead, it outlines real, effective principles for continued small business growth and success. Written by business growth expert Steven Little, The 7 Irrefutable Rules of Small Business Growth skips empty small business positivism in exchange for real-world, practical solutions. If you’re a small business owner or an entrepreneur just starting out, you’ll find answers to all your most important questions on topics such as technology, business plans, hiring, and much more.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

MASTER THE SECRETS OF SUSTAINED GROWTH

"Steve is a true storyteller, and it's his real-world stories that bring these rules to life. This book is both a great read and a practical guide to reaching the next level. Here's something else that is irrefutable...Steven Little is the business growth expert!"
—Lee Jones Publisher, Inc. magazine

"Steve goes straight to the heart of what makes business work and packs practical how-to's from start to finish. More than just an engaging read, this book delivers the goods on how to create and sustain a winning small business."
— Joe Calloway Bestselling author of Becoming a Category of One and Indispensable

"This is a readable, sometimes funny, and always wise book. It's valuable both to small business owners and to the chambers and other organizations that serve small businesses."
—Mick Fleming President and CEO, American Chamber of Commerce Executives

"'How to' does not do this book justice. It's the how to, where to, when to, who to, and why to take the strategic steps that will cultivate growth and harvest profits. Steven Little shows you AND HOW! Buy it now."
— Jeffrey Gitomer Bestselling author of The Sales Bible and The Little Red Book of Selling

"Steven Little provides valuable insights that will help you lead your company on a course of sustainable growth and success. Ignore Little's rules at your own peril!"
—Andrew Field President of PrintingForLess.com Member of the Inc. 500–2002, 2003, 2004

About the Author

STEVEN S. LITTLE is a renowned speaker, writer, and consultant on the subject of small business growth. He is the former president of three fast-growth companies and has been a senior consultant for Inc. magazine since 1998. During his speaking and consulting career, he has worked with some of the country's most admired organizations, including UPS, Sprint, Bank of America, Compaq, Microsoft, and the Small Business Administration.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (February 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471707600
• ISBN-13: 978-0471707608
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #502,809 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential, if not irrefutable, March 17, 2005

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The 7 Irrefutable Rules of Small Business Growth (Paperback)

Perhaps Covey is to be blamed for the fact that so many authors of business books treat the number seven as sacrosanct. The "rules" which Little offers in this volume could well have been 11 or 21...if not more. All are essential to business success. For example, "Establish and maintain a strong sense of purpose" (#1) and "Attract and keep the best and brightest" (#6). No news there. The great value of this book is derived from what Little has to say about each rule and, more importantly, HOW and WHY all seven are interdependent. At this point, it may be of interest to share information cited by Michael Gerber in his recently published E-Myth Mastery: "Of the 1 million U.S. small businesses started this year [2005], more than 80% of them will be out of business within 5 years and 96% will have closed their doors before their 10th birthday." Opinions vary as to the percentages as well as to the reasons for such extensive failure. However, the fact remains that a substantial majority of small businesses will fail eventually.

Now consider the following remarks with which Jack Welch explains why he admires entrepreneurial companies: "For one, they communicate better. Without the din and prattle of bureaucracy, people listen as well as talk; and since there are fewer of them they generally know and understand each other. Second, small companies move faster. They know the penalties for hesitation in the marketplace. Third, in small companies, with fewer layers and less camouflage, the leaders show up very clearly on the screen. Their performance and its impact are clear to everyone. And, finally, smaller companies waste less. They spend less time in endless reviews and approvals and politics and paper drills. They have fewer people; therefore they can only do the important things. Their people are free to direct their energy and attention toward the marketplace rather than fighting bureaucracy."

In this volume, Little suggests strategies and tactics to achieve and sustain many of the competitive advantages to which Welch refers. His tone is personal, indeed conversational, and he thereby establishes a direct rapport with his reader; moreover, he anchors his observations and recommendations within a real-world context, mercifully free of theories and hypotheses; also, he addresses how and why as well as what to do; and finally, following his rigorous analysis of each of the seven rules (to each of which he devotes a separate chapter), Little then provides a suggested Next Steps section which reiterates key points concerning implementation. I also appreciate Little's inclusion of hundreds of personal anecdotes which add some seasoning to an already lively narrative. This book offers a practical, cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective program by which all organizations (regardless of size or nature) can achieve and then sustain profitable growth. It will be of greatest interest to decision-makers in smaller organizations...and perhaps to decision-makers in larger organizations which have lost their entrepreneurial spirit.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Has a great message for wanta-be entrepreneurs to read and hear., August 24, 2006

By 

Jeff Lippincott "JLIPPIN" (Princeton, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The 7 Irrefutable Rules of Small Business Growth (Paperback)

I'm a SCORE counselor and the mission of SCORE is to help wanta-be entrepreneurs and actual small business owners either successfully start a business or maintain/grow an existing business. Typically "clients" come in to the face-to-face counseling sessions with questions, lots of questions. If the client is a wanta-be entrepreneur, then one of my first questions is: Have you written a business plan? If the client is a small business owner and having problems or is interested in growth, then one of my first questions is: How does this relate to your business plan? Interestingly, both types of clients usually answer that they don't have a business plan, or at least they don't have a written business plan.

Mr. Little's book covers what I have to tell my SCORE clients when they tell me they don't have a business plan or don't use a business plan. It sure would be nice if I could just hand the clients Little's book and call it an evening. However, the clients probably prefer to hear it from me verbally instead of having to read it first.

Wanta-be entrepreneurs and actual small business owners must:

1. Establish and maintain a strong sense of purpose behind their idea or business
2. Research, analyze and fully understand the industry in which their business operates and the market in which it serves and competes
3. Write a sound business plan, and use it to operate the business
4. Be customer-centric, i.e. stay in touch with the customers, their wants and their needs
5. Systematize operations, planning, and use technology whenever possible
6. Build a team of good people to run the business
7. Be something of a visionary so the business can prosper (everything gets old that stays the same for long)

By getting this book and reading it you will see the importance of writing a sound business plan and using it to manage and grow a successful small business. The "rules" mentioned are supported by real-world stories and provide insight into what makes business work. This book is an invaluable resource for anyone involved in small business strategy. A must read! Get it, and prosper.

I'm not so sure the appendix material was relevant or necessary. I can't say I would have liked the book better without it, but I saw no point in including it. There is a fair amount written about personality types, and which personalities are more included to be entrepreneurs versus being W-2 employees. I think it is a shame that stereotypes are created since those classifications seem to keep many people from ever trying to be an entrepreneur.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book lives up to the keynote presentations..., March 2, 2005

By 

Needlegrinder "Nobs7777" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The 7 Irrefutable Rules of Small Business Growth (Paperback)

I saw Steve speak at an industry trade show recently and came away with plenty of information I could use right away. I've been looking forward to this book coming out and was not disappointed. Like his keynotes, this is entertaining, but also crammed full of interesting insights and examples. There aren't a lot of books I would recommend to others trying to grow companies. For those of us in the trenches, most of the advice we see from so-called "experts" is bunk. It's obvious that Little has lived in the real world and that he knows what he is talking about. I recommend this as both a pleasure to read and as a "how to grow" manual.