This groundbreaking IABC Research Foundation report finally addresses the communication and public relations functions of the majority of the world's businesses. Ninety percent of businesses in the U.S. alone are considered to be small, having fewer than 20 employees, yet no studies until now have focused exclusively on the PR practices of small businesses. This information is vital to an understanding of the ways in which entrepreneurs and small business owners think about communication. Do they follow PR rules by the book, or do they adapt and improvise as they go? Does one need to be a trained PR "expert" to communicate successfully? Thinking Big, Staying Small discusses: *The ways in which small organizations think about and practice day-to-day PR. *The point in a business's growth at which communication operations start to take on formality. *Who does the communicating in small business, and how prepared they are to be effective.
Jan Triplett, Ph.D., is the Chief Executive Officer of the Business Success Center (BSC) that provides sales and financial management strategies and advice for launching and growing a business. She considers herself a small business and community activist as well as a small business strategist and advisor. She was a delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business and the Congressional Summit on Small Business. She helped push through a big box ordinance in Austin with special provisions recognizing the unique issues of running a small businesses.
The federal Small Business Administration (SBA) honored her as Austin and Texas' Small Business Advocate for her work on behalf of small businesses. She has been highlighted in Income Opportunities, Entrepreneur and Executive Female. Her expertise as a family business advisor was cited in Austin Woman magazine and she was profiled recently in the Austin Business Journal.
She is a Certified Technical Advisor for the National Community Reinvestment Coalition and a frequent keynote speaker including speaking on entrepreneurship and venture capital for the Nikkei in Japan. She is co-developer of the award-winning "City Management Academy" and the "Owners MBA".
Along with partner/husband Daniel Diener, she successfully mapped business growth tasks from Idea Stage to Transference in the BSC's Business Navigation Matrix. She is the author of A Networker's Guide to Success, Thinking Big, Staying Small and other small business articles and books. Triplett, a former moderator for KUT 's nationally syndicated radio program, "The Next 200 Years", now is interviewed on a regular basis by the media. In addition, she has led highly successful small business trade missions to Ecuador and Japan.
She currently serves on the Governors' and President's Business Leaders Network and board of Students Involved in Free Enterprise (SIFE). She volunteers for the Austin SBA chapter, Austin Farmer's Market, and the Austin Humane Society, She served on the board of the Austin Literacy Council, Austin Community Television, the International Hospitality Council, the Mayor's Task Force on International Infrastructure, the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, and the Greater Austin International Coalition. She was one of three original founders of the Women's Chamber of Commerce of Texas.
Her company, the BSC, began as a full service ad agency in 1982. It added an association and training program for owners called the Entrepreneurs' Association in the 1990's. In 2000 it provided an incubator and accelerator program for growing businesses and turnaround services to businesses in trouble.
Over the years, the programs she and her husband started have received a 5-star national program award from the federal SBA, a special resolution from the Texas Senate, and a Greater Austin Quality Council Level I Award. The Austin Business Journal selected it as a top 20 management consulting firm. It is a City of Austin certified green business and a member of the Central TX Association of Guaranteed Government Lenders.
