 | Contents Chapter I Introduction Chapter II The Small Business Space Chapter III The Customer Chapter IV Structure and Management Chapter V Partnerships & Family Businesses Chapter VI Employment Chapter VII Financial Management Chapter VIII The Start-Up Chapter IX The Marketing Circle Chapter X Social Relevance of Small Businesses |
AUTHOR’S REFLECTIONS
For over 50 years I have operated my own small businesses. Thirty-five years ago I moved to Vermont and became involved with small business education. This became a challenge that I have pursued ever since. I founded, and was executive director of the Vermont Small Business Network for 15 years. During this time I developed the concepts and practices that I applied in my own business and describe in this book. I also explored how best to introduce and teach these fundamental practices so relevant to the operation of small businesses once they are identified as a separate species differing from the ‘big business” model taught in standard business courses. With the arrival of the Internet and World Wide Web, these explorations led to the development of inexpensive, online training modules now offered by the Vermont Small Business Training Center, a small business that a colleague and I recently cofounded.
