Growing a Business » (Reprint)

Nearly everyone harbors a secret dream of starting or owning a business. In fact, 1,000,000 businesses start in the United States every year. Many of them fail, but enough succeed so that small businesses are now adding millions of jobs to the economy at the same time that the Fortune 500 companies are actually losing jobs.

Paul Hawken - entrepreneur and best-selling author - wrote Growing a Business for those who set out to make their dream a reality. He knows what he's talking about; he is his own best example of success. In the early 1970s, while he was still in his twenties, he founded Erewhon, the largest distributor of natural foods. More recently, he founded and still runs Smith & Hawken, a premier mail-order gardent tool company. And he wrote a critically acclaimed book called The Next Economy about the future of the economy.

Using examples like Patagonia, Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream, and University National Bank of Palo Alto, California, Hawken shows that the successful business is an expression of an individual person. The most successful business, your idea for a business, will grow from the something that is deep within you, something that can't be stolen by anyone because it is so uniquely yours that anyone else who tried to execute your idea would fail. He dispels the myth of the risk-taking entrepreneur. The purpose of business, he points out, is not to take risks but rather to get something done.

Irene Hurst - WomanSource Catalog & Review: Tools for Connecting the Community for Women

Creativity is probably one of the most important characteristics shared by the most successful entrepreneurs. In this book, Paul Hawken tells interesting stories about the creative strategies employed by successful business owners. Most successful entrepreneurs are not conventional, and neither is this book. He talks about entrepreneurs as risk-avoiders rather than risk-takers, about the necessity and even desirability of "problems," and about the paramount importance of customer relations. The goal of Paul's company is to create customer service that is not just the best, but legendary. This is where small business can compete with the big players in the market. Be brave, creative and non-conventional.

CONTENTS

1 SOMETHING YOU LIVE TO DO

2 BE CAREFUL, YOU MAY SUCCEED

3 SMALL, FAT, AND HAPPY

4 IF IT'S A GOOD IDEA, IT'S TOO LATE

5 THE ART OF THE INCREMENTAL

6 THE COMPANY YOU KEEP

7 MONEY

8 THE LEMONADE STAND

9 IF YOU MEET THE BUDDHA ON THE ROAD, SELL HIM

10 YOU ARE THE CUSTOMER, YOU ARE THE COMPANY

11 IN GOOD COMPANY

12 THE VERGER

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INDEX