This book reveals how leadership evolves through the story of the American airline industry across the 20th century. Entrepreneurs dominate the industry's early history, but as the industry evolved a new breed of managers emerged who built a dominant business model that enabled their companies to grow dramatically.

This textbook familiarises students with the theory and practice of small business management and challenges assumptions that may be held about the way small business management can or should adopt the management practices of larger firms. For students interested in establishing and managing their own small firm, this book helps them to focus their thinking on the realities of life as a small business owner-manager – both its challenges and its rewards. For postgraduate students that are keen to ‘make a difference’, this text enables them to understand how they might consult to small firms and assist owner-managers to establish and grow their ventures. In addition to students, this book is also useful to small business owner-managers as a general guide on how they might better manage their operations. Managers in large corporations and financial institutions who deal with small businesses as clients or suppliers, and professionals such as accountants, lawyers and consultants who provide advice and other services to small businesses will also find the book of interest.

"Never take incoming calls!" and "Use, don't be abused by, technology!" are just two of the dozens of timesaving tips from the Professor of Harsh Reality. In this book, business-success expert Dan Kennedy delivers vital time-management techniques for the super-busy entrepreneur. In his infectiously energetic style, Kennedy, noted author, speaker, and consultant, offers up page after page of time-saving advice -- sometimes tough, sometimes surprising, but always practical. He shows how to: -- Handle the information avalanche -- Turn time into wealth -- Gain the personal discipline that will make you successful

Make a lasting impact by launching new initiatives, inspiring others, and championing innovative approaches with this from-the-trenches guide by trusted executive mentor, entrepreneur, and leadership expert Joel Peterson. Many leaders see their roles as presidents/managers, with a primary focus on keeping results consistent with past performance and on budget. These kinds of leaders make important contributions but rarely leave a mark on the businesses they serve. For those wanting to make a lasting impact, new skills are required. Joel Peterson calls these higher-level leaders “entrepreneurial leaders,” and they create durable enterprises that deliver on their promise. After three careers and demanding roles as CFO, CEO, chairman, lead director, adjunct professor, founder, author, entrepreneur and investor, Joel Peterson is often sought as a mentor and coach by leaders and aspiring leaders. He has worked with all types of leaders and considers the entrepreneurial leader to be the highest level of influence. In Entrepreneurial Leadership, Peterson lays out a path to achieving this summit with a series of leadership maps organized around the four essential basecamps: Establishing Trust Creating a Sense of Mission Building a Cohesive Team Executing and Delivering Results These core philosophies, while easy to summarize, can be extremely difficult to implement. This book of maps and mindsets is aimed at those who hope to lead others, help them achieve their best, break new barriers, change the status quo, create a legacy, develop a brand, and enjoy a life-altering experience. Let Entrepreneurial Leadership guide you on your journey.

Business Management for Entrepreneurs introduces entrepreneurs and managers of small and medium-sized businesses to all the functions needed to manage these organizations successfully. This is an essential guide to the small business management competencies that are essential for the success of a smaller business.

Who needs investors? More than two generations ago, the venture capital community – VCs, business angels, incubators and others – convinced the entrepreneurial world that writing business plans and raising venture capital constituted the twin centerpieces of entrepreneurial endeavor. They did so for good reasons: the sometimes astonishing returns they've delivered to their investors and the astonishingly large companies that their ecosystem has created. But the vast majority of fast-growing companies never take any venture capital. So where does the money come from to start and grow their companies? From a much more agreeable and hospitable source, their customers. That's exactly what Michael Dell, Bill Gates and Banana Republic's Mel and Patricia Ziegler did to get their companies up and running and turn them into iconic brands. In The Customer Funded Business, best-selling author John Mullins uncovers five novel approaches that scrappy and innovative 21st century entrepreneurs working in companies large and small have ingeniously adapted from their predecessors like Dell, Gates, and the Zieglers: Matchmaker models (Airbnb) Pay-in-advance models (Threadless) Subscription models (TutorVista) Scarcity models (Vente Privee) Service-to-product models (GoViral) Through the captivating stories of these and other inspiring companies from around the world, Mullins brings to life the five models and identifies the questions that angel or other investors will – and should! – ask of entrepreneurs or corporate innovators seeking to apply them. Drawing on in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs and investors who have actually put these models to use, Mullins goes on to address the key implementation issues that characterize each of the models: when to apply them, how best to apply them, and the pitfalls to watch out for. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur lacking the start-up capital you need, an early-stage entrepreneur trying to get your cash-starved venture into take-off mode, an intrapreneur seeking funding within an established company, or an angel investor or mentor who supports high-potential ventures, this book offers the most sure-footed path to starting, financing, or growing your venture. John Mullins is the author of The New Business Road Test and, with Randy Komisar, the widely acclaimed Getting to Plan B.

Enterprising individuals often feel that they need to acquire new skills and brush up on existing ones in order to achieve targets, make money, and avoid making elementary mistakes. This work offers expert guidance on such key skills as selling, presenting, and negotiating.