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.

Small Firm Growth comprehensively reviews the empirical literature on small firm growth to highlight and integrate what is known about this phenomenon and take stock of what past experiences of researching this area implies for how the phenomenon can or should be studied in future research.

Measuring Entrepreneurial Businesses: Current Knowledge and Challenges brings together and unprecedented group of economists, data providers, and data analysts to discuss research on the state of entrepreneurship and to address the challenges in understanding this dynamic part of the economy. Each chapter addresses the challenges of measuring entrepreneurship and how entrepreneurial firms contribute to economies and standards of living. The book also investigates heterogeneity in entrepreneurs, challenges experienced by entrepreneurs over time, and how much less we know than we think about entrepreneurship given data limitations. This volume will be a groundbreaking first serious look into entrepreneurship in the NBER's Income and Wealth series.

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.

Oftentimes, the owners and entrepreneurs whose small businesses are undergoing financial problems suffer high emotional costs. These individuals can experience significant setbacks in their entrepreneurial journeys as well as depression and other negative emotions from the stress of crisis episodes. However, businesses that are in crisis also provide valuable learning opportunities for adapting and changing in order to successfully face future challenging situations. Cases on Small Business Economics and Development During Economic Crises presents a diverse range of perspectives and insights into global developments in entrepreneurship and captures a diverse collection of methodologies and outcomes from various countries in the realm of small business economics and their development. Including case studies that discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, risk management, and entrepreneurial resiliency, this case book serves as an excellent companion for entrepreneurs, small business owners, managers, executives, economists, business professionals, academicians, students, and researchers.

Remarkably, a small fraction of firms account for most of the job and output creation in high-income and developing countries alike. Does this imply that the path to enabling more economic dynamism lies in selectively targeting high-potential firms? Or would pursuing broad-based reforms that minimize distortions be more effective? Inspired by these questions, this book presents new evidence on the incidence, characteristics, and drivers of high-growth firms based on in-depth studies of firm dynamics in Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, Tunisia, and Turkey. Its findings reveal that high-growth firms are not only powerful engines of job and output growth but also create positive spillovers for other businesses along the value chain. At the same time, the book debunks several myths about policies to support firm dynamism that focus on outward characteristics, such as firm size, sector, location, or past performance. Its findings show that most firms struggle to sustain rapid rates of expansion and that the relationship between high growth and productivity is often weak. Consequently, the book calls for a shift toward policies that improve the quality of firm growth by supporting innovation, managerial skills, and firms’ ability to leverage global linkages and agglomeration. To help policy makers structure policies that support firm growth, the book proposes a new ABC framework of growth entrepreneurship: improving Allocative efficiency, encouraging Business-to-business spillovers, and strengthening firm Capabilities. This book is the third volume of the World Bank Productivity Project, which seeks to bring frontier thinking on the measurement and determinants of productivity to global policy makers. 'Policy makers often get carried away by the disproportionate contributions of high-growth firms to job and output growth and commit to pursuing policies targeting the potential ‘stars.’ This book separates fact from fiction underpinning such interventions through a comprehensive analysis of high-growth firms across a range of developing countries, making a compelling argument that public policy to pick prospective winners is neither possible nor desirable. Policy makers would be wise to consult its arguments and policy advice when designing the next generation of policies to support the growth of firms.' William R. Kerr Professor of Business Administration, Harvard University; author of The Gift of Global Talent: How Migration Shapes Business, Economy and Society 'How to ignite and sustain high firm growth has eluded both economic analysis and thought leaders in policy and business. Through its meticulous and thoughtful analysis, this important new book provides a tractable framework to guide policy to harness the growth and productivity potential of firms in the developing-country context.' David Audretsch Distinguished Professor and Director of the Institute for Development Strategies, Indiana University .