Small firms in Chicago employ more than 1.6 million individuals—nearly 50 percent of the private work force, according to a new study released this fall by the Small Business Administration. The survey, which defines small firms as those employing less than 500 people, also shows that these businesses generate 47 percent of the area's total receipts of $278 billion dollars. However, SBA statistics also reveal that, on average, of the small businesses starting today, 53 percent will not be in business four years from now. Of these closings, it's estimated that 15 percent will close due to business failures. Chicago businessman Jay Goltz understands what it takes for a small business to succeed. During the past twenty years he has owned and operated Artists' Frame Service in Chicago. Goltz started the business in 1978, and today it's the largest, custom retail picture framing facility in the world. Now, Goltz shares some his secrets of success.

In this instant New York Times Bestseller, Geoff Smart and Randy Street provide a simple, practical, and effective solution to what The Economist calls “the single biggest problem in business today”: unsuccessful hiring. The average hiring mistake costs a company $1.5 million or more a year and countless wasted hours. This statistic becomes even more startling when you consider that the typical hiring success rate of managers is only 50 percent. The silver lining is that “who” problems are easily preventable. Based on more than 1,300 hours of interviews with more than 20 billionaires and 300 CEOs, Who presents Smart and Street’s A Method for Hiring. Refined through the largest research study of its kind ever undertaken, the A Method stresses fundamental elements that anyone can implement–and it has a 90 percent success rate. Whether you’re a member of a board of directors looking for a new CEO, the owner of a small business searching for the right people to make your company grow, or a parent in need of a new babysitter, it’s all about Who. Inside you’ll learn how to • avoid common “voodoo hiring” methods • define the outcomes you seek • generate a flow of A Players to your team–by implementing the #1 tactic used by successful businesspeople • ask the right interview questions to dramatically improve your ability to quickly distinguish an A Player from a B or C candidate • attract the person you want to hire, by emphasizing the points the candidate cares about most In business, you are who you hire. In Who, Geoff Smart and Randy Street offer simple, easy-to-follow steps that will put the right people in place for optimal success.

"One is tempted to say 'the only book you'll need on starting a business.' Brilliant! Genius! Choose your superlative-it'll fit."-Tom Peters People starting out in business tend to seek step-by-step formulas or rules, but in reality there are no magic bullets. Rather, says veteran company-builder Norm Brodsky, there's a mentality that helps street- smart entrepreneurs solve problems and pursue opportunities as they arise. Brodsky shares his hard-earned wisdom every month in Inc. magazine, in the hugely popular "Street Smarts" column he cowrites with Bo Burlingham. Now they've adapted their best advice into a comprehensive guide for anyone running a small business.

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to own your own business? Maybe you’ve given thought to how you can turn your passion into a career or maybe you just want to do something different. Most people have at least teetered with the idea–if you have, this is the book for you! Wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to have your income generated by something that you really enjoy or are interested in? It doesn’t matter our age or where we are in our lives. We have the power to redirect, set new goals, and achieve them. We just have to be smart about it. This book provides realistic insight as to what running a business is really about. It will help prepare you for all aspects of business and teach you how to protect yourself and your investment. The simplicity of using our intuition is often overlooked. The point is to understand exactly what you’re getting into and not be blinded by the appearance of a good opportunity. This book will open your eyes and show you how to evaluate opportunities, people, and motives–skills often overlooked but are critical aspects of owning and operating a successful business. Prepare to get in tune with your “street smarts” in order to be successful in business and in life.

Street Smart Disciplines by John A. Kuhn and Mark K. MullinsThese are the Disciplines that can change everything!Street Smart Disciplines gives you access to decades of successful real world, street smart business experience and best practices mined from successful people and businesses encapsulated into 7 easy to understand and executable action plans for Breakout Success.The authors identified the 7 essential and vital disciplines that people must incorporate into their playbook to reach the pinnacle of business success. Kuhn and Mullins speak from experience. One of their first businesses was started for less than $1,000; built it into a multimillion-dollar success and sold debt-free to a Fortune 500 company using these very same disciplines. They continue to use these disciplines to achieve ongoing success and personal fulfillment.The eye-opening insights and practical wisdom will inspire and guide go-getters who want to climb the corporate ladder, aspiring entrepreneurs looking to launch new businesses and established business owners who want to take their organizations to the next level. These indispensable disciplines are drawn from real people, real experiences, real successes, real problems, and real solutions. They are tried and true, time tested, and proven on the street by the authors, successful companies, and successful people—from Wall Street to Main Street—and include a compilation of advice, tips, tactics, techniques, and strategies that work.This is the first book that explains the how and why of Disciplines. Street Smart Disciplines captures the essence of good business practices and distills them into simple, straight- talking, and no-nonsense language. Kuhn and Mullins demystify the process of achieving Breakout Success. You can immediately start applying this vast storehouse of knowledge that combines the winning perspectives of successful entrepreneurial, corporate and academic experts.Learn how to: • Develop a Dynamic Plan for Break-Out Success • Maximize Yourself and Your Ideas• Duplicate Winning Strategies of Successful People • Manage Change and Complexity • Master the Mental Game of Doing Business • Establish Bulletproof Financial Systems and Controls • Create Powerful and Compelling Presentations • Seek out Role Models, Mentors and Smart People • Optimize your Resources …and much more. Integrate the disciplines one by one into your life and business and achieve more success and personal fulfillment in your life than you ever thought possible! “Straight talk! The only book that shows what it should really take takes to succeed in business. One of most honest books I've read.” Michael Kenny, Founder, Agoda.com (subsidiary of Priceline.com)

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Successfully grow your business and improve customer and employee happiness with this New York Times bestseller book written by the CEO of Zappos. As the CEO of one of Fortune Magazine's "Best Companies to Work For," Tony Hsieh knows that keeping people happy is the key to professional growth and harmony. It might sound crazy, but Hsieh believes that we can prioritize company culture, make money, and change the world. In Delivering Happiness, he shares the tools of the trade he's learned in business and life, from starting a worm farm to running a pizza business, to working at Zappos–a company so impressive that Amazon acquired it for over $1.2 billion. Fast-paced and down-to-earth, Delivering Happiness shows how a different kind of corporate culture is a powerful model for achieving success, and concentrating on the happiness of those around you can dramatically increase your own.