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Introduction

Dear Reader,

Over the years, I’ve often wished I could find a business consultant in a book—a source I could turn to for ideas, inspiration, or answers. Why, I wondered, didn’t my business come with an owner’s manual?

After all, virtually everything I have—my computer, my DVD player, even my toaster—came with a manual. But the single most complicated thing I own—my business—came with nothing but a good idea and a lot of motivation.

I decided that since nobody else had developed an Owner’s Manual for Small Business, I would create one myself.

Like many entrepreneurs, my personal business odyssey has been a story of growth, change, and excitement. Twenty years ago, I started out with a home-based, one-person consulting business. Over time, my company grew. My clients grew bigger, too, until I was developing business plans for larger and larger companies, even Fortune 100 companies, and had clients all over the country and the world.

In 1994, I saw the promise of the Internet and began an Internet company for small business owners. It was profitable at a time when few dot-com companies made money, and I later sold it.

A few years earlier, I began writing a column about small business for the Gannett News Service. It continues to appear weekly in USAToday.com and over 100 newspapers throughout the U.S. I’m proud to say it’s still the most widely distributed small business column in the country. I’m also invited to speak to entrepreneurs’ groups throughout the world about how to start and grow businesses.

Today I own a fast-growing publishing company. I deal with the real-life issues facing all entrepreneurs—managing cash flow, making payroll, closing sales, raising money, getting product out the door, and on and on.

To prepare this Owner’s Manual, I thought about the things I wished someone had told me as I grew my businesses—things I learned the hard way—as well as the questions I am asked most frequently by clients, readers, and entrepreneurs. I wanted to address the toughest issues business owners face, from getting started to exit plans to how to have a successful business lunch.

So turn to this handy Owner’s Manual for Small Business when you need information, inspiration, or ideas. In the pages that follow, you’ll find the advice you’d hear from me if we were meeting face to face—exactly the kind of advice I could have used when I was starting and growing my business.

Good luck with your own venture. I’m pulling for you all the way!

Rhonda Abrams