Small Business Development

The law of market failure: Most new products will fail in the market, even if competently executed.

Random House presents the audiobook edition of How to Be an Overnight Success by Maria Hatzistefanis. 'You are not born an entrepreneur. It's a skill that you learn along the way.' When the skincare company Rodial launched its cult 'snake' serum, the press quickly called the business an 'overnight success'. However, Rodial's founder, Maria Hatzistefanis, had been toiling for 18 years, building the company from scratch in her bedroom. Now, the beauty boss sets out to demonstrate in this very accessible book that its success stemmed from sheer hard work, tireless efforts and a lot of patience.

Philanthropist, investor, and technology pioneer Jean Case brings to life the five "Be Fearless" principles common to the people and organizations that change the world. This audiobook is a call to action for those seeking to live extraordinary lives and bring about transformational change. Be Fearless mixes storytelling and strategy, practical tips and inspiration, to teach individuals and organizations how to put these five principles to work so they, too, can spark the sorts of remarkable breakthroughs that change the world.

Women around the world have responded to Cara Alwill Leyba’s Girl Code with a resounding YES. Companies like Kate Spade and Macy’s have brought her in to teach “the Code.” Inc. magazine named Girl Code one of the “Top 9 Inspiring Books Every Female Entrepreneur Should Read” alongside Lean In, #Girlboss, and Thrive.

This brief, easy-to-understand and inspiring book has become a guide for thousands of people—giving them the tools they need to find their next move, trust themselves, and take action.

These days it's increasingly rare to have a stable career in any field. More and more of us are blending big company jobs, startup gigs, freelance work, and volunteer side projects. We take chances to expand our knowledge, capabilities, and experience. But how do we make sense of that kind of career-and explain it? Pamela Slim, the acclaimed author of Escape from Cubicle Nation, gives us the tools to have meaningful careers in this new world of work.

KISS did not become one of the most successful rock bands in history by accident. Long before they first took the stage, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley had a clear-cut operating plan for their business. Over the past forty years, KISS has sold over 100 million CDs and DVDs worldwide and manages over 3,000 licensed merchandise items. In addition to KISS, Simmons’ lucrative ventures include two hit reality shows, a professional sports team, a restaurant chain, and a record company.

Whether you’re a facilitator, instructional designer, or L&D department of one, you don’t need a fancy DSLR camera or film crew to create successful training videos. All you really need is a learning strategy, a good production plan, and a smartphone camera. Informed by his 30-year career in training and media, including his time as learning executive with the BBC, author Jonathan Halls is committed to best practices in video production that will actually help your learners to learn, and without a giant strain on your resources.

The Customer Success Manager has become a critical asset to organizations across the business landscape. As the subscription model has spread from the cloud and SaaS to more sectors of the economy, that pivotal role will only grow in importance. That's because if you want to compete and thrive in this new environment, you need to put the customer at the center of your strategy. You need to recognize you're no longer selling just a product. You're selling an outcome.

In order to navigate the complicated - at times maddening - struggles of contemporary femininity, we need an unabashed manifesto for the modern woman that inspires us to move past outrage and take positive steps on the personal, professional, and societal levels. This manifesto galvanizes us to action in 13 major areas of our lives with as much firepower as possible. These are the credos we live by, the advice we give to friends, the tenets we instill in our companies and peers on a daily basis.

Running an accounting firm is hard. Because nobody teaches you how to run an accountancy business when you do accountancy training. Nobody teaches you how to price your services, how to win new business, how to lead and manage a team or how to implement systems. The result is working too hard for too little money and never having enough time.

It's easy for scale-ups, giddy from early startup success, to get ahead of themselves and stumble. It's even easier to be slowed down by the many forces of resistance working against them: drag, inertia, friction, and waste. Drawing on a mastery of lean-based methods for achieving maximum effect with minimum means, private equity operators Matthew E. May and Pablo Dominguez provide listeners with a powerful framework of universally applicable principles that enable any company to effectively accelerate its ability to scale and grow.

Many of the greatest accomplishments can be reached only by two people working together. Tenzing and Hillary were the first to scale Mt. Everest. Malone and Stockton were the key to each other's success on the basketball court. Eisner was never as effective at Disney without Wells.But while some partnerships reach great heights, others fall short. Why do some people click while others clash? What do great pairs have in common?

Twice a year in the heart of Silicon Valley, a small investment firm called Y Combinator selects an elite group of young entrepreneurs from around the world for three months of intense work and instruction. Their brand-new two- or three-person start-ups are given a seemingly impossible challenge: to turn a raw idea into a viable business, fast.

The Entrepreneurial Process, one of Brown University’s highest-rated courses, has empowered thousands of students to start their own ventures. You might assume these ventures started because the founders were born entrepreneurs. You might assume that these folks had technical or finance degrees, or worked at fancy consulting firms, or had some other specialized knowledge. Yet that isn’t the case. Entrepreneurship is not a spirit or a gift. It is a process that anyone can learn, and that anyone can use to turn a problem into a solution with impact.

Every business leader and entrepreneur should strive for success as well as deep fulfillment and happiness. Few, however, if they are being honest, actually achieve their goals. This causes great disappointment and disillusionment. Many decide they must make a choice between these seemingly opposing states. Is it even possible to be spiritual, incredibly happy and fulfilled and wealthy - all at the same time?

In Shark Tales, Barbara shares her hilarious stories about growing up, getting into trouble, failing miserably, and then starting over again. In each chapter, she comes back to one of her mom's unconventional lessons, and how it applies in the real world of business. Whatever your calling, the homespun lessons that work for Barbara will help you use what you've got to create success in your life.

When someone sends you a referral it is like them lending you one of their cars. They are risking something precious to them, in this case their reputation and relationship with the person they are referring, but they are doing it because they know you and trust you. They expect you to take care of it and return it in the same or better condition. Referrals can be the key to a business-changing network of connections and self-generating opportunities. You just need to be the kind of person others are comfortable taking that risk with and you need to make sure you don’t wreck their ‘car’.

If you as a leader hold on too tightly—to your people, to everyday decision-making, to the past, and more—you will cut off vital oxygen necessary for growth. The solution: stop being a control freak and instead empower your employees, get out of your own way, and establish a clear vision for the future. Embrace the growth paradox to get unstuck and grow your company to the next level. By leaning into some key, counterintuitive business ideas, you’ll make space for changes that will lead to nonlinear growth.

Lifestyle changes can be overwhelming: It’s hard to take on major goals without falling prey to self-doubt. But with kaizen, big goals become small, approachable steps. This Japanese method first made waves in the business world by launching Toyota to success; it also adds magic to Marie Kondo’s life-changing method of tidying up. As Kondo puts it: “You can take the first small step toward your dream today, and keep taking small steps to grow your passions.” Now, Sarah Harvey unlocks kaizen’s amazing potential to enhance our everyday lives.