The Facts of Business Life: What Every Successful Business Owner Knows that You Don't
Wiley, October 2012
Being a successful business owner means more than knowing one's industry and understanding the basic concepts of leadership, management, or motivation. It means being able to master many areas of business, and knowing how each of these areas relate to and build on each other. It also means understanding how those areas change as a business goes through its inevitable life cycle, and how the owner must be prepared to change with them. The Facts of Business Life is the first book designed to provide readers with the means of achieving the kind of long-term understanding that is the key to true and lasting success.
Written by a successful businessman with four decades of ownership experience, the book covers the seven facts of business life that every successful business owner knows: "If You Don't Lead, No One Will Follow," "If You Don't Control It, You Don't Own It," "Protecting Your Company's Assets Should be Your First Priority," "Planning Is About Preparing for the Future, Not Predicting It," "If You Don't Market Your Business, You Won't Have One," "The Marketplace Is a War Zone," and "You Don't Just Have to Know the Business You're In, You Have to Know Business."
Devoting one chapter to each fact, the book explains what it is, what it means, and, most important, how it can help entrepreneurs achieve success and avoid potentially harmful mistakes. Equally important, each chapter enables readers to not only understand the facts on their own, but also how they impact on a business as it passes through each of the five levels of every successful company's existence: "Ownership and Opportunity," "Creating Your Company's DNA," "From Survival to Success," "Maintaining Success," and "Moving On When It's Time to Go."
Packed with valuable advice, The Facts of Business Life presents every business owner -- whether he or she is starting, building, maintaining, or exiting a business -- with the key facts that, applied together, can ensure a strong and lasting enterprise.
Hardcover | ISBN: 9781118094969 | Publication Date: October 2012
Reviews:
"Bill McBean has both the experience and the acute insights to
give entrepreneurs the must-know basics in an easy-to-grasp way.
He does just that with The Facts of Business Life, which
provides an invaluable 'long view' on what it really means to be
an entrepreneur. Businesses, like civilizations, have particular
life cycles. This is the first business book I know of that is
structured around the customary life cycle of a company and the
skills required at each juncture. I especially like the author's
thoughts on 'building-in' your exit strategy early on."
-- Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Media
"If you're a would‐be entrepreneur or a business owner embroiled
in the day‐to‐day business of business, there's not much that
speaks to the full life cycle of what it means -- truly means --
to be an owner, manager, CEO, and board chairman. That's where
Bill McBean comes in."
-- From the Foreword by New York Times bestselling author
Ken Fisher
"Bill McBean is a classic entrepreneur with 'street smarts,' book
smarts, and a tremendous will to win. His success as an athlete, a
small businessman, and a highly respected multi‐franchise retailer
gives him credibility to be heard and valued."
-- Mike Maroone, President and COO, AutoNation
"Being in business for yourself is not only a part of the great
American dream. I feel it is the best way to work, live, and
succeed. Unfortunately, when you start or acquire a new business,
it doesn't come with an owner's manual. In The Facts of
Business Life, Bill McBean has created a road map and a
guide designed to take us all from where we are to where we want
to be."
-- Jim Stovall, bestselling author of The Ultimate Gift
and The Ultimate Financial Plan
"From a banker's perspective, this is a book every business owner
should read. The business lifecycle concept alone is worth the
price of admission. Bankers will always respond more favorably to
clients who can pinpoint their financial needs and understand
their business, their market, and their opportunities. This book
shows the client how to do this. The Facts of Business Life
is not only a must-read for every business owner, it's a must-read
for every banker."
-- Blayne Lensen, Vice President of Global Risk Management
(ret.), Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank)
"As a Co-Captain of the 1989 Stanley Cup Champion Calgary Flames,
I learned that practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice
makes perfect. The same has held true in my business career. The
Facts of Business Life gives you a road map, a plan, a
framework to apply to your business so that you employ perfect
practice as it relates to your company. The book can be read
chronologically or randomly and provides value on the area of
focus you wish to zero in on. Read it and win your own
championship."
-- Jim Peplinski, Owner, Jim Peplinski Leasing Inc.;
Executive Chairman, Humberview Partners; Vice President of
Business Development, Calgary Flames (NHL)
