Taking Your Business to the Next Level and Beyond: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Developing an Exceptional Enterprise - Paperback

by Stephen C. Harper (Author)

There are dozens of books that help people start businesses. Yet, few books focus on life after start-up. Entrepreneurship is not about starting a business. It is about starting a business that becomes an exceptional enterprise. It is about Taking Your Business to the Next Level and Beyond Managing growth can be like traversing a minefield. One misstep and your emerging business can be in serious trouble. Growing too fast can spell disaster. Growing too slow can result in missed opportunities. Entrepreneurs cannot afford to approach managing growth with a learning by doing and/or a trial and error approach. If you do not have the skills and ability, then you could be your firm's worst enemy. As an entrepreneur, consultant, speaker, award-winning educator, and best-selling author, Dr. Stephen C. Harper helps guide you through the minefield. His latest book: - Blends the latest thinking with timeless ideas. - Provides numerous lists, examples, guidelines, tips, insights, and cautions that will make the difference between thriving and just surviving. - Features hundreds of "Reality Checks" that challenge your assumptions and practices. - Concludes with insightful and candid "Do"s and "Don't"s from numerous entrepreneurs. Early reviews from entrepreneurs of high-growth ventures include: ""Great book A must read for any new or seasoned entrepreneur," "Dr. Harper's candid insight guides any entrepreneur through the hard realities of growth." "An enjoyable, inspiring, and timely read." "Dr. Harper approaches you as a Board of Advisors would, by providing you and your business with solid guidance, direction, and experience." "He encourages you to face the realities of obstacles and warning signs inherent in the business growth cycle as well as provides the motivation and road map to plan for your company's future." "Dr. Harper presents the essential elements of success in a thought provoking format that is sure to make an immediate impact on the way you do business. This book is not about quick fixes or growth at any cost." "Dr. Harper's book offers keen insight about how to create a fast growth company that provides actual value to the marketplace opposed to short-minded strategies on "quick flip" exits," "Dr. Harper's 'Reality Checks' force you to truly look at your business thru the eyes of your customers, your employees and your competition." "Dr. Harper has done a remarkable job putting together the best subject matter for taking your business to The Next Level and Beyond." This is The Entrepreneur's Guide to Developing an Exceptional Enterprise

Author Biography

Stephen C. Harper, Ph.D., is an entrepreneur, consultant, speaker, award-winning educator, and best-selling author. His books on entrepreneurship and leadership include: Taking Your Business to the Next Level and Beyond! (2012), The Ever-Evolving Enterprise (2011), Extraordinary Entrepreneurship (2004), The McGraw-Hill Guide To Starting Your Own Business (2003) - a national bestseller - that includes a Chinese edition, The Forward-Focused Organization (2001), The McGraw-Hill Guide To Managing Growth In Your Emerging Business, (1995), and Management: Who Ever Said It Would Be Easy? (Editor and co-author, 1983). His latest book, Here's to the Crazy Entrepreneurs: Is Entrepreneurism a Mental Disorder? (2013) takes the reader inside the mindset of real entrepreneurs who change the way we live and work. Steve has been on the faculty at Arizona State University where he earned his doctorate, Duke University - as a Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship in its Executive MBA program, and The University of North Carolina Wilmington - where he is the Progress Energy/Betty Cameron Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship. Steve is the recipient of numerous awards including: The University of North Carolina Board of Governors' Award for Teaching Excellence. He has also received the Chairman's Service Award by the Council for Entrepreneurial Development and been recognized for outstanding service by the U.S. Small Business Administration for establishing and being the Director of UNCW's Small Business Institute for twenty years. Steve was President of Harper and Associates Inc. a business consulting firm, from 1976 through 2009. He has also been the co-founder and President of numerous economic development organizations. He has also served on the board of directors for numerous organizations. Steve has conducted hundreds of seminars on strategic thinking, breakthrough leadership, corporate entrepreneurship, and the management of change for corporations and not-for-profit enterprises. He has also made presentations at more than one hundred professional associations and been a speaker for Inc. Resources.