Big Vision, Small Business

Big Vision, Small Business

by Jamie S. Walters
Released October 2002
Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ISBN: 9781605094618

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Book description


While most of the business world worships size and constant growth, Big Vision, Small Business celebrates the art—and power—of small. Based on interviews with more than seventy small-business owners and on her own experiences as a successful small-business entrepreneur, Jamie Walters shows how a business can stay small and remain vital, healthy, and rewarding.

If you long to run a successful, socially conscious enterprise as one element of a fulfilling personal life, Big Vision, Small Business shows you how. Covering growth options and small-enterprise advantages, inspired visioning, communication, and right-relationship, mindset issues and expectation management, and wisdom and mastery practices, Big Vision, Small Business is a must-read for every entrepreneur and futurist. Walters defines for keys essential to creating a small business with a big vision:
• Creating alternatives to the dominant definition of "growth
• Learning the art of visioning big
• Creating "right relationships" with employees, customers, and others
• Overcoming the common stumbling blocks, such as money, risk, competition, and success.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Preface: The Great Power of Small Enterprise
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. Section One: Key No. 1: There’s More Than One Way to Define Growth
    1. Chapter 1: Finding Quality in the Land of Quantity
    2. Chapter 2: Appreciating the Power of Small Enterprise
      1. What Is a Small Business?
      2. The Contributions of Small Business to Society
    3. Chapter 3: Which is Better, Big or Small?
    4. Chapter 4: Moving from Quantitative Growth to Qualitative Evolution
      1. Transformative Small-Business Journeys
    5. Chapter 5: Profiles in Growth
      1. Perseverance: The Journey of Stephen Marcus and AIRS International
      2. Redemption: The Journey of San Francisco Renaissance
      3. Renewal: The Journey of Shelby Designs & Illustrates
      4. Emergence: The Journey of Ummelina International Day Spa
      5. Creating a Personal Definition for Growth
  9. Section Two: Key No. 2: To Live Large, You Have to Vision Big
    1. Chapter 6: Vision in the Smallest Enterprises
    2. Chapter 7: Twelve Priorities of Big-Vision Small Businesseses
      1. Big-Vision Priorities and Business Norms
      2. Pursuing Big-Vision Values while Meeting Real-World Challenges
    3. Chapter 8: The Guiding Vision
      1. How Does Vision Differ from Mission and Core Values?
      2. Why Do You Have to Reflect upon and Articulate Your Vision?
      3. A Reflection on Where We Spend Our Time and Energy
    4. Chapter 9: Vision Profile: The Cat Doctor
      1. Taking the Vision into Action
    5. Chapter 10: To Plan or Not to Plan
      1. So Why Don’t Business Owners Plan?
    6. Chapter 11: Approaches to Visioning and Planning
      1. Exercise: Putting It All Together
      2. Working from Your Own Standards
  10. Section Three: Key No. 3: Right Relationship is a Big-Vision Craft
    1. Chapter 12: Right Relationship As a Pathway for Qualitative Growth
    2. Chapter 13: Golden Rules for Right Relationships
      1. Putting the Golden Rules into Practice
    3. Chapter 14: Creating Right Relationships with Employees
      1. Before the Interview
      2. During the Interview
      3. Alternatives to Hiring Full-Time Employees
    4. Chapter 15: Maintaining Right Relationships with Employees
      1. Orientation: Getting Off to a Good Start
      2. For Great Performance, Get Clear on Roles
      3. Communication and Company Goals
      4. Performance Evaluation and Recognition
      5. Ending Relationships That Are No Longer Mutually Beneficial
    5. Chapter 16: Creating Right Relationships with Customers
      1. Right Relationships Begin before the Sale
      2. Common Expectations
    6. Chapter 17: Maintaining Right Relationships with Customers
      1. Attention to Detail
      2. Leaving Things as You Find Them
      3. Reality Checks
      4. When Parting Ways Is the Right Choice
      5. Finding the Energy—or Inspiration— for Practicing Right Relationship
  11. Section Four: Key No. 4: To Live from the Source, Replenish the Well
    1. Chapter 18: Wisdom and Mastery in Business
      1. Faith and the Marketplace: Old or New Trend?
      2. Where Religion and Work Meet
      3. The Need for Meaning in the Workplace
      4. Common Wisdom and Mindset Challenges
    2. Chapter 19: Money and Risk
    3. Chapter 20: Competition
    4. Chapter 21: Success and Failure
    5. Chapter 22: Time and Balance
    6. Chapter 23: Wisdom and Mastery Practices
      1. Personal Reflections on Mastery and Wisdom Practice
  12. Parting Thoughts
    1. Where Do You Go from Here?
  13. Notes
  14. Bibliography and Reading Guide
  15. Index
  16. About the Author

Product information

  • Title: Big Vision, Small Business
  • Author(s): Jamie S. Walters
  • Release date: October 2002
  • Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
  • ISBN: 9781605094618