Self-Made Boss: Advice, Hacks, and Lessons from Small Business Owners

Part starter-kit, part encyclopedia, and part inspiration, Self-Made Boss is an essential survival guide for small businessesWhen it comes to getting practical advice, small business owners too often don t know where to look. Sure, you can find all sorts of high-level strategic tips from Fortune 500 CEOs. But what if you own a restaurant, and you re trying to figure out how to source good fish, or if you re looking to increase revenue from your plumbing supply store? You ll be running a lot of Google searches before you hear from someone who s actually stood in your shoes.Longtime Square executives Jackie Reses and Lauren Weinberg want to change this. So they reached out across the country, talking to dozens of entrepreneurs with valuable businesses and invaluable advice. This book is the product of that research. Part starter-kit, part encyclopedia, part inspiration, Self-Made Boss is filled with information not just about who these small business owners are, but how they built their companies, step by step.How did they get their start? When did they decide to hire more staff? How did they set a course for growth? And when problems arose, how did they fight through them? You ll hear from a second-generation ice cream shop owner on how to manage price increases; an oyster farmer finding new ways to stay afloat in the middle of a global pandemic; a roofer who refused to be denied or defined by her race and gender and dozens of other small business owners making a big difference in their communities.No matter the size of your business today or where you re thinking about taking the jump tomorrow you ll find answers you can apply right away.Because there s a common purpose that all small business owners share: the drive to build something from the ground up; the relentless pursuit of turning obstacles into opportunities and roadblocks into stepping stones. It s tough and messy, hard-fought and hard-won. And above all, it s something you can t have when you work anywhere else or for anyone else.That s what it means to be a Self-Made Boss.