Abstract:
If you want your own small business, or if you own
a small business, this book is for you.
Small business is where the money is. Five percent
of American taxpayers pay 51 percent of the entire income taxes paid in the United States. That’s very few
folks paying very big money! Of that top 5 percent of
big money taxpayers, 65 percent are small business
owners. The average income of these small business
owners is over $400,000. That’s big money!
According to government statistics there are at least
25 million small businesses in the United States (a
“small business” is one with fewer than 500 employees,and can be a corporation, a partnership, a proprietorship). Undoubtedly, there are, at any one time, millions
more. For example, criminal enterprises don’t usually
register with the IRS. Waiters, taxicab drivers, lemonade stand operators, and paperboys (and paper girls)
are small businesses. Caddies, babysitters, entertainers,
and full-commissioned salespeople are small businesses.
Of the 25 million small businesses, about 20 million have fewer than 50 employees. Approximately 17
million small businesses have only one or two employees, including the owner.
Small business owners are known by many names:
agents, entrepreneurs, capitalists, consultants, investors, inventors, franchisees, merchants, partners, promoters, operators, chiropractors, lawyers, artists,
architects, bankers, carpenters, engineers, grocers, hairdressers, painters, plumbers, restaurateurs.
Successful small business owners come in all sizes,
shapes, and colors; high school dropouts and Harvard
MBAs; young and old; male and female; hardscrabble
and to-the-manor-bred. They work hard. They create
value. They generate lots of paychecks to pay lots of
mortgages and tuitions. For better or for worse, they
are in control of their destiny.
Small business is where the money is. It is also where
