The Rhythm of Business: The Key to Building and Running Successful Companies

Entrepreneurs, especially first-timers, are often frustrated with the start-up process. Not only is setting up more time consuming than anticipated, but a business takes unexpected detours as its founder tries to get it to respond to its customers' needs. Instead of complaining about this situation, argues Shuman, a business professor at Bentley College in Massachusetts, entrepreneurs need to accept and even celebrate it. While exploring issues that they may face everyday--e.g., cash flow, marketing--Shuman, writing with freelancer Rottenberg, stresses that every business goes through ""a natural development process"" that involves creating a product, testing and refining it, then repeating the process. After a while, stresses Shuman, an entrepreneur develops a feel for the ""rhythm"" and can respond accordingly. Shuman gives many examples of companies that began in one direction only to be forced by the rhythm of their particular business to go in another. This book will interest those who wish to disregard conventional wisdom. (Jan.)