Chapter Outline

LO 14.1 Describe the functions and activities involved in managing a small business.

Managers plan, organize, lead, and control. To accomplish these functions, they perform many activities, such as developing relationships, negotiating, motivating, resolving conflicts, establishing information networks, making decisions, and continually learning.

LO 14.2 Explain the stages of small business growth and their consequences for managing your business.

In the earliest stage of many businesses’ life, the entrepreneur acts alone. Many entrepreneurs even prefer to keep their businesses as one-person organizations. In the second growth stage, employees are added, so the entrepreneur often acts as a coach in getting work accomplished through other people. In stage three, a new layer of supervision is added, so the entrepreneur does not directly control all the people or activities of the business. In the fourth stage, takeoff, the business has grown to include multiple departments managed by numerous supervisors. By the fifth stage, the owner and the business are separate entities, both financially and operationally.

LO 14.3 Discuss the significance of leadership andmotivation in regard to employees of small business.

Leadership means inspiring other people to accomplish what needs to be done. Leadership is part of a manager’s job of providing the vision, passion, and creativity needed for the business to succeed.Because management is getting things done through people, a small business manager must be able to motivate employees. The manager must therefore understand employees’ behavior and recognize what is important to them. Maslow’s and Herzberg’s theories provide small business managers with frameworks for understanding motivation.

LO 14.4 Discuss time and stress management as they relate to small business.

Besides running your business, you must be a good manager of time and be able to keep stress at acceptable levels.