Taxes:

• Tax Services

• Tax Preparation

• Business Taxes - Options

• Home Office Expenses

• Real Estate Debt Solutions

• Solving Tax Problems
  
  

Accounting:

• Small Business Accounting

• QuickBooks Services

• Virtual Accounting

• Payroll Processing

• Success by the Numbers

• Transaction Flow
  

Making Sales:

• Show You The Money

• The Key Word in Sales

• Prospecting for Gold

• Low Cost Marketing

• Effective Advertising

• Hiring Salespeople
  

• 
  

Coaching:

• A Note from Dan

• Our Coaching Program

• Do What Makes Money

• The Sales Process

• Managing Numbers

• Food for Thought

• Growing Your Business

• The Complete Solution

• The Natural

• Deal With The Unknown

• Marketing and Selling

• Field of Dreams

• Deliver What You Promise

• Information Center

• FAQ Taxes

• Tax Tip of the Week

• Business Tip of the Month

• Financial Tip of the Month
  

“This is not just a book! It’s a collection of personal advice from an expert in small business. Dan gets right down to what really matters in small business – the individual."

Nobuko Ito, Au.D., President
Hearbright, An Audiology Corporation

Dan's Book!

• Getting in Business to Stay

• Table of Contents

• How to Get Dan's Book

• Chapter One

GETTING IN BUSINESS TO STAY

THE COMPLETE SMALL BUSINESS SOLUTION

A Step-by-Step Guide to building a successful and sustainable small business.

It is not enough to be good at creating a product or delivering a service.

You also need to be proficient at sales and know how to count and understand the money.

It is not enough to work longer and try harder.

You also need to manage yourself and others so you can divide your time between sales, production and administration, the three essential elements of all businesses.

What will you learn from reading this book?

Meet your guide:

Dan Lutchansky is a CPA that has been working with small business owners for over twenty-five years. He has taught thousands of people in his workshops and classes on how to find customers, manage employees and count the money. He doesn't mince words and tells it like it is. You will enjoy and benefit from his style of teaching as long as you want the truth on the steps you must take to build a successful and sustainable small business.

Do you want to build the business of your dreams? Just follow Dan's lead and he will take you there.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

HOW TO GET DAN’S BOOK

To receive a complimentary copy of Dan’s eBook, please complete the form at Contact Us.

You can purchase Dan’s book when you meet with him or at www.amazon.com.

“Getting in Business to Stay” is also available as an audio book. If you are interested, let Dan know when you meet him at a workshop or in his office.

CHAPTER ONE

WELCOME TO SMALL BUSINESS

When starting to write this book, I asked myself if the formula of many self-help business books should be followed. I was wondering if the reader should be told stories of fabulously successful people who have made millions, if not billions of dollars.

Would it inspire you to read about the guy who started Federal Express and went on to make a billion dollars? Perhaps the story of Ray Kroc would catch your attention. He started McDonalds in his fifties and went on to sell more hamburgers than anyone in history. Surely that would provide hope to the potential late bloomers reading this book.

Maybe I should write about the genius of Bill Gates, who became the richest man in the world through products created by other people. Now that is a great story. Even better yet, Donald Trump recently came out with a book entitled “Think Like A Billionaire.” That seems like a good place to start. How does that guy do it? He certainly makes it look easy and fun.

Well, I don’t know about you, I definitely don’t think like a billionaire. I would go golfing and traveling the world before reaching that point. And while the idea of thinking like a billionaire appeals to our dreams, thinking like one doesn’t do most people in small business any good. There are just too many levels between the billionaires of the world and the rest of us. Most of us need to think about paying the bills of the business first, paying our salaries second, and then earning a profit.

Therefore, this book is not intended for the future “Donald Trumps” of the world. It was not even written for the individuals who make a million dollars a year. They certainly don’t need my advice. Those people are already way up on the ladder of business success. This book was written for the rest of us who need to learn how to crawl before we walk or walk before we run.

Who are the rest of us?

We are the people who would like to start our own business, but are worried about making the jump.

We are the plumber who gets up every morning and does a great job, but can’t seem to hire the right first employee.

We are the jewelry store owner whose income has gone down significantly ever since we expanded from three to eight employees and don’t understand why.

We are the guy who purchased a sign shop in a down economy thinking it would be easy to right the ship. Well, we found out it wasn’t that easy, and we won’t take the emotional risk of really throwing ourselves into the business.

We are each and every one of us who wonder why people don’t buy what we are selling and it really gnaws at us because we know we can do a better job than the competition. If we were only given the chance, we would prove ourselves.

We are the ones who go about our daily struggles trying to build a better life. Some of us are not making it and are worried about survival. Others of us are making it, but still wonder if it is really worth all of the effort that goes along with being in our own business.

The rest of us are most of us. We are the ones who are responsible for the high failure rate. Running out of money and declaring bankruptcy does not cause it. No doubt that happens to some individuals. However, the high failure rate in business is caused because many smart and hard working people give up because of frustration.

Those people are frustrated because they find all that hard work and worry doesn’t provide enough rewards to make it worthwhile. They quit to search for a better life elsewhere. Well, I am here to tell you that if you are able to find the answers to small business success, there is no better life elsewhere. You do get to become King or Queen of your own world and that is a great feeling.

Three years ago I was interviewed for a television show on “Self-Reliance.” In preparation for that show I thought a lot about what would have real impact on people. I recently watched the tape of that program to gain inspiration to help write the final version of this book. I realized how much I liked what was said during that interview because it was from the heart. I had spoken about what people really needed to know to help them become successful in their own small business.

There is a big difference between what people need to hear versus what they would like to hear. It would be much easier to sell this book if I stood up in a room and told the audience that small business success is easy and everyone could achieve it. All you would have to do is to buy this book and your answers would be right there. Please believe I wish it were so. However, it is not. Small business success is just not that easy.

Is it true that if it were easy, everyone would start his or her own business? It would be nice to think so, but life experience has proven otherwise. Some people just don’t have the emotional makeup for self-employment. They feel more comfortable working under a set of rules and conditions created by someone else. There is nothing wrong with that, and I have met many who thrive in that environment, doing quite well both emotionally and financially.

However, some of us have a burning desire to live by our own set of rules as well as create our own world. And that is one of the big advantages of being in our own business. Those of us who are successful in small business do get to become King or Queen.

There is a certain amount of independence that goes along with being in your own small business. No one person can tell you that you are right or wrong or otherwise place limitations on you. Your potential is truly unlimited, and you can make as much money as your skills and ambition will allow.

I also believe that there is more financial security versus the perceived security of working for someone else. For example, I began my career working for a large international accounting firm. No matter how hard I worked or how good I was at doing the job, there was always one person who could say that my career, at least with that firm, was over.

The reason didn’t even have to be a good one. My employment could have been terminated because someone didn’t like the color of my hair or the brashness of my personality. Or perhaps business was bad and I was just one of the employees who were laid off. And the irony about the path of self-employment taken so many years ago is that the firm I started with is no longer in business. Who in their wildest dreams would have even thought Arthur Andersen & Co. would ever go out of business. It certainly never occurred to me.

I did choose the path of self-employment over twenty-five years ago. While my journey has not always been smooth, I do have the inner confidence that I will survive under my own terms and conditions, within my own set of values. And at least for me, life has been interesting and rewarding. I do feel that I am the King of my own world and that I can always make a good living as a result of developing the skills and emotions that go along with being successful in my own business.

Given the desire and commitment, you can also develop that inner confidence if you are willing to take that initial risk of jumping into your own business. I don’t use the word “jumping” lightly because that is exactly what is required.

During the last five years I have spoken on how to be successful in small business to thousands of people in workshops and classes. There were several students who seemed to have what it would take to make it in their own business. They had a good idea, the money and an outgoing personality. However, even after spending months planning to go into their own businesses, they couldn’t do it and instead got jobs. They just couldn’t get over their fears and doubts. It does require a leap of faith.

For those of you who are considering self-employment, I want to help you make that jump or help you make a clear decision that it is not for you. When you get through reading this book, you are either going to be overwhelmed by all that is required or you are going to be excited about all there is to learn. Either way, it will feel very good if you get off the fence and make a decision.

Why are you going to be able to make a choice one way or the other? Because I am going to tell you what is really required for you to be successful in your own business. You are going to see the complete picture. Unless you are a professional athlete or entertainer who makes so much money it doesn’t matter, being good at creating a product or delivering a service is not enough. You also need to be proficient at sales and know how to count and understand the money. It is not enough for you to work longer and try harder. You also need to manage yourself and others so you can appropriately divide your time between sales, production and administration, the three essential elements of all businesses.

In this book are many of the lessons I have learned during a lifetime journey of self-employment. I have been through the school of hard knocks and sincerely hope that you enjoy reading this book and are able to make good use of the information.

Let’s get started by learning the three most important words of small business.

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