The growth engine of the global economy is no longer through mega-production and huge conglomerates, but rather through the proliferation of smaller enterprises. In America alone, tens of thousands of businesses crop up each year. Unfortunately, few will succeed, though not due to a lack of ingenuity, initiative, or even capital. Why, then? Because, according to Dick Cross, author of Just Run It!, most business owners lack not just the fundamentals, the nuts and bolts of operating a business effectively day to day, but the bigger picture of how to achieve business success. After taking dozens of companies from underperforming to high performing, Cross observed a pattern, out of which he devised a formula for success. Using his Just Run It! formula he is now teaching business owners how to understand their business on "the back of an envelope" and make it exceptional.

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"Business adviser Cross is a steadfast believer in the power of the American small business. Though half a million new businesses are founded each year, most fail because the founders lack the overarching knowledge of how to run a business. In response, Cross has developed a framework to structure the reader's thinking about how to tackle this challenge. He takes readers through the four dimensions that describe all businesses (needs, positioning, customers, and competencies), his process of Vision-Strategy-Execution, a business's natural life cycle, managing funds, and demystifying leadership and management, as well as offering scripts for discussions and negotiations, and tips for instituting values...a remarkably readable game plan for business success." (Publishers Weekly)

"Cross shares lessons learned from his 25-plus years of experience transforming underperforming companies into industry powerhouses. Today's business environment has shifted from the post-World War II era focus on economies of scale in production and ready access to semiskilled labor, raw materials, and capital to new technologies and lower labor costs. Cross presents solid ideas on how to run smaller enterprises better suited to a 21st-century economy. His practical advice covers how to use simple analytical tools and business metrics to understand the business, how to align all the company's efforts through his Vision-Strategy-Execution structure, and how to review operations continually to take advantage of opportunities and changes in the environment. VERDICT: Cross's relatively short guide focuses on pragmatic, realistic suggestions any entrepreneur or CEO can easily adapt to his or her own environment. Recommended for readers interested in starting or running a small business." (Library Journal)

"Take a very bright architect who is trained to know how things 'fit.' Put him in positions of leadership where he invests the front half of his career as a consultant to CEOs and the back half actually being the CEO... and what do you get? One incredibly believable person. Read Just Run it! because it will benefit every company leader and provide personal gifts for a lifetime." (John C. Adams, Retired Chairman and CEO, AutoZone Inc.)

"Save your time and money on consultants. Everything that Dick Cross shares with us comes from one of those rare generous birds who has taken the theoretical and applied it to real-time practice of running a company. Just Run It! is a must-read for anyone in management who is searching for strategic enlightenment." (Mike Toth, Founder and Chief Creative Director, Toth & Co)