Preface

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of good business books are on the market today, so why do you need this one? You need it because very few people talk about how tough it is to run a business. Very few business books offer suggestions on how to jump the hurdles that arise as you grow your business. This book answers questions about how an entrepreneur can stay balanced, sane, and profitable while running a values-driven company that focuses on people, planet, and profit. This is not a book that tells you how to avoid the tough stuff; it is a book about how to deal with the tough stuff when it inevitably comes along.

In order to write the book, we both told our stories about the challenges of running businesses. Then we searched for a small group of entrepreneurs, working in various sectors, who would be willing to talk about the difficult times they’ve had in running their businesses. We looked for business leaders who could see clearly, speak truthfully, and laugh loudly. These leaders had to be brave and honest enough to go beyond the PR and tell us what it was really like. In the end, we chose five contributors: Carol Berry, cofounder and CEO of Putney Pasta, an all-natural gourmet pasta company; Gary Hirshberg, president, chairman, and CEO of Stonyfield Farm, the world’s leading organic yogurt producer; Joe O’Connell, founding owner of Creative Machines, a nine-person company that makes interactive museum exhibits, public art, and simple machines to help the neediest people worldwide; Marie Wilson, president of the Ms. Foundation for Women and founder of the White House Project, a progressive nonpartisan organization whose mission is to put more women in positions of leadership; and Tom Raffio, president and CEO of Northeast Delta Dental, a provider of dental benefits to individuals and organizations in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.

These contributors offered differing perspectives in terms of gender, age, industry, and geographic region. The contributors are weighted a little heavier in “product” companies, but they also represent the service sector, nonprofits, and the arts. Some of our contributors are still running their businesses, one almost lost her business, another is trying to find a steady cash-flow product to stabilize his company, and some found unique ways to sell their businesses when it was time to move on. Despite the differences among the contributors and their businesses, the core structures that helped these folks through the tough times were surprisingly similar: create an advisory board, own your numbers, and take care of the leader. We created two extended practical wisdom sections on creating an advisory board and owning your numbers. The practical tips are geared toward taking care of you, the leader.

Whether you are a new or seasoned entrepreneur, you will need help dealing with the difficult situations that come along in business while also staying close to your values-driven mission. This book offers practical wisdom and useful tips on how to stay sane in an increasingly difficult business world. The best way to use this book is to think of us sitting with you at your kitchen table, telling stories and offering advice over a cup of coffee. We are not the experts; we are fellow travelers who have figured out how to make the tough stuff a little easier. In this book, the president of a manufacturing company survives an accident at her plant; the CEO of a service company talks about the Goliath of consolidation; the head of a company faces an employee lawsuit after a consultant makes a bad move; a nonprofit leader asks for money for her organization’s mission while not being sure she can pay that month’s rent; a small business owner, brilliant at product development, learns about the importance of bookkeeping; and the head of a successful company wakes up at three in the morning, worrying about payroll. Each one of us writes about being on the verge of burnout, feeling scared, overwhelmed, and lonely. Telling the truth in these stories has made us better leaders, and we believe it can do the same for you. Some of what we say will resonate with you—it will open a door, spark an idea. Keep those parts of the book and use them. Other suggestions will feel like trying on an itchy sweater that doesn’t fit. Leave those suggestions until another time or share them with another busi-nessperson who needs help.

These are times of great change and uncertainty in our economy, and many people are looking for meaning in their lives. We are looking for ways to connect to our communities, provide livable jobs for ourselves and our stakeholders, and, most importantly, find meaning in our work. With a firm resolve to adhere to the “three Ps” (people, planet, profit), you, as a socially responsible business leader, are in a unique position. You are acting in a radical way by using business as a tool to create the change you want to see in the world. Our intention is to help you do this. Whether you are contemplating striking out on your own, are already running a business, or are working in an organization that is interested in more than the next quarterly profit report, this book is for you.