Simply Success

In Simply Success, the former chairman and founder of Quill Corporation presents key lessons of entrepreneurship, including how to get started, set a vision, finance the business, and build a successful corporate culture. Based on his own experience, Miller shares his most hard-earned lessons, so you can avoid learning the same lessons the painful way. For entrepreneurs young and old, or even if only dream of starting a business one day, this book is a guiding light to a successful enterprise.

Introduction 1

Chapter 1. A Bit of History 5

Chapter 2. What It Takes to Be an Entrepreneur 27

Chapter 3. Getting Started 33

Chapter 4. Financing 39

Chapter 5. The Miracle of Hard Work 47

Chapter 6. The Magic of a Vision 53

Chapter 7. Focus: Putting on the Blinders 61

Chapter 8. Concentrate on Your Customer 71

Chapter 9. There is a Better Way 79

Chapter 10. Plotting Your Course with Strategic Planning 85

Chapter 11. Implementation: Making It Happen 91

Chapter 12. Forecasting and Budgeting 99

Chapter 13. Using Your Financial Statements to Get Where You Want to Go 105

Chapter 14. You Can, Too, Argue with Success! 111

Chapter 15. Building a Great Corporate Culture 117

Chapter 16. Shaping a Winning Organization 133

Chapter 17. Who Controls Your Life? 147

Chapter 18. Easing the Burden 153

Chapter 19. Doing More by Doing Less 159

Chapter 20. Your Growth as a Leader 165

Chapter 21. Someone Changed the Rules. Why Wasn’t It Me? 173

Chapter 22. About the Lifelong Learning Process 179

Chapter 23. The Art of Survival 185

Chapter 24. How to Do Almost Everything Wrong 191

Chapter 25. About Advisors and Boards 203

Chapter 26. A Family Business Can Be Great—or . . . 209

Chapter 27. The Glory of the Free Enterprise System 215

Index 219

"... delightful book." (Reading Chronicle)

JACK MILLER is the founder and former president and CEO of the Quill Corporation, which he sold to Staples for almost $700 million. He currently deals in real estate and other investments at Millbrook Properties and The Benida Group.

If you dream of starting and running your own business, being your own boss, and living the kind of life you really want, there's no better way to succeed than to follow the advice of someone who has already been there and done that. In Simply Success, Quill Corporation founder Jack Miller shares the lessons he learned turning his small business into a nearly $700 million behemoth. Miller's story is a testament to what you can do when you work hard, reinvest in your business, and have a real passion for what you do.

But Simply Success isn't a book about Miller's business. It's about the lessons he learned—lessons you can use in building your own business—as he and his brothers built Quill from a one-man operation with a phone in his dad's chicken store to a successful business with more than 1,200 employees. This inspiring and practical guide gives entrepreneurs like you an inside look at the right way to build and run a successful business, from the nuts-and-bolts basics to long-term strategy. Miller presents deep insight on:

• What it takes to be a successful entrepreneur
• Keeping it simple to keep your business profitable
• Building a vision and a long-term strategy to achieve it
• Why customer service is the key
• Forecasting and budgeting
• Building a strong, healthy corporate culture
• How to grow into a better, stronger leader
• The art of surviving the ups and downs of business

You won't learn these real-world business lessons in any Ivy League MBA program. Simply Success isn't for people who are just in it for the money. It's for people who want to build a real business that offers customers real value—all while making a great living doing what they love. Even good business ideas sometimes fail. But with the principles and advice Miller shares in Simply Success, you'll have more than a fighting chance to achieve all your goals.

Small business and the entrepreneurial spirit form the backbone of America. Tomorrow's biggest and best companies will sprout from a handful of today's smartest small businesses. Will your small business be one of them?