The Brass Tacks Entrepreneur

For dreamers of independent wealth and owners of small businesses, Schell's clear-headed, plain-talking memoir-cum-cautionary tale is useful reading. Launched with a $15,000 investment, the author's most recent of four businesses, National Screenprint, was earning $25 million in sales when he sold it. Here he proves comparably successful, tracing three characteristic stages of evolution for a growth entrepreneurial effort: the owner-do-it-yourself phase, a chummy intermediate ``sunshine'' period when sales and production match, and the ``years from hell'' when sales outrun production, transportation and cash flow. Balancing authoritative insight with delightful humor, Schell covers such issues as financing (not from relatives, please); the hiring of lawyers, accountants and consultants; development of effective employee, supplier and customer relations; and keeping calm in the face of sudden, excessive inventory. (May)