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Successful niche firms will help economy rebound Print E-mail
Written by Henry Dubroff   
Friday, 02 January 2009

When the American economy does turn around, presumably at some point next year, one aspect of that recovery will be very easy to forecast. I can say with absolute certainty that the vast majority of private sector jobs created in the rebound will come from small business.

That’s because small businesses, particularly niche companies that dominate a particular marketplace, have led the way in job growth in every recovery since the government has been keeping records.

I’m proud that the Pacific Coast Business Times was part of the last economic recovery — adding what would eventually be 12 new jobs to the tri-county workforce.

And I’m hoping many of the lessons I learned in creating the Business Times and observing business trends in the Tri-Counties will be helpful to a new generation of entrepreneurs.

That’s why co-author Susan J. Marks, a former colleague from The Denver Post, and I wrote a new book aimed at small business owners and potential owners. It’s called “Battling Big Box: How Nimble Niche Companies Can Outmaneuver Giant Competitors” [Career Press, $15.99].

In our book we talked to dozens of niche company entrepreneurs including Kinko’s founder Paul Orfalea, Jamey Power of J.D. Power & Associates, Balance Bar’s former CEO Jim Wolfe and Domino’s franchisee Sam Hishmeh. We also talked to David Peterson, whose dad, Herb, invented the Egg McMuffin.

We distilled five key ingredients to the successful creation of a niche company — one that holds significant market share in a distinctive market segment or geographic area.

To view this column and all other full stories and offerings in the Business Times, see this week's print version or SUBSCRIBE for $49.99 today.

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Casey McCann - General Manager | 2009-01-06 10:20:09
Mr. Dubroff-

My name is Casey McCann, and I'm the general manager at Hazelwood Allied Moving and Storage in Carpinteria.

After reading your most recent article, "Successful niche firms will help economy rebound" I decided to purchase your book, "Battling Big Box."

What fantastic, thought provoking analysis! I read your book cover to cover on Sunday and then gave it to my dad who has owned our business for the past 38 years. He too found the content to be extremely relevant and valuable for our industry.

Althouh our company is a franchise of a large national chain--Allied--we are fundamentally a small business competing with other moving companies in the Tri-Counties.

We now have additional ammunition to outsmart our competitors and weather this challenging economy. As a relatively new manager, the case studies and take-aways from your book were very helpful.

Thank you!

Casey McCann
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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.

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