Atlanta. In 1981, Max Carey started his first venture and within six months he was broke. Undaunted, he rebuilt that business. By 1987, by focusing on brand identification and its effect on a successful marketing campaign, his market development company was ranked number 392 in a list of the 500 fastest-growing companies in America by Inc. Magazine. He has subsequently won numerous small business awards, including the SBA's National Veteran Advocate of the Year. He is a member of the Council of Growing Companies and a frequent speaker about marketing and today shares with us his "Sliver of Genius."

Key Ideas.

• It's always too soon to quit.
• The owner's role shifts over time.
• To grow a company, honesty is more important that protecting an image.

• READ THE TRANSCRIPT All the words of this show are always part of Small Business School.
• SIGNUP! THIS SCHOOL'S JUST FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS: If you enroll in one of the course within Small Business School, you can become part of several different small businesses indexes. You and your business can qualify to:
  • Get listed within your business type and within your state's listings,
  • Be profiled on a show (local or national),
  • Generate automatically a business plan for debt financing and/or a SCOR for equity financing,
  • Be listed within a Small Business index, and
  • Qualify to be listed within the "best of small businesses within a business category" and be immediately pre-qualified for equity investments from several mutual and pension funds.
• AT YOUR LOCAL COLLEGE: Check this list of schools (partial). Also, check for classes with your local Small Business Development Center, Chamber of Commerce, and Economic Development Commission.
• LOOK AT STEPS 1-8. Think about where you are and where you want to be.
• STUDY BUSINESSES BY TYPE.
• WATCH TV! To find out what is airing in your market, usually on your local PBS-member station, click here.

• CONTACT:
  Corporate Resource Development, Inc. (CRD)
  400 Galleria Parkway, Suite 1500,
  Atlanta, Georgia 30339
  Tel: 770.772.4273
  Fax: 770.754.7828
  URL:http://www.crdatlanta.com
  Email:Click here.
  

Another interview with a fast-growing business: Steve Day's State Line Tack is the largest retailer of equestrian equipment in the world, yet in 1994 it was still a small business. Located just across the Massachusetts border, this company is a mail-order business and will ship $40 million in merchandise this year. Steve, an avid equestrian (some say, horseman) bought the company with venture capital in 1991 when the sales were $8 million. He has expanded the product line, beefed up the technology, and added some key people to his staff. Since we were there, Steve sold the company and is on to his next venture.