Dealing with the tough stuff

Your business plan is only going to get you so far. When you?re actually running a values-driven business problems come up that you never could have anticipated. And as a mission-driven organization you face issues your more conventional colleagues never have to grapple with. The whole experience can be incredibly isolating and draining. Margot Fraser and Lisa Lorimer have been there, and they?re here to help. Together with five of their colleagues?including Stonyfield Yogurt founder Gary Hirshberg and former Ms. Foundation president Marie C. Wilson?they offer the kinds of personal insights and seasoned advice you just can?t get in business school. It?s like having a coaching session with some of the nation?s top socially conscious entrepreneurs. Each chapter of Dealing with the Tough Stuff tackles a particular challenge. How open and honest can you really be with your employees and still run an efficient business? At what point do you seek outside expertise? What do you do when things go terribly wrong? When is it time to leave? The authors and the members of their ?advisory board? share their experiences?not just what worked, but sometimes what spectacularly didn?t. Some of these stories are harrowing: a worker getting killed by factory equipment, a supplier embezzling funds, a false accusation of intellectual property theft. Others are simply day-to-day conundrums: meeting payroll when you?re always in debt, deciding when and how to expand in a responsible way, balancing business needs with your commitment to the triple bottom line. At the end of each chapter, Lorimer and Frasier draw on the stories to offer practical "survival suggestions" that can guide readers through similar situations. This is a book that readers can look to for affirmation, hope and tools. Others have been through what you?re going through, if not worse. They made it and so can you?because they?re going to show you how they did it. No book can cover every challenge that might arise, but if you learn from the attitudes, techniques and coping mechanisms these seasoned leaders offer, you?ll get through the tough stuff with your sanity and your business intact.