Introduction

The global economy is now primarily composed of small businesses. This situation is due to the large corporation's inability to meet the dynamic and changing needs of the market and global economy. While large corporations are able to provide some stability in the business market, small companies have the ability to offer customized goods and services in new niche market segments. Small businesses currently produce approximately 80 percent of the new jobs within the United States and the foreign markets. Next, small businesses help to improve the economy by increasing the employment rate and to offer individuals new employment opportunities and growth in new industries.

Individuals have become entrepreneurs and have started small businesses based on their new innovative ideas for goods and services. The estimated 28 million small businesses in the United States employ about 56.1 million of the nation's private workforce and account for 54% of all U.S. sales (Office of Advocacy, 2015). While small businesses have grown to produce more than half of the gross domestic product (GDP), the majority of small businesses fail within the first five years of operation. The main reason for the high failure rate of small businesses is the owner's inability to perform both the management and leadership roles in each key aspect of the daily business operation. The small business owner suffers from limited business knowledge, experience and financial resources that are successfully required to compete in the global market.

Since small business owners are required to invest their working resources in sustaining their business operation, they have a limited amount of time and capital remaining to earn a traditional business degree or attend any form of leadership and management training that is required to help them become proficient in all aspects of the business process. In order to help small business owners succeed beyond the five-year benchmark, a leadership and management resource guide that enables the business owner to gain the necessary on-the-job training and resources is required to ensure the success of their business.

The complete management and leadership resource guide (CMLRG) for the small business owner will provide a new paradigm that will enable the small business owner to receive the same education and business knowledge as a traditional degree program but at a fraction of the time and cost.