Book excerpt: Business schools have long enticed students into their MBA programs with the promise that, after a short stint spent studying the ins and outs of the business world, they will be able to step right into the upper echelons of management or launch a business that soon has them flitting about the world in a private jet. "Sounds great," you say. "Sign me up!" Not so fast. Sure, business school might prove a necessary prerequisite for those aiming to gain employment at a large financial institution, land a job with a consultancy, or accelerate their journey to managerial superstardom at a Fortune 500 company. But for aspiring entrepreneurs and established business owners alike, the truth of the matter is this: The ability to get a business off the ground and running successfully is not the byproduct of toiling away in a classroom, learning esoteric subjects like the economics of competition. Rather, all it takes to start and run a truly successful business are a few sensible, time-proven techniques that have been needlessly forgotten in business innovators' haste to reinvent the wheel. That's why, in The Street Smart MBA, Steve Babitsky and James J. Mangraviti, Jr., encourage you to ditch class—or, better yet, ditch b-school altogether—and go back to the business basics with a series of ten simple steps that will do more for your company than the letters M, B, and A ever will. There are no forays into game theory in The Street Smart MBA, no parables, and no intellectualizing. Instead what you will find is a practical, easy-to-understand, step-by-step business strategy guide that encourages you to revive a handful of basic yet essential practices that many business owners have lost sight of, such as: Building a brand that is so synonymous with quality that you'll be able to maximize your company's profits in no time; Turning your company's products and services into profits by finding your company a niche, working with deadlines, and honoring your company's image above all else; Dealing with customer complaints head-on so that you can turn gripes into opportunities; Doing favors, mentoring, and sending gifts, in order to grow your business network; And much more. With its emphasis on ten simple yet time-honored principles that lead to business success, The Street Smart MBA is all the business education that entrepreneurs with great ideas and business owners with the drive to succeed will ever need.