How Many Meatballs?
A Field Guide For Small Business
by Gerard McInnis

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What helps a promising business become truly valuable? For many small business owners, the answer is not simply more passion, longer hours, or bigger risks—it is learning how to recognize the decisions that create momentum, strengthen confidence, and build lasting value. How Many Meatballs? is a practical, plain-spoken guide for founders and small business owners who want to make smarter choices at every stage of the journey. Drawing on four decades of experience as a business valuator, Gerard McInnis shares real-world stories and lessons that help entrepreneurs see their businesses more clearly, act with greater foresight, and pursue growth with purpose—always with one essential question in mind: will this create value? Inside, readers will find more than sixty concise lessons on the decisions that shape a company’s future, from personal branding, business model design, and customer focus to financing, resilience, and strategic direction. Designed to be useful today and worth returning to tomorrow, this handbook gives entrepreneurs the perspective to recognize patterns, the confidence to navigate uncertainty, and the tools to build a stronger, more valuable business.

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Gerard McInnis brings more than forty years of business experience to How Many Meatballs? As a chartered professional accountant, chartered business valuator, and certified corporate director, he has spent his career helping business owners understand what creates value, strengthens decisions, and helps promising companies reach their full potential. Inspired by the creativity, courage, and resilience he has seen in entrepreneurs, Gerard wrote this handbook to share practical lessons that can help owners think ahead, make stronger decisions, and build businesses that last. He is a member of the Chartered Accountants of Alberta and Canada, the Chartered Business Valuation Institute, the American Society of Appraisers, and the Institute of Corporate Directors. Gerard lives in Calgary, Canada, with his wife, their children, and grandchildren.

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Contributors

Author

Gerard McInnis