A new analytical approach to small firms' cases, which* Uses rich primary source data on modern small businesses* Combines business strategy and industrial organization* Presents detailed Profiles on diverse small businesses* Shows how successful small businesses achieve competitive advantage* Considers both extended rivalry and financial structure* Shows how to `ground' small business theory in realityProfiles in Small Businesses has a companion volume Small Business Enterprise by Gavin Reid (also published by Routledge, Hb: 0-415-05681-0: £45.00) which contains a full analysis (ranging from econometrics to the ethics of competition) of the larger sample of small businesses from which the Profiles are drawn.