The best family business has one member. Weekends are for working, not playing golf or coaching. Never pay your vendors on time. Wear your control-freak badge with pride. Out denial: If your business is failing during a recession, it's your fault.

George Cloutier's controversial rules for doing business aren't taught at Harvard Business School. The founder and CEO of American Management Services and "the leading advocate for small business" (Reuters), Cloutier has spent more than thirty years guiding business owners through the tough choices that line the road to...