The 100 Greatest Ideas for Building the Business of Your Dreams (WH Smiths 100 Greatest)

171 Pages·2003·6.95 MB·English

by  Ken Langdon

THE
GREATEST IDEAS FOR
BUILDING THE BUSINESS
OF YOUR DREAMS
KEN LANGDON
CAPSTONE
Copyright © Ken Langdon 2000
The right of Ken Langdon to be identified as the author of this book has been
Asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
First published 2000 by
Capstone Publishing Limited (a Wiley Company)
The Atrium
Southern Gate
Chichester
West Sussex
PO19 8SQ
www.wileyeurope.com
Reprinted 2003
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
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Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP, UK, without the permission in writing of
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John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 8SQ,
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CIP catalogue records for this book are available from the British Library and the
US Library of Congress
ISBN 1-84112-514-8
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Contents
Acknowledgements xi
Introduction 1
Seven Greatest Ideas for Taking the Plunge 3
Idea 1 - Know that two heads are better than one 3
Idea 2 - Choose an arbiter or an assertive mentor 5
Idea 3 - Be quite clear what your dream is 6
Idea 4 - Know thyself 8
Idea 5 - Ease yourself out by MBO 10
Idea 6 - Research is not optional 13
Idea 7 - Feel free - franchise 14
Ten Greatest Ideas for Planning Your Business 17
Idea 8 - Choose your markets wisely 18
Idea 9 - Use the 'ideal' technique to understand your customers 19
Idea 10 - Know thine enemy 20
Idea 11 - Describe and compare the key people 22
Idea 12 - Reach your market realistically 22
Idea 13 - Make sure the price is right 23
Idea 14 - Picking your spot 24
Idea 15 - Add up the equipment and start-up costs 25
vi • The 100 Greatest Ideas for Building the Business of Your Dreams
Idea 16 - Take the banking forms seriously 26
Idea 17 - Plan for a lucky break-even 27
Six Greatest Ideas for Becoming a Consultant 29
Idea 18 - Don't be worse off 30
Idea 19 - See your value from the customer's point of view 32
Idea 20 - Know which comes first, the product or the customer 33
Idea 21 - Start by booking your holidays 34
Idea 22 - Don't let people smell fear 35
Idea 23 - Go with the flow 36
Four Greatest Ideas for Working from the Office
of Your Dreams 37
Idea 24 - Allocate enough space in the home 37
Idea 25 - Find out what is tax-deductible 38
Idea 26 - Don't stint on telephone lines 38
Idea 27 - Then get an office 40
Five Greatest Ideas for Financing Your Business 41
Idea 28 - Live by the two greatest financial mantras 41
Idea 29 - What kind of trader are you? 43
Idea 30 - Don't assume that fraud cannot happen to you 45
Idea 31 - Don't bet the house 46
Idea 32 - Give me but one firm spot on which to stand ... 47
Contents • vii
Four Greatest ideas for Staffing Your Business 51
Idea 33 - Grow your own head-hunters 51
Idea 34 - Hire the people who fit your dream 52
Idea 35 - Ask the customer 54
Idea 36 - Keep people in your variable costs 55
Four Greatest Ideas for Keeping In Touch
with Your Market 57
Idea 37 - Prospect continuously 57
Idea 38 - Size does count 58
Idea 39 - Get everyone to talk to customers regularly 59
Idea 40 - Speak to the press 59
Seven Greatest Ideas for Helping a
Business Customer to Buy Wisely 61
Idea 41 - Encourage sensible buying decisions 62
Idea 42 - Deliver products on time and within budget 67
Idea 43 - Take lost business very seriously 68
Idea 44 - Make sure your business processes deliver 69
Idea 45 - Who needs training? Your customer needs training 70
Idea 46 - Gain a reputation as a solution seller 71
Idea 47 - Look back in wonder 72
viii • The 100 Greatest Ideas for Building the Business of Your Dreams
Six Greatest Ideas far Selling Big Ticket Items -
Business to Business 75
Idea 48 - Sell a solution to a problem or an opportunity 75
Idea 49 - Sell high 76
Idea 50 - Sell wide 78
Idea 51 - Sell the right benefits to the right person 79
Idea 52 - Qualification is a continuous process 80
Idea 53 - Use radar to plot your position 91
Five Greatest Ideas for Managing Your Bank 95
Idea 54 - Get the basics right 95
Idea 55 - KISS and TICK 96
Idea 56 - Keep your cashflow document up to date 97
Idea 57 - Smile until your face aches 100
Idea 58 - Go for as much as you can get 100
Five Greatest Ideas for Running the Board Effectively 103
Idea 59 - Keep an honest boardroom 103
Idea 60 - Give your non-executive directors huge credence 104
Idea 61 - Do regular stakeholder analysis 105
Idea 62 - Choose the right accountants 106
Idea 63 - Understand your roles and responsibilities 107
Contents • ix
Ten Greatest Ideas for Building the Retail Business
of Your Dreams 109
Idea 64 - Get your attitude right 110
Idea 65 - Exploit people already in the know 111
Idea 66 - Get the timing right 112
Idea 67 - To buy or not to buy 113
Idea 68 - Fix your costs and know your costs 114
Idea 69 - Treat your customers as what they are - your purpose in life 114
Idea 70 - Count your customers 116
Idea 71 - Diversify carefully 117
Idea 72 - Tick again 118
Idea 73 - First run a pilot 120
Ten Greatest Quick Tips for Building the Dream 121
Idea 74 - Don't let today's mail set today's agenda 121
Idea 75 - Know your critical success factors 122
Idea 76 - Don't expand too quickly 123
Idea 77 - Concentrate on what you are good at... 123
Idea 78 - ... But don't ignore opportunities to reduce risk 123
Idea 79 - Sell to your existing customers 124
Idea 80 - Don't buy a mobile phone 124
Idea 81 - Don't become obsessed with saving tax 125
Idea 82 - Don't dream your way into stupid projects 126
Idea 83 - Learn from the mistakes of others 126