The beermat entrepreneur : turn your good idea into a great business

Contents "The Beermat Entrepreneur "begins with a profiling exercise, to see if you really are an entrepreneur or if you are better suited to working with one, as a seedling company 'cornerstone' or as one of the 'Dream Team' in a slightly bigger company. The entrepreneur profile also provides hints on how to work with these difficult but rewarding individuals. CHAPTER 2 is about the seedling organization. It begins right at the start, with how to spot a bright idea, and takes us along a critical path that will ensure that the idea develops properly into a successful start-up business. Assemble a team with very specific skills and ensure they have equal stakes in the business. Find a mentor for the idea. Build towards a first sale (after which a business plan begins to make sense). Avoid banks, MBAs, consultants and VCs. All key aspects of running a start-up are covered, as is the transition to! CHAPTER 3 deals with the bigger, sapling organization. The key to success is assembling and motivating the right team. Also essential are building a sales portfolio, appropriate financing, and channelling creativity (sapling companies can fail by having too many bright ideas). The correct ways to do all these things are covered, as are other basics of building a business at this stage. At the end of the stage, the decision has to be made: do we go for 'the big one' or remain a small, focused 'boutique'? How to make this decision effectively. CHAPTER 4, about the 'mighty oak' with a booming workforce, is much briefer, as this topic is well covered in existing management books. The key issue here is 'knowing when you've won'. Hint: it's not when your cheque is in the bank. The book also covers business ethics and practical advice on playing 'hard but fair'.

"I recommend this to "any "aspiring entrepreneur." "Charles Dunstone, Founder, Carphone Warehouse" So, you're sitting in the pub with friends or colleagues and you have a brilliant idea. This time it's really brilliant. It's the foundation of a potentially very large and successful business. Do you just go home and leave the scrawled-on beermat in the pub? Or is this it - time to really make it happen? Problem is, you've no idea where to start. Who do you need to talk to? How do you find the cash to back the idea? How many people do you need to work with to the idea off the ground? And how on earth do you find them? Mike Southon has been there, and in "The Beermat Entrepreneur "he tells you exactly how to convert those jotted notes into a big and successful business. Step-by-step, with no jargon, no complex theory and no visits to arrogant pinstriped venture capitalists who aren't really interested in just 'an idea.' "The Beermat Entrepreneur "is a practical guide to starting and building a business. You begin with a bright idea, sketched out on a beer mat in the pub one evening. You end with a major company employing hundreds of people and a bank balance to match.Available in book form or in audio book (CD or cassette), featuring the authors recorded live in front of an audience of businesspeople. "!you can only benefit from reading this book. You'll gain valuable advice and knowledge from people who have seen it, done it and bought the T-shirt." The Evening Standard