The 100 Greatest Ideas for Building the Business of Your Dreams

The 100 Greatest Ideas for Building the Business of Your Dreams by Ken Langdon 2000 Capstone Publishing Ltd pp 159



Seven Greatest Ideas for taking the Plunge

1 Know that two heads are better than one
2 Choose an arbiter or an assertive mentor
3 Be quite clear what your dream is
4 Know thyself
5 Ease yourself out by MBO
6 Research is not optional
7 Feel free-franchise

Ten Greatest Ideas for Planning Your Business

8 Choose your markets wisely
9 Use the "ideal" technique to understand your customers
10 Know thine enemy
11 Describe and compare the key people
12 Reach your market realistcally
13 Make sure the price is right
14 Picking your spot
15 Add up the equipment and start-up costs
16 Take the banking forms seriously
17 Plan for a lucky break

Six Greatest ideas for becoming a consultant

18 Don't be worse off
19 See your value from your customers' point of view
20 Know which comes first, the product or the customer
21 Start by booking your holidays
22 Don't let people smell fear
23 Go with the flow

Four Greatest Ideas for working from the Office of Your Dreams


24 Allocate enough space in the home
25 Find out what is tax-deductible
26 Don't stint on telephone lines
27 Then get an office

Five greatest Ideas for Financing Your Business

28 Live by the greatest financial mantras
29 What kind of trader are you?
30 Don't assume that fraud cannot happen to you
31 Don't bet the house
32 Give me one firm spot on which to stand....

Four Greatest Ideas for staffing Your Business


33 Grow your own head-hunters
34 Hire the people who fit your dreams
35 Ask the customer
36 Keep people in your wvariable costs

Four Greatest Ideas for Keeping in Touch with Your Market

37 Prospect continuously
38 Size does count
39 Get everyone to talk to customers regularly
40 Speak to the press

Seven Greatest Ideas for Helping a Business Customer to Buy wisely

41 Encourage sensible buying decisions
42 Deliver products on time and within budget
43 Take lost business very seriously
44 Make sure your business processes deliver
45 Who needs trainiang? Your customer needs training
46 Gain a reputation as a solution seller
47 Look back in wonder

Six Greates Ideas for selling big ticket items- Business to Business

48 Sell a solution to a problem or an opportunity
49 Sell high
50 Sell wide
51 Sell the benefits to the right person
52 Qualificiaton is a continous process
53 Use radar to plot your position

Five Greatest Ideas for Managing Your Bank

54 Get the basics right
55 KISS and TICK
56 Keep your cashflow documents up to date
57 Smile until your face aches
58 Go for as much as your can get


Five Greatest Ideas for Running the Board Effectively



59 Keep an honest boardroom
60 Give your non-executive directors huge credence
62 Do regular stakeholder analysis
62 Choose the right accountants
63 Understand your roles and responsiblities

Ten Greatest Ideas for Building the Retail Business of Your Dreams

64 Get your attitude right
65 Exploit people you already know
66 Get the timing right
67 To buy or not to buy
68 Fix your costs and know your costs
69 Treat your customers as what they are - your purpose in life
70 Count your customers
71 Diversify carefully
72 Tick again
73 First run a pilot


Ten Greatest Quick Tips for Building the Dream

74 Don't let today's mail set today's agenda
75 Know your criticial success factors
76 Don't expand too quickly
77 Concentrate on what you are good at''''
78 ... But dont ignore opportunities to reduce risk
79 Sell to your existing customers
80 Don't buy a mobile phone
81 Dont become obsessed with tax saving
82 Don't dream your way into stupid projects
83 Learn from the mistakes of others

Six Greatest Ideas for Building Creative Plans


84 Of course,we will always keep our biggest customers....(not)
85 Use a good plannning process
86 Get the team to toe the line
87 Connnect analysis to objectives tightly
88 Use radar again
89 Keep the documentation brief

Eight Greatest Ideas for Growing By Acquisition

90 Treat big organisations as a collection of individuals
91 Think big, unimaginably big
92 Make sure your people are aiming in the same direction as you
93 Dont economise on tax advice
94 Plan bottom up as well as top down
95 Take care with fair value adjustments
96 Dont bet the firm
97 Buy the underpants of your dreams

Three Greatest Ideas for Building the Empire of Your Dreams


98 Get someone else to do the work
99 Take on extraneous tasks
100 Read a book about it.