100 Rules for Entrepreneurs: Real-life business lessons

by Neil Lewis

Overview

COMPREHENSIVE, HARD-WON, NO-NONSENSE ADVICE
100 Rules for Entrepreneurs covers every aspect of business from the entrepreneur's point of view. Unlike other guides it avoids mere theorising. Instead, everything is tackled in light of the realities of business in the 21st century, and through the lens of serious entrepreneurial experience.
The rise of regulations, the impact of competition and the growth of globalisation means that start-ups have to be more flexible and robust than ever before in order to prevail. Mindful of this, Neil Lewis provides practical and original advice on:
- how to properly measure profit - and what a really sustainable business looks like (and how it can be grown)
- how to handle recruitment - and not only why freelance is the future, but how best to take advantage of it
- how to manage your management team, set effective goals for your business and prevent the rot from setting in
- the best time to sell your business (and how best to do it).
He also brings to bear his experiences on dealing with dividends, shareholders and other advanced aspects of running a start-up.
GRITTY WISDOM
Accessible and memorable - counterintuitive at times, at times reassuringly simple; refreshingly realistic throughout - 100 Rules is the ultimate companion for today's entrepreneur. It is the direct and hard-earned wisdom of an entrepreneur who has seen it all: the giddying heights of reaching a £12m valuation in eight years from a simple start in a back bedroom with a computer and £2,000; the dizzying descent of losing it all in two, and the work required to pick up and start, successfully, again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780857190277
Publisher:	Harriman House Publishing
Publication date:	11/25/2010
Series:	Stanislaskis #05
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Neil Lewis is a media entrepreneur and business leader based in the North West of England. A partner in MediaModo and the driving force behind new digital magazines, business events and entrepreneur accreditation assessments, Neil has over 22 years experience in publishing and business investment.
His specialist skills include business strategy, online publishing and media plus business investment and start-ups.
Neil regularly speaks at university and entrepreneurial networking events where he shares what he has learnt from his experiences. MediaModo offer recently won a North West Development Agency grant to develop a new entrepreneurial accreditation scheme that will revolutionise the way investors and entrepreneurs work together.

Table of Contents

About the Author ix

Acknowledgements xi

Introduction: 15 Principles of Successful Entrepreneurs xiii

The Rules 1

1 Just do it… 3

2 Learn from your mistakes 5

3 Never blame the market 7

4 Take care of yourself 8

5 Know yourself 9

6 Measure success properly 13

7 Sharpen the saw 16

8 Make your passion your business 19

9 Nothing but the truth - and quick 21

10 Don't pin your hopes on a premature retirement 22

11 Never work to 'save jobs' 24

12 Avoid the 'we've just got to survive the recession' fallacy 25

13 Proper profit is profit margin 27

14 The second goal of business is sustainability 29

15 How to set a business-sale goal 32

16 Run the business for dividends (shareholder profit) 35

17 Use the dividend cash flow to value your business 38

18 Focus on cash-flow forecasts 39

19 Check your bank balance daily 40

20 Don't do guilt 41

21 Beg, borrow and barter 42

22 Use win/win negotiation 43

23 Deliver your promises up-front 46

24 Keep collaborating 48

25 Run a 'to-stop' list 49

26 Freelance is best 51

27 Hire freelancers correctly 53

28 Constantly question whether you have the right people in the right roles 55

29 Hire better than you need 57

30 Grow only as fast as your resources allow 62

31 Hire hunger (humble and hardworking), not the best (proud and expensive) 65

32 Pay the right price for the person 66

33 Never over-promote 68

34 Meet the spouse for senior roles 70

35 Use references early in recruitment 71

36 Avoid job titles 73

37 Pay recruitment fees on 'success' 75

38 Keep new roles temporary 77

39 Quality team equals low stress levels 79

40 When staff leave, let them go without a fight 80

41 Commit to excellence - fire the 'good' 82

42 Measure team performance 86

43 Three months never says it all 90

44 Managers and recruitment 91

45 Making the KPIs solid 93

46 Poor performers get fired - not made redundant 96

47 Deal with personnel problems immediately 98

48 Use great questions to tease out performance 100

49 Promote anyone who makes their job redundant 101

50 100% management support - all the time 102

51 Know employees by their fruits 103

52 Do away with formal meetings 104

53 The team is the hero 105

54 Have a wise head on hand 106

55 Reward long-term value creation 107

56 Be wary of bonuses? 115

57 Use profit-share bonuses 116

58 Pay out some profits as dividends for directors 118

59 Keep two accounts 120

60 Pride goes before a fall 121

61 Don't diversify to escape trouble 122

62 Let go - faster 124

63 Letting others have a go will help them develop greatness 125

64 Eliminate puff 126

65 Build your brand 128

66 Protect your brand and IP 130

67 Product = brand = product = brand 132

68 Establish clear ownership of code, content and process 133

69 Own your clients 134

70 Refocus your brand - regularly 135

71 Measure resolutions as well as complaints 136

72 Rattle the cage to maintain excellence 138

73 Know your source of world-class business excellence 139

74 Know your business's economic engine 141

75 Ideas are cheap - unless they are patentable 142

76 Live above the shop 146

77 Remember the risk to your reputation 147

78 Put it in writing - and make sure you sign it 149

80 Never let tax drive your decision making 155

81 Someone has already solved your problem 157

82 Put business before technology 161

83 Control credit 164

84 Tough decisions are the right ones 165

85 Plan your exit from your business 166

86 Avoid management and board meetings 170

87 Use the envelope test 175

88 Marketing comes first, design second 176

89 Set in place a feedback loop 180

90 Solve problems with three-way conversations 182

91 Avoid shareholders 184

92 Never let family be shareholders 186

93 Debt is like a disease 190

94 Build a strong non-exec team - prudently 193

95 Understand the three stages of a business 194

96 No share options 197

97 Let yourself be ousted - at the right price 199

98 Cease trading before it is too late 201

99 Choose the right opportunity 210

100 Business comes, business goes - you'll always be an entrepreneur 213

Postscript 215