Retail Price: $19.95 LS Price: $13.57 You Save: $6.38 (32%) Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours. Format: Paperback, 224pp. ISBN: 9780749464820 Publisher: Kogan Page Pub. Date: August 28, 2012 Average Customer Review:

Order This Book!   Secure Order Guarantee Item No: 9780749464820

As a result of the uncertain corporate job market, entrepreneurship is flourishing. Advice for start-ups is everywhere, in books, websites, newspapers and magazines and it constitutes a body of received wisdom. Journalist Jonathan Moules, who has devoted six years to interviewing and reporting on successful entrepreneurs, turns some of this advice on its head. His is a model of "rebel entrepreneurship" that defies conventional views about how new entrepreneurs should behave in order to make their businesses successful.

Some of Moules' alternative opinions will startle: He challenges the need for bank loans to start and grow a business, the need for a business plan, and offers the contrarian view of increasing prices in tough times.

His case studies address not only how entrepreneurs can succeed but also how they might fail or fail to achieve full potential and include centuries old companies as well as young stars of the internet age such as Twitter, Gilt Groupe, Criteo, celebrity entrepreneurs James Dyson, Richard Branson and Steve Jobs and companies big and small.

Moules' point is to take alternative opinions on some of the main area of concern in a business. His aim is to show that not following the crowd can be a better way of managing a business and make it grow bigger and faster.

"If you are thinking of starting a business, if you are already working in a fledging enterprise or if you just need clear, uncluttered, practical advice and guidance on how to operate and improve things, this outstanding book should be your close companion. It is a book for these troubles times and beyond. Buying the book could be one of the best entrepreneurial investments you will ever make. Rebel and prosper."

—Retail Confidential Book

"...interweaves intriguing stories, validated advice, and statistical evidence in an easy-to-read narrative style to make its points...The reader will learn not only why entrepreneurs succeed, but also how they fail totally or fail to achieve full potential...[a] valuable resource for those wanting to know about starting a business venture based on unconventional wisdom."

—Alex Hapka, New York Journal of Books

"Moules writing style is the real refreshing element of the book...a sold read that's entertaining and enlightening."

—David Burkus, LDRLB

Jonathan Moules is the Enterprise Editor for The Financial Times, where he has profiled hundreds of companies and their owners. He has written extensively on successful entrepreneurs. Moules spent 5 years in the FT's New York office, where he held numerous positions, including technology, media and telecoms news editor. He wrote specifically about the US mobile phone industry and new media businesses, and he covered the dotcom bubble and its aftermath.

	Prologue: The importance of being a rebel
1	Funding is for fools The case for bootstrapping Small is beautiful, at least to begin with The value of having no money Have you tried the alternatives to the bank? Pull yourself up by your bootstraps If you can’t get a loan, get a grant Timing can be everything We are all dotcoms now, thank goodness No man is an island when it comes to funding The conclusion
2	Don’t innovate, imitate An imitator in action The original Every action has a legal reaction You can’t keep a good idea down First movers do not necessarily have the advantage Copying is as old as the hills It is all about execution Attack of the clones Imitation can be the salvation of a company Timing is everything You do not have to settle for second best The conclusion
3	Don’t be a hero The problem of letting go Most people find good leadership hard Size is everything Take a trip from the good parenting guide Confessions of a meddler An exception to the rule When do you step back? External factors are important too The conclusion
4	The high price of success Less can be more Do the mathematics What your prices say about the value of your offering Why you need to keep prices up The difficult relationship between price and value In a recession, the need to raise prices only increases The art of maintaining a high price How do you get people to pay more? Price is a matter of economics To cut, or not to cut Cutting your costs is not the same as raising your prices What about cross-border trade? How do you maintain high prices? Warning: you can raise prices too much Being low cost does not mean you cannot raise your prices Being the best is always better than being cheapest The conclusion
5	Don’t get hung up on the business plan The only constant in (business) life is change Ryanair as an example of a company that changed Imitate, don’t innovate (reprised) There is no shame in starting all over again Testing, testing Once the business plan works, write it down The concept of the pivot Pivoting once is never enough Pivoting and foreign markets The conclusion
6	You cannot cut your way to success How do you react to the bad times? Do you really need to make those cuts? Sell on the savings your company can provide Spend some money on yourself Be confident Do not rush to cut jobs Find the opportunities to grow Remember to pivot as well as invest The conclusion
7	Do not waste your time selling Tips for accelerating the sales process Teamwork is key to sales Good customer service can be a sales strategy A few sales tips Beware of overtrading Squeezing the lemon Opportunity is never far away The conclusion
8	Failure is not failure if you learn Why the fear of failure can be so damaging Failure can be your own stupid fault Common mistake 1: treating the bank like a cashpoint Common mistake 2: putting your eggs in one basket Life can be cruel so you have to deal with it The random nature of entrepreneurial success Remember, it may be second time unlucky Remember, the darkest moment is before the dawn Insolvency is often not the end The conclusion
	Index

Book on Leadership