How to Be a Successful Entrepreneur : Spot the Opportunity, Take a Risk and Build a Brilliant Business

by Drummond, Helga

• ISBN13: 9780749455149
• ISBN10: 0749455144
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-07-28
• Publisher: Kogan Page Ltd

Summary

How to be a Successful Entrepreneurexplains how to improve the odds and make your own luck. It will help you to steer clear of potentially catastrophic risks and errors while spotting and exploiting good opportunities. The author addresses crucial decisions such as: How do I recognise a good opportunity? When should I take a risk? When should I cut my losses? When is the best time to sell a thriving business? How do I know what's best for me?Full of fascinating real-life examples, referring to topics such as the failure of Barings bank and the success of Dyson, Dell computers and Patek Philippe, as well as business changing decisions made by companies such as Coca Cola, How to be a Successful Entrepreneuris an essential read for anyone who wants their business to be on a solid footing.

Author Biography

Helga Drummond was formerly a professor of Decision Sciences at the University of Liverpool where she taught Decision Making for Entrepreneurs to MBA students.

Table of Contents

Preface and acknowledgements	p. x
Introduction	p. 1
Entrepreneurial genius: deciding on an idea for business	p. 5
Becoming a genius	p. 6
Conceptual blockbusting	p. 7
Ten keys to innovation	p. 8
Deciding to `give It a go': how not to do it	p. 19
The illusion of control	p. 20
The overconfidence trap	p. 21
Dreaming with discipline	p. 21
The dangers of myopia	p. 23
Denial	p. 24
Too good to lose?	p. 26
Overreach	p. 27
The experience trap	p. 29
Optimal solutions: how to choose between alternatives	p. 33
Six thinking hats	p. 34
Short cuts	p. 35
Exploring the snags	p. 38
Reframe	p. 39
Showstoppers	p. 40
Fact, not assumption	p. 40
Asking the right questions	p. 42
Weighing up alternatives	p. 43
Killer application	p. 43
The enigma of emotion	p. 44
Decisions about future investments: the sunk costs trap	p. 47
Sunk costs	p. 48
The sunk costs trap	p. 48
Golden rule	p. 50
Waste not, want not?	p. 50
Sunk costs and success	p. 51
The past	p. 51
Count the cost	p. 52
Exceptions to the rule	p. 53
Dollars, sense and sunk costs	p. 54
Nonsense and sunk costs	p. 56
When you should break the bank	p. 56
Time versus money	p. 57
Black swans: decision-making under stress	p. 59
What is stress?	p. 60
Why is stress harmful?	p. 61
What causes stress?	p. 62
Anxiety and depression	p. 65
Taking charge	p. 66
Ultimate choice	p. 75
The golden gate	p. 75
From good to great: crucial decisions	p. 77
The identity trap	p. 78
Defining moment	p. 79
Strategy	p. 80
Leading the dream team: group decisions	p. 83
Cultures of conformity	p. 84
Status	p. 85
`Groupthink' and the Icarus paradox	p. 85
Risky shifts and cautious shifts	p. 87
The paradox of internal politics	p. 87
Leading the dream team: cultivating charisma	p. 89
Walking around	p. 92
Get lucky: taking risky decisions	p. 93
What is risk?	p. 94
Why bad risks attract	p. 94
On the rebound	p. 95
Managing big risks	p. 97
The Patel strategy	p. 97
Keep your options open	p. 98
Be what you can be: decisionless decisions and the psychology of success	p. 105
The psychology of success	p. 106
On a roll	p. 108
Entrapment	p. 109
Thriving on fear	p. 110
DIY risk assessment	p. 111
Speculating to accumulate	p. 112
Adapt and survive	p. 113
The dangers of herding	p. 114
Quantum shifts	p. 115
Go higher	p. 116
Decisions about `runaway' projects: the escalation trap	p. 117
The dilemma	p. 118
The psychology of escalation	p. 119
Audience effects	p. 120
`Lock-in'	p. 121
What are you getting into? Preventing escalation	p. 122
Define expectations	p. 123
Communicate	p. 123
Monitor progress	p. 123
Set limits	p. 124
Budgets	p. 125
Change the approach	p. 126
Don't take it personally	p. 126
Minds are for changing	p. 127
Deciding what to reward	p. 129
Not invented here	p. 130
Negotiated decisions	p. 133
The key to success	p. 134
Waving the magic wand	p. 136
Handling price	p. 137
Do your homework	p. 137
Handling hard bargainers	p. 138
Getting past `take it or leave it'	p. 140
Ask for what you want	p. 141
Keep the initiative	p. 143
Get what you want	p. 143
The power of patience	p. 144
A dash of pragmatism	p. 146
Landing the fish	p. 147
Trust	p. 147
Handling the powerful	p. 150
Alternatives are power	p. 151
You, the powerful	p. 152
Epilogue	p. 154
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