Leap! Ditch Your Job, Start Your Own Business and Set Yourself Free

by Sanders, Ian

• ISBN13: 9781841127989
• ISBN10: 1841127981
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-02-11
• Publisher: Capstone

Summary

Who Do You Think You Are? Times are changing fast. Traditional working practices and the concept of a conventional job are increasingly becoming things of the past as we make sense of a new marketplace where the only limit to success is our own imagination. What Does it take to Survive in This New Scrambled Up World of Work? * Attitude - to get started * Enterprise - to succeed * Success - at maximising opportunities * Worklife - in the right balance The challenges - and the opportunities - for the 'entrepreneur-within' the huge. For micro-businesses, home-workers, freelancers, it's all for the taking. That is the essence of LEAP! A stimulus for taking the plunge to go it alone and set yourself free... and for making it up as you go along! "Ian Sanders connects brilliantly wit the mindset and needs of talented professionals in their migration away from corporate mediocrity. LEAP! is a personal guidebook to both the practicality and emotion of making work matter." - Chris Nel, Partner, Tom Peters Company

Author Biography

Ian Sanders has been ‘doing it himself’ for seven years as a business and marketing consultant. He has helped launch new ventures in radio, television, design and music. His current marketing company, OHM, (Outhouse Media), has clients that range from global brands such as Benetton to the small business around the corner.
Ian’s skills are in bringing common sense advice and fresh perspectives to clients whatever their size, helping them to exploit their market potential. With more and more of his contacts setting up by themselves, Ian was inspired to write up his experiences in Leap! With his eight years as an independent and another ten years working for others, his mix of experience, insight and ideas makes him best placed to guide others through this new scrambled up world of work.
Ian is passionate about enterprise, about doing it differently and reinventing to succeed. He currently lives in Leigh-on-Sea with his wife, Zoë, and two children.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

What this isn't

Who do you think you are?

Attitude

Starting out

Make sure you're hungry

Passion wins

Get known for being a safe pair of hands

Be distinctive

Don't bullshit

Perception is everything

Soaking it up

Warning: steep incline ahead

Get involved and get visible

Don't listen to anyone who says 'no' to your ambition

Be real!

Follow your gut feeling

Leverage what you've learnt

Get out of the classroom

Knock down the barriers

A focal point

Why failure's OK

You'd better believe it ...

From city trader to sole trader

Conformity sucks

Why catalysts count

It's a risky business

'Easy'??!

Go for it ...

Enterprise

The bare basics

Having the idea

Do it yourself

Making something (anything) out of nothing

Wrapping up your know-how

'Sell' is not an expletive

Expressing yourself

Learn to juggle ... well

Turning a contact into a client

Charge them!11 Make sure you are valued

Doing the deal

Enterprise is the only way

Why being a chameleon can be a good thing

A toe in the water

Funding ain't often fun

The power of collaboration

Introduction time

Know how to make money

Counting your money

On the cheap

Different kinds of profit

What is 'core business' anyway?

Get a reward

Doing the sell

Keep in touch

Quick and ready

Brand power

Reinvent yourself

Living off your latest gig

Picking your team

Get some personalities

Going naked

Success

Starting up and fi nishing up

Do you have what it takes?

You don't need big tools

Business doesn't come in a flat pack

The six-point business plan

It's who you know (of course)

Getting connected

Get yourself a mentor

Polymaths have all the fun

What do you do again?

Lucky breaks

Facing up

Don't waste time

Ideas, ideas, ideas

The importance of scribbles on little scraps of paper

Learn to say 'no'

Know when to shut up!

Value + value

Don't do mediocrity

Consume the world of your client

Here's to a damn good lunch!

Think ahead

Burnt fi ngers

Just like that

When to walk away

Details

Get it right online

Don't hide from the customer

Getting regular gigs

Bloody obvious management

Small is best

Get your hands dirty

Don't give too much away

Think 'entrepreneur', not 'freelance'

Avoid those faux pas

Making a difference

Worklife

If you don't want to know the score, look away now

It's a life thing

Nostalgia trips

Do you love stress?

A space to work

Somewhere else

Motivation

Get stimulated

Benchmarks that really count

A secret

A love of speed

From feast to famine

What is 'the working day'?

Budgets, business plans and babies

Trying to switch off

Home time ...

Taking t

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.