Product Description

Popular and current subject in the media following Dragons' Den, The Apprentice and The Big Idea. For thousands of people who have ever had an idea for good business - but have never acted on it.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12041 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Lord Bilimoria, founder and Chief Executive of Cobra Beer
Although in business there is no substitute for making the leap
and getting started, there is much to be learned from entrepreneurs who
have been there and done it. Live the highs and lows for yourself, but
read this book first.

From the Publisher
What is it that made these entrepreneurs succeed? Our
research, including a series of insightful and honest interviews with the
founders, reveals how each of them overcame the immediate, daunting hurdles
they faced. Could you do the same?

From the Author
I am posting this note in response to a few of the reviews of this book.

The purpose of this book is to tell the story in reasonable detail of how a number of businesses went from being just an idea to becoming a successful business. Through startups.co.uk, the website I founded 10 years ago, I have met thousands of people who want to start businesses, but either don't know if it is right for them, or how to go about it. I have also met many more people who don't want to start one themselves, but are fascinated by the topic and want to know how it is done. How They Started is aimed at all these people.

The result is a book which has far more detail about how people turned ideas into businesses than any other book on the market, other than a specific biography all about one business. How They Started is the result of a substantial amount of research, almost always involving extensive discussions with the founders of each business, and several times we include detailed information we had to work hard to persuade the founders to give us!

I am so passionate about the need for better small business information for UK entrepreneurs that I set up a company to provide it, with a particular focus on startup businesses. Our experience with thousands of people visiting our websites or attending our events has shown that most people want answers to the same core questions. Our understanding of business (I am an entrepreneur, not a writer) has enabled us to drill down to make sure we found good answers to these questions with all the businesses profiled in How They Started.

I believe that this has resulted in a book which will help all the people who we think will be interested in the book.

Two reviews here on Amazon suggest that the profiles are "copy and paste jobs" from easily available information. I am sad that any reader might think that, but can categorically state that it is not true. You will not find all the information we have for any of our profiles easily available on public websites.

Many people have found the book inspiring and enjoyable, and some have found it also really helpful while setting up a business. But please note that this is NOT a manual about how to start a business (I have written one of those separately, which you can look at here on Amazon if that is what you want) though I believe anyone who is starting, or thinking about, their own business will still find this useful.

Some of the cynical reviewers here are justified in being cynical; too many business books are not written with passion and commitment to quality. How They Started is not just another book rushed out; it has been designed and researched and written by people who care very much about delivering on the book's promise-- which is why we want to make this statement here.

I hope this brief statement is helpful to you in deciding if this is the right book for you or not. And I look forward to your comments. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

David Lester

Customer Reviews

Feeling of inspiration
I actually felt quite inspired after reading this book. It's so depressing reading how people have made millions from having started with quite a lot of money in the first place, but all these people seem to have done it just by persistence, self-belief and hard work.

Most people don't have a raft of multi-millionaire contacts in their back pocket, they've just got a really good idea and it's the getting started that the most difficult - these people all did it differently, but it's given me renewed hope and another blast of adrenaline.

Really interesting
I really enjoyed this book - especially the chapters on the better known brands like Pizza Express and Cobra Beer. It's really inspiring to find out how these huge businesses started. Inspired me to think more about my dreams to start a business myself. Would agree with the other review though - not all are household names, but the stories are equally as interesting.

I guess the main message of the book is: if you've got an idea, go for it. You never know where it'll lead.

Anyone can do it .....
Persistence is omnipotent, if you overcome the obstacles you will succeed in the end. The quantity of success stories in this book proves this.

It is possible to start with very little and then, through great endeavour, build a successful business.

Unfortunately, I found the book rather boring. You will learn and take away a little from those businesses that are similar to yours (or perhaps what you intend or hope to do), but with 30 chapters covering 30 businesses it becomes a little samey.

There are wise words in the introduction and a fair summary of what you will learn from the book on pages 3-5; the author effectively puts his conclusions at the beginning of the book:
What can we learn from these businesses as a group?
The X Factor - no single X-factor, but a collection of traits which drive people to succeed.
Minimal personal reward initially - most are not able to, or choose not to, take much money from the business at first.
Do what it says on the tin - focus on one idea - normal for startups.
Keep It Simple (Stupid) - stick to your knitting - focus on the one idea - and, of course, your customers.
Work harder than you might think possible - startup entrepreneurs tend to put in a lot of hours.
Keep trying and believing - it takes time - persistence is omnipotent.
Who needs money? - most start with minimal funding.
Ambition - you need passion and commitment to become successful - a desire to earn loads of money will probably not engender sufficient drive for the long-term.
So what? - "they needed extraordinary levels of passion, energy, self belief and stamina, the ability and desire to focus, and a good measure of judgement."

After that, I don't think that the next 235 pages are worth the effort.