A lot has changed since I wrote the original hardback
version of this book five years ago. In that time entrepreneurship has enjoyed an extraordinary rise in visibility and
popularity, thanks in part to television prog
...
A lot has changed since I wrote the original hardback
version of this book five years ago. In that time entrepreneurship has enjoyed an extraordinary rise in visibility and
popularity, thanks in part to television programmes such as
Dragons’ Den and The Apprentice. A government initiative
has even introduced enterprise education into secondary
schools.
A lot has happened to the entrepreneurs profiled in this
book too. Five years ago all of them were running incredibly successful businesses which they had started up with
very little money. Five years on, nearly half the 40 entrepreneurs featured in the original book have sold their businesses, in every case for millions of pounds and in some
instances for substantially more.
There can be few things more life-affirming than throwing off the shackles of paid employment and using your
energy and talents to create a business of your own. But as
every successful entrepreneur knows, starting up a business from scratch and turning it into a thriving business is
actually only half the story. In order to really hit the jackpot
ixthe ultimate dream is to sell that business for a substantial
sum too.
The people in this book have proved decisively that it can
be done. Gerry Pack, for example, started up his business
Holiday Extras providing airport hotel rooms and parking
with just £100. He sold it in 2005 for £43 million. Darren
Richards started up his online dating agency DatingDirect.
com with £2,500 and sold it just eight years later for £30
million. And Mike Clare, who started up his bed retail business Dreams with £16,000, sold it in 2008 for more than £200
million.
So this completely revised and updated paperback
edition is in many ways a glorious celebration of the entrepreneurial spirit – of the triumph of hope over negativity,
self-belief over self-doubt and proof that following your
dream really can lead to the pot of gold at the end of the
rainbow.
It is a truly incredible achievement to have created something from nothing and then within a few years sold it for a
life-changing amount of money. Armed only with a good
idea and a great deal of drive and determination these
people have single-handedly changed their own destiny
and in many cases that of their families, shareholders and
employees too
[Show More]
