Spare Room Tycoon: The Seventy Lessons of Sane Self-Employment

Contents......Page 6
I Am a Spare Room Tycoon......Page 10
Telling stories......Page 13
How to be......Page 15
1 The Way of the Spare Room Tycoon......Page 18
How do you do it?......Page 21
Self-knowledge......Page 22
Passion......Page 26
Action......Page 27
Realization......Page 30
Evolution......Page 32
STARTING......Page 36
2 Knowing What to Do......Page 38
Declaration of independence......Page 39
Identifying your strengths......Page 42
From passion to product......Page 45
Reclaiming a dream......Page 47
Moment of commitment......Page 49
3 Meeting the Market......Page 54
Smelling blood......Page 56
Is there money in it?......Page 57
Keep listening after “no”......Page 59
Getting over getting fired......Page 61
Pennies from heaven......Page 64
Struggle.com......Page 66
A CEO no more......Page 69
SUCCEEDING......Page 74
4 Making the Sale......Page 76
Selling is like breathing......Page 78
Fear of selling......Page 80
Small customers, big ideas......Page 82
Prepared to succeed......Page 85
Waking to opportunity......Page 88
Your first client is yourself......Page 90
5 Confidence Is Money......Page 94
Building self-assurance......Page 95
Business as a contact sport......Page 97
Putting your foot down......Page 100
Betting on yourself......Page 103
Serial entrepreneur......Page 106
6 You Are a Brand......Page 111
A myth of my own......Page 113
A strong identity......Page 116
Dressed to bill......Page 118
Looking good on paper......Page 120
How not to network......Page 123
Winning recognition......Page 126
7 Setting a Price......Page 131
Getting what you’re worth......Page 134
Prices and values......Page 136
Calculating how to charge......Page 138
Businesslike billing......Page 142
Getting paid......Page 145
Don’t expect gratitude from customers......Page 148
SUSTAINING......Page 152
8 Balancing Work and Life......Page 154
Another nutty entrepreneur......Page 157
Heartburn......Page 159
Raising a family while you work......Page 162
Pictures of sanity......Page 165
Walk in the woods......Page 168
A modern hermit......Page 170
Home office, personal space......Page 173
9 Daily Anxiety......Page 178
Sane self-deployment......Page 179
Make the phone ring......Page 182
The plumber and the dentist......Page 184
Under control......Page 186
The illusion of security......Page 188
Six worries......Page 192
10 Good Times, Bad Times......Page 196
The joy of survival......Page 197
Strategic retreat......Page 199
Surviving success......Page 202
A business plan for hard times......Page 205
Life after catastrophe......Page 208
From cancer to career......Page 211
11 How Big Do You Need to Be?......Page 215
Soloist or string quartet?......Page 218
Bigger or better?......Page 220
When your business grows up......Page 223
Growing too fast......Page 226
Staying small by choice......Page 230
A Final Thought......Page 236
The 70 Lessons of the Spare Room Tycoon......Page 240
Acknowledgments......Page 248
C......Page 250
M......Page 251
S......Page 252
W......Page 253