The 100 Greatest Business Ideas of All Time (WH Smiths 100 Greatest)

THE 100 GREATEST BUSINESS IDEAS OF ALL TIME......Page 3
Contents......Page 7
Acknowledgements......Page 15
Introduction......Page 17
Idea 1 – ‘Making it easy, and cheap, for customers to buy’ (Sears)......Page 21
Idea 2 – Dell deal direct......Page 24
Idea 3 – Small is beautiful (Honda)......Page 26
Idea 4 – Don’t build the product, license the idea (Thomas Edison)......Page 27
Idea 5 – Check your mortgage at 3.00 am? Certainly, sir (First Direct)......Page 29
Idea 6 – Bringing sex to the living room......Page 32
Idea 7 – A non-trivial marketing campaign......Page 33
Idea 8 – Pay in advance (Vodafone)......Page 34
Idea 9 – Make your friends your customers (Amway)......Page 36
Ten Greatest Bumper Sticker Strategies......Page 39
Idea 11 – BMW......Page 40
Idea 17 – Johnson & Johnson......Page 41
Idea 19 – Volvo......Page 42
Idea 20 – Betting with the odds approximately 14 million to one in your favour......Page 43
Idea 21 – Make my product illegal, please......Page 46
Idea 22 – A tunnel vision......Page 48
Idea 23 – Making a Mint......Page 49
Five Greatest Ways of Winning in the Stock Market......Page 53
Idea 24 – Greatest ways of winning in the stock market? Run a unit trust......Page 54
Idea 25 – Run a private unit trust – an investment club......Page 56
Idea 26 – Hedge your bets......Page 59
Idea 27 – Dealing when the directors do......Page 62
Idea 28 – Backing last year’s losers......Page 63
Five Greatest Ways of Getting the Order (or at Least Your Own Way)......Page 65
Idea 29 – Trial closing a price objection......Page 66
Idea 30 – The puppy dog close......Page 68
Idea 31 – The cup of coffee close......Page 69
Idea 33 – Tell them what you are going to ask for......Page 70
Idea 34 – Security from cradle to grave (Prudential)......Page 73
Idea 35 – ‘We’ll over the Border and gi’e them a brush’ – James Hogg (Kleeneeze)......Page 75
Idea 36 – Ding doing well (Avon)......Page 76
Idea 37 – Forecasting a sale......Page 78
Idea 38 – Even Turing Idea 44 needed Arabic numerals......Page 79
Idea 39 – How the total money supply is greater than the total amount of money......Page 80
Idea 40 – Raising cash with limited liability......Page 81
Idea 41 – Keeping score positively......Page 83
Idea 42 – How well are we doing?......Page 84
Idea 43 – Never mind the profit, feel the cashflow......Page 87
Eight Greatest Computer Innovations that Actually Make Life Easier......Page 95
Idea 44 – Turing’s table of behaviour......Page 96
Idea 45 – Getting the answer through trial and error......Page 97
Idea 46 – When it’s critical to be on time and within budget......Page 98
Idea 47 – Connecting up the pieces......Page 99
Idea 48 – Models maketh managers......Page 102
Idea 49 – Douglas Engelbart, ‘The Mother of All Demos’......Page 105
Idea 50 – Great business idea? – Sell a piece of software to the entire world and keep charging for updates (Microsoft)......Page 107
Idea 51 – ‘Our telephone answering system has broken down, this is a human being, how can I help you?’......Page 110
Five Greatest Brands Ever......Page 113
Idea 52 – Disney......Page 114
Idea 53 – McDonald’s......Page 115
Idea 54 – Coca-Cola......Page 116
Idea 55 – Kodak......Page 117
Idea 56 – Gillette......Page 118
Idea 57 – Writing at ten thousand feet (Biro)......Page 119
Idea 58 – Clipping the oppressed......Page 120
Idea 59 – From keeping your place to keeping your appointments (Post-it®)......Page 122
Idea 60 – E-mail......Page 123
Idea 61 – Just give me the highlights......Page 124
Idea 62 – Douglas McGregor, author of The Human Side of Enterprise......Page 125
Idea 63 – Peter Drucker, author of The Practice of Management......Page 128
Idea 64 – Alfred P Sloan, author of My Years with General Motors......Page 131
Idea 65 – Robert Townsend, author of Up the Organisation......Page 134
Idea 66 – Dale Carnegie, author of How to Win Friends and Influence People......Page 137
Idea 67 – Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, authors of In Search of Excellence......Page 139
Epilogue......Page 141
Five Greatest Environments for Producing Money Makers......Page 143
Idea 68 – Never mind the quantity, pay the farmer......Page 144
Idea 69 – Take-overs and junk bonds......Page 145
Idea 70 – Go on, devolve yourself......Page 146
Idea 71 – Please God, make me rich – oh, and let some of it trickle down to the poor......Page 147
Idea 72 – War and the pieces......Page 148
Four Greatest Ways (So Far) to Become a Multi-Millionaire on the Internet......Page 151
Idea 73 – Avoid the epitaph – ‘They didn’t follow through’......Page 152
Idea 74 – Never mind high tech, there’s still money in books (Amazon.com)......Page 154
Idea 75 – An Internet company built on a sweetie dispenser – what am I bid? (eBay)......Page 157
Idea 76 – The South Sea Bubble......Page 159
Idea 79 – Old but proud......Page 161
Idea 82 – Which Investment do you Trust?......Page 162
Idea 83 – Fermentation......Page 163
Idea 84 – Explosives......Page 166
Idea 85 – Radio......Page 168
Four Greatest Breakthroughs Made by Advertising......Page 171
Idea 87 – Double doses (Alka-Seltzer)......Page 172
Idea 88 – Taking on a beefy adversary (Knorr)......Page 173
Idea 89 – If the logic isn’t compelling, tug the heart strings (BT)......Page 174
Idea 91 – Use someone else’s storage space (Toyota)......Page 177
Idea 94 – Improve the packaging, improve the sales......Page 178
Idea 96 – Make it so that customers can always be on the phone......Page 179
Idea 98 – Make the real money on the side......Page 180
Idea 100 – It’s up to you......Page 181
Contributors of Ideas......Page 183
Publications Consulted......Page 185
Appendices......Page 187
Index......Page 189