Karen Paiyo

"Going into business for yourself changes everything. Embrace that change and don't be afraid of it."

Start out with a conventional business mindset and you may just have to settle for a business-as-usual result.

Most books on starting a business cover the so-called practicalities: business plans, finance, accounting, equipment and so on. Their advice is usually similar and predictable. All suggest that we can't start a business without spending money first.

This book is different. It debunks everything you thought you knew about starting and growing a business and shows you how to turn what you know into what you do.Why use your skills to make money for someone else when you can launch a successful, sustainable venture without speinding (or borrowing) a cent? It's a process that's simpler that you think and already within reach. All it takes is an idea, a skill, a customer and a partner.

If you want to run your own business and don't already, stop and ask yourself: why not? The Profit Principle is a modern classic that will flip your thinking on what it takes to succeed and inspire you to get started.

Table of Contents

Introduction.

Part I: The profit principle

1 Introducing the profit principle.

2 Let's not start at the beginning.

3 Your first product is you.

4 Start by making money, not spending it.

5 The customer doesn’t owe you their business.

6 Fishbones are small, but you can choke on them.

7 How to remember something you never knew.

8 Curiosity is the key.

9 The myth of perpetual motion.

10 Don't fall into the investment trap.

11 Time is money, so take your time.

12 Take your costs and double them.

Part II: Negotiation and partnership with the profit principle.

13 We don't need another hero!

14 Talk is cheap, so keep on talking.

15 Don't talk until you see the whites of their eyes.

16 Pick your battles, and prepare for peace.

17 What's in it for me?

18 Taking control means keeping control.

Part III: Growing with the profit principle.

19 Perfection is the enemy of progress.

20 Small businesses stay small.

21 How to be big without being big.

22 Don't stare at the horizon just to trip on the road.

23 Find the right people and let them get on with their jobs.

24 The bicycle balance.

25 There's no beginning, there'll be no end.

Final thoughts.

Index.


About the Authors

Peter Fritz is a recipient of the Order of Australia and co-founder of TCG Group a $1.25billion business empire.

Jeanne-Vida Douglas is an award-winning journalist and business writere with a passion for telling other people's stories.