Colin Barrow - Get Backed, Get Big, Get Bought: Plan your start-up with the end in mind

Table of Contents

Every year, millions of people start their own business. They come from every walk of life and social group. As many over-50s as under-25s launch out on their own. The same is true for women and men, immigrants and natives, the educated and the barely literate, the brave and the timid, those with creative genius or the self-confessed plodders. The triggers that unleash their desire to go into business are equally eclectic. Legacy, redundancy, boredom and relocation vie with insight and inspiration in the lexicon of sources of their business ideas.

They do, however, all have one common thread, one that is often unspoken but none the less present. They hope they will make it. By that they usually mean make it rich, become super successful and build a business empire. They rarely mention this ambition to the armies of researchers who are continuously trying to unravel entrepreneurial motivators. All these people hear are phrases such as personal satisfaction, for fun, being able to do my own thing, working without having to rely on others, reducing stress and anxiety, and creating employment. All worthy goals no doubt, but they could all be achieved a whole lot more easily with a few million in the bank.

True, North Americans and many Asians are less ambivalent about being upfront about their desire to be successful in business and make a pile of dough, but there is still a certain nervousness about admitting to having serious wealth creation as a primary goal.

But heres the thing. The majority of businesses start small and stay small. Theres nothing much wrong with that, although if thats the limit of your ambition, this book is not for you. This book is for people who want the chance to be seriously rich rather than just seriously busy.

Unsurprisingly, only a few tens of thousands of the millions who start up in business each year will become millionaires. And the rest? Well, many of these businesses will indeed make a living for their founder, sometimes even a comfortable one, and they may even be fun to run. But one thing you can reasonably sure about - these founders wont get rich. Instead, they will be embarking on a regime of long hours, sleepless nights and short holidays, and for a significant minority, the bankruptcy courts.

It doesnt have to be this way, but unfortunately most business founders start out with the wrong goals, and so begin businesses that dont have even the potential to make them rich. Aim low and you are almost certain to end up there. Starting a business with the potential to be extremely valuable can take no more overall effort than starting an also-ran. It just requires a different kind of effort and a strategy that will enable you to find investment, grow and ultimately sell up for a big payout.

This is the way of the successful entrepreneur. In a nutshell, the name of the game is get backed, get big and get bought - and thats what this book is all about.

What are the fundamental differences between the great business that will make you seriously rich and the also-ran that does little more than tick over?

Thats an important question. A successful business that grows rapidly and establishes a sustainable position in the market will secure your future when the time comes to sell. An under-performing business, on the other hand, will mean long hours of work, often for very little reward. And the truth is that launching a new venture will require a huge amount of energy, commitment and time on your part, so before you fire the starting gun, its vital to think long and hard about whether your idea has what it takes to deliver the outcome youre seeking.

Its a question that other people will be asking too. Unless you already have considerable personal wealth, at some stage you are going to need to raise the capital that will enable your business idea to blossom and grow. That money might come from wealthy private investors - called business angels - venture capitalists or even family members. All will want to know that your idea has the potential to thrive and provide them with a good return on their cash.

So what should you and your backers be looking for as you assess your business plan? Well, while there are no guarantees in the business world, there are certainly factors that make success more likely. Almost anyone can start a business with great wealth-generating prospects if they plan from the outset to do just that.

But heres the caveat - you have to start with the right formula. There is no mystery to running a successful business. Its been done countless times before and the script has been well and truly written. Put simply, businesses owners who bring together the right ingredients have a fighting chance of creating real wealth. Those who miss out on vital ingredients are almost inevitably doomed to struggle.

The purpose of this book is to map out a journey that will see you creating an business that can be scaled up and ultimately sold. Our first step on that journey is to look at the fundamentals of success. Or to put it another way, well be examining the crucial formula that every ambitious business owner should adhere to.

The first thing that has to be said is that you dont need to be a genius to apply this formula. Entrepreneurs tend to share particular personality traits - a certain quirkiness in the way you think is helpful, as is the ability to put yourself in someone elses shoes - but super intelligence is not essential. Indeed, it has been proven that you dont necessarily need a great education to be a whiz at business. Its a well-known fact that many successful entrepreneurs didnt go to university, or even spend that much time at school. Sir Richard Branson (Virgin) dropped out of full-time education at 16. Sir Alan Sugar (Amstrad), Sir Philip Green (BHS and Arcadia, the group that includes Topshop and Miss Selfridge), Sir Bernie Ecclestone (Formula One - and Britains tenth richest man) and Charles Dunstone (Carphone Warehouse) all bypassed university education. Many entrepreneurs who went to university didnt stay. Steve Jobs (Apple) and Bill Gates (Microsoft) left after a semester or two; Bruce D. Henderson, founder of world-class management consulting firm the Boston Consulting Group, left Harvard Business School 90 days before graduation, so eager was he to get to work.

Even if your business idea is based on technology or specific knowledge, you can bypass all of the detail, cut to the chase and still make your pile, as the Money Supermarket story shows.