0816_TOEFL-Test-and-Score-Manual-1997

xviii ● Introduction
We have the biggest and strongest economy on the planet. Cash is
flowing. Technology, equipment, and real estate are cheap. Amazing talent
abounds. If you lost your business during the downturn, it’s time to get
back in the game.
This book is guaranteed to revive your entrepreneurial spirit. If this is
your first venture, I promise 201 Great Ideas will help you avoid the biggest
potholes on the highway to success.
If you read an earlier edition of this book, you’ll notice plenty of new
ideas. Although my contract called for revising about 60 ideas, so much has
changed in recent years, I updated every idea and included scores of new
ones. This new edition of 201 Great Ideas features great ideas from novice
and veteran business owners. There are no theories. Every idea has been
tested in a real business.
You’ll meet the amazing business owners I met while traveling coast to
coast, ranging from Skagway, Alaska, to Portland, Maine. In Victoria, British
Columbia, I visited Smoking Lily, a boutique claiming to be the smallest
small business in North America. It occupies 44 square feet of space in a
cool, downtown shopping district. T-shirts and scarves hang on the wall. The
young woman who rang up my purchases was perched on a platform about
four feet off the ground in a corner of the closet-sized store. Crazy!
You’ll meet Kesang Tashi, a wonderful Tibetan entrepreneur who has
devoted his life to reviving the art and craft of rug making back in his
homeland. He employs scores of craftspeople in Tibet, who now make a living
by selling their handmade rugs, scarves, jewelry, and religious banners.
I met entrepreneurs who work part-time jobs to fund their dreams and
people who share retail space to save money and serve similar customers.
Every year, no matter how rocky the economy is, about 500,000
Americans start a new business. We are fortunate to live in a country where
you can wake up in the morning and be in business by the end of the day.
Sitting in a café with an Internet connection, you can buy a web site
domain, order equipment, and open a bank account. Then, you can promote
what you do or sell via LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Need help?
Hire some virtual talent via Elance.com.
This book and new 201greatideas.com site is a distribution channel for
great ideas. I try to practice what I preach. Unlike many financial journalists,
I am a small business owner. I’ve founded three companies. I started The
Applegate Group Inc. when I quit my job at the Los Angeles Times in 1991.