Contents -- Prologue: The importance of being a rebel -- Chapter One Funding is for fools -- The case for bootstrapping -- Small is beautiful, at least to begin with -- The value of having no money -- Have you tried the alternatives to the bank? -- Pull yourself up by your bootstraps -- If you can't get a loan, get a grant -- Timing can be everything -- We are all dotcoms now, thank goodness -- No man is an island when it comes to funding -- The conclusion -- Chapter Two Don't innovate, imitate -- An imitator in action -- The original -- Every action has a legal reaction -- You can't keep a good idea down -- First movers do not necessarily have the advantage -- Copying is as old as the hills -- It is all about execution -- Attack of the clones -- Imitation can be the salvation of a company -- Timing is everything -- You do not have to settle for second best -- The conclusion -- Chapter Three Don't be a hero -- The problem of letting go -- Most people find good leadership hard -- Size is everything -- Take a tip from the good parenting guide -- Confessions of a meddler -- An exception to the rule -- When do you step back? -- External factors are important too -- The conclusion -- Chapter Four The high price of success -- Less can be more -- Do the mathematics -- What your prices say about the value of your offering -- Why you need to keep prices up -- The difficult relationship between price and value -- In a recession, the need to raise prices only increases -- The art of maintaining a high price -- How do you get people to pay more? -- Price is a matter of economics -- To cut, or not to cut -- Cutting your costs is not the same as raising your prices -- What about cross-border trade? -- How do you maintain high prices? -- Warning: you can raise prices too much -- Being low cost does not mean you cannot raise your prices.

Being the best is always better than being cheapest -- The conclusion -- Chapter Five Don't get hung up on the business plan -- The only constant in (business) life is change -- Ryanair as an example of a company that changed -- Imitate, don't innovate (reprised) -- There is no shame in starting all over again -- Testing, testing -- Once the business plan works, write it down -- The concept of the pivot -- Pivoting once is never enough -- Pivoting and foreign markets -- The conclusion -- Chapter Six You cannot cut your way to success -- How do you react to the bad times? -- Do you really need to make those cuts? -- Sell on the savings your company can provide -- Spend some money on yourself -- Be confident -- Do not rush to cut jobs -- Find the opportunities to grow -- Remember to pivot as well as invest -- The conclusion -- Chapter Seven Do not waste your time selling -- Tips for accelerating the sales process -- Teamwork is key to sales -- Good customer service can be a sales strategy -- A few sales tips -- Beware of overtrading -- Squeezing the lemon -- Opportunity is never far away -- The conclusion -- Chapter Eight Failure is not failure if you learn -- Why the fear of failure can be so damaging -- Failure can be your own stupid fault -- Common mistake 1: treating the bank like a cashpoint -- Common mistake 2: putting your eggs in one basket -- Life can be cruel so you have to deal with it -- The random nature of entrepreneurial success -- Remember, it may be second time unlucky -- Remember, the darkest moment is before the dawn -- Insolvency is often not the end -- The conclusion -- Index.