The Beermat Entrepreneur: What You Really Need to Know to Turn a Good Idea into a Great Business (Paperback)

The Beermat Entrepreneur puts three elements at the heart of the start-up; an elevator pitch endorsing the business concept, an experienced mentor to advise, consult and guide and four cornerstone individuals from technical, delivery, finance and sales backgrounds to complete the entrepreneur's team. "Business has already ceased to be about spreadsheets and software, and has entered the world of personal judgement and emotions", Southon and West argue. The connections and intuition a mentor can bring will repay the start-up a thousand times over while the cornerstones' specialist knowledge will form the core of the management team and drive the business forward. Taking in leadership, management, recruitment, PR, sales, marketing and finance along the route from Seedling Enterprise to Mighty Oak, Southon and West cover every issue the potential entrepreneur needs to understand about the challenges ahead. The Beermat Entrepreneur is an opinionated, inspiring and practical companion for new business adventurers. --Iain Campbell

‘Mike and Chris understand with unusual clarity what drives a start-up.’Tim Smit, Founder, The Eden Project

‘Refreshing and very readable.’ Richard Donkin, Financial Times

‘This book, for me, says it all… It should become standard reading for all employees, managers and founders of start-up businesses.’ Professor Sir Christopher Evans OBE, Founder, Merlin Biosciences

‘Provocative, down-to-earth and witty, too – if you’re looking for an antidote to the smoke and mirrors of the dotcom era, this is it!’  Nayyer Hussain, Co-founder, McGeoch Techonolgy

 'The Beermat Entrepreneur is honest and practical, and it works.’  Steve Packard, original publisher of Trivial Pursuit and founder of whereonearth.com‘An embarrassingly accurate picture of entrepreneurs – I went round the office reading out sections, and people laughed out loud.’  Peter Hall, Founder, The Wadenhoe Consultancy

 ‘I recommend this book to any aspiring entrepreneur.’  Charles Dunstone, Founder, Carphone Warehouse

‘It’s all here!’ Phil Tee, Founder, RiverSoft PLC

'At times provocative but unpretentious, the author challenges the conventional wisdom of other business books on this subject. Passionate about his beliefs, the book is witty and amusing. For example, having discussed the pros and cons of various sources of finance, Southon asks: "Are there any other sources of cash?" and responds: "There's always organised crime, I suppose, but the debt collection methods are a bit radical."

This is a book not just for entrepreneurs. Based on the author's real life experiences at the sharp end and packed full of wisdom and wit, there is much in this book for managers of whatever ilk and their employees to learn and enjoy.'

Ian MacEacheran FCMI

"...you can only benefit from reading this book. You'll gain valuable advice and knowledge from people who have seen it, done it and bought the T-shirt."

Evening Standard

"The Beermat Entrepeneur has become a bestseller because it sets out the key stages of a business' growth clearly and describes exactly what needs to be done for it to flourish. Such plain speaking in business books is unfortunately rare."

EN, Manchester

"Among the many excellent qualities of the Beermat Entrepeneur is its thoroughly practical, no-nonsense, anecdote-free approach...jam packed with solid advice you seldom see in other books."

Training Journal

"...a modern thinking manual full of smart media concepts."  Word Magazine, June 2005